Date: 2015-03-28
From: Mooney Gap

To: Rock Gap
Miles today: 7.7
Weather: light snow

Saturday, March 28There are many sayings and short pieces of philosophy that have taken hold over the years regarding the AT. ¢Hike your own hike¢ is very engrained in the culture of the trail, as is ¢expect the unexpected.¢ Now I propose that added to these pieces of trail wisdom should be this:   the weather forecast can sometimes be wrong, whether partially or totally so. If this happens AT thru-hikers can be surprised with the results. Surprises also exist in other ways. Today, I was to experience the unexpected, and yet this turned out to be a tiring, but great day on the AT.Approximately midnight I heard some ice pellets hit the walls of my tent. I did not think much about it at that time; indeed, when you are sleeping well in your tent, you may not think much about much as you return to your slumber. When I awoke at first light, the first surprise hit me like a ton of bricks, or at least a few pounds of ice. My tent¢s outer wall or its fly was frozen. Sitting up but staying in my sleeping bag to stay warm, I unzipped the tent¢s vestibule door and saw a winter wonderland.   Was I seeing things? Was I dreaming things? The forecast hadn¢t mentioned ice or snow, just subfreezing temperatures, correct? Among the three tents I called out to the Minnesota Twins and jokingly told them that I think we should call our travel agents for a refund; we didn¢t sign up for this! So we needed to embrace the unexpected and move up the trail. We three move to grab some breakfast before taking down our tents. Here I encountered a problem at breakfast directly attributable to the weather. When I took down the bear bag where I had hung the food on Friday evening, I quickly discovered that the Nutella spread I craved for breakfast had one major issue: it was frozen hard, solid as the North Carolina granite, and it was not going to be part of anyone¢s breakfast, and especially not mine. So I found other food in my bear bag that would suffice, but the craving for Nutella was still as frozen in my mind as it was now in the bag.When I took down my tent, the fly was still stiff and so it would have to be thawed in Franklin this evening. Then Old Man Spring reared its head and frosty breath one more time; this time, my tent pole sections were frozen. With some good AT teamwork, the Twins and I were able to get the pole apart without damage. I did manage one small victory as I had turned my water bottles upside down in the tent last night, and this helped to have some unfrozen, albeit slushy, water to start today¢s hike.The next surprise was an amazing act of trail kindness, beyond trail magic. In his winter gear a southbound hiker and I were approaching one another below Albert Mountain. I know this guy, but it couldn¢t be¢¦or could it? Was I suffering a lack of discernment from my lack of Nutella? Was I suffering from snow blindness? No, I was right and none of these maladies were affecting me. The hiker was Dr. Jeff Miller, hiker extraordinaire and the intrepid leader of the A-Team hiking group from our area and Milligan College.   How¢s this for trail kindness? Jeff had hiked in from Rock Gap, climbed over snowy, icy Albert Mountain, brought the world¢s greatest flavor of Gatorade (Glacial Frost Cherry) for me, and OFFERED TO CARRY MY PACK. I told Jeff that he was much more than a trail angel; he had achieved ¢archangel¢ status with Michael, Gabriel, and now Jeffrey (I liked the sound of that). I kept my pack, but Jeff put my tent and some other items in his pack to graciously help lighten my load.Back we went to climb over Albert Mountain (on the AT, not the bypass trail) at an elevation of 5,250 feet, and I passed the one hundred mile mark since Springer with only 2,089 miles needed to finish in Maine! I saw Firefly at the Long Branch Shelter, and she indicated there would be trail magic at Rock Gap and in Franklin; I had already had much more than magic with Jeff Miller¢s kindness.   Also, I saw Caruso Fire and his son, Colt.45,as these West Virginia University fans had taken a night away from the trail to watch Kentucky and West Virginia in the NCAA tournament (hint: please don¢t ask them the final score of that game).Jeff had left his car at Rock Gap and when we reached there, I was ready to call it a day. We drove to surprise Beth at Winding Stair Gap, my original destination. I cannot thank trail archangel Jeff Miller adequately for all his trail kindness as he hiked in and out with me, making his trek fifteen (15!) miles or more for the day. Jeff had to return to Johnson City from Winding Stair, so I am indebted to him for a BBQ dinner (one of the four basic food groups in my view and taste), Glacial Frost Cherry Gatorade, and so much more. I hope Jeff, the A-Team members, and others can join me on my journey in the weeks ahead.Time for Beth and I to spend a romantic evening as we thaw out gear and do laundry in Franklin, NC. She deserves ¢archangel¢ status, too.   I am thinking of those hikers who remained on the trail tonight as this evening is supposed to be even colder than last night, and I think that weather forecast just may be right. Good night, all.