Date: 2013-04-09
From: Icewater Spring Shelter

To: Tri-Corner Knob Shelter
Miles today: 12.6
Weather: few clouds

With the fateful up-or-out choice made, I left Icewater Spring Shelter at 8:30 AM on Tuesday, April 9 2013. Trail ice led to the use of the Microspikes for perhaps 15 minutes (on and off a couple of times), but the trail was quite pleasant, walking ¢ as often seems to be the case ¢ north along the eastern slope of a ridge. I passed Wooden Spoon, the young woman with the proficient tarp setup, as she grappled with an icy section... but (as is so often the case, at my pace!) she soon overtook me and went past. The day was warm, and I was soon sweating. Views to the west, from ridge tops, showed towns and flat land; to the right, just blue rolling mountains. At 9:08 I reached the south end of ¢Charlie¢s Bunion,¢ a rock formation with a warning to ¢Watch Children Closely¢; I skipped it and stuck to the right turn on the AT. A 9:21 self-photo was primarily to show the nature of the trail. I was finding the Smokies quite spectacular.        Around noon, I took a 15-minute lunch stop with Bulldog (a lanky man with a unique hearty laugh, who¢d been at Icewater) and Hankman (shorter and more stocky, somewhat resembling DB Cooper), neither seen since, at the map¢s 5-mile ¢View.¢ After sending a SPOT ¢OK¢ message to my family, I moved along ¢ still planning to make Tri-Corner that day. It was a beautiful day for walking, with bright sun and the dirt path relatively level and smooth, occasionally shaded (and scented!) by balsam firs. I was pleased to reach the Peck¢s Corner Shelter turnoff at only 1:37 PM ¢ Tri-Corner was definitely within reason!        Tracy McG and I leapfrogged a few times ¢ she walks faster but takes occasional breaks. What a pleasant lady. The spectacular views continued, with the path sometimes traversing a narrow ridge barely wider than the path itself, steep hillsides dropping off to left (west) and right (east). The west view was mountains, then flatland and development, the east simply blue-tinged wooded mountains. I last passed Tracy as she was processing some water in late morning. At 2:15 PM I came to a Geodesic Survey marker (1963, ele 5,849¢)... and at 5:05 PM rolled into the Tri-Corner Knob Shelter, packed to overflowing with teens or 20-somethings ¢ nothing I hadn¢t expected!        I found a semi-level site, mighty sparse in that mountainous country, and erected the tarp. It was level side-to-side, at least, but sloped slightly downhill toward my feet. Tracy rolled in about half an hour later; she¢d taken a break (and a nap!) at Peck¢s Corner. Her little tent had a definite slope to it, but the only level spots were directly under the bear cable or on the privy platform! We were pretty close to the privy as it was, and were reminded of that occasionally with shifts in the nighttime wind. I set up my new Enos hammock, uncertain how to use its special straps, and cooked and ate Wild West Chili from a comfortable seated position. A young man nearby also had an Enos hammock ¢ but the full setup: quilt and fly. I would have been far too cold trying to sleep in mine; I remember that from my Scotland hike!         It was a beautiful starry night, and I was glad not to be in the shelter. The kids there were exuberant, with guitar playing and laughing... until about 8:15 PM or so, when it abruptly went quiet, as if someone had flipped off a switch! Good for them! On my first real, whole, day of knee-brace hiking I¢d successfully made 14.7 miles (if I recall correctly; I just sent my map home.) [Nope... the guidebook says 12.6 mi from Icewater to Tri-Corner.]