Date: 2006-03-22
From: Plum Orchard Gap Shelter

To: Standing Indian Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 12.2
Weather: clear sky

We crossed our first state line today! We left early - around 7. It was 31 degrees at the shelter, and it just seemed to get colder as we went. We climbed almost a thousand vertical feet to the state line. As we climbed, we noticed that it seemed to be snowing lightly. This was pretty strange since there wasn't a cloud in the sky. We finally figured out that the snow was like spindrift blowing off the trees which were frosted white at the tops. The higher we went, the more it was snowing.Bly Gap is at the state line. Once you cross it, get ready, because it goes straight up. The climb is really intense out of Bly. Luckily the weather and the views were great. My fingers were extremely cold as we climbed. Even though the sun was up, the temp seemed to be dropping. We crossed Sharp Top and Courthouse Bald (beautiful!). Finally we made it to Muskrat Creek shelter for lunch. The jersey boys were there - including Twist of Fate. They are faster hikers than us, but they lost a day or two after Twist of Fate got a stomach virus.We continued on to Standing Indian shelter. Arrived around 2 - leaving us time to rest and hang out.More later...From CoyotebecBoy we lazed the afternoon away yesterday. It was a nice shelter to do it in too. We moved down to the bottom bunk in between Polecat and Mad Dog. Pole Cat said he didn't snore - he lied! He snored so loud, he dept waking himself up. Three people slept in the level above us -Erin, Nick and Tin Can. Nick's knees are so bad, I can't imagine him finishing the hike. They have taken zero days and slow days - they started a week before us. Tin Can was in a motor cycle accident a little more than a year ago. He has a titanium femur and a replaced knee. So I don't think he minds the pace of Erin and Nick. On the top level was Doc Gnarley and Slide Show along with six engineering students from Georgia Tech. I was a little scared of Doc and Slideshow the first time I met them. They drink and smoke quite a bit. I think Slideshow's other name is Bartender. Doc is missing quite a few teeth and he really is gnarly with his whiskers going every which way. I really enjoyed the students - they were very interesting and interested in us. We gave them our card. The funniest thing was watching them make a group decision. They analyzed it every which way for more than an hour before coming to a conclusion. A late joiner to the lower level was Merlin. This was a young man with a very long beard. He has a very heavy backpack and is pretty small. Once he came in, he pulled out a full sized tripod and a big digital camera. He looks interesting. I would love to see some of his pictures when he is done. Late comers were Bud - Yea we got to see him again, Carnivore, Catchup and Mule, Andy (lightweight guy, and probably a few others I am not remembering.We woke early and were off by 7. Coldest morning yet. We got to the state line then the tree at Bly Gap. We took pictures - what a neat tree. I remember Matt taking our picture there in 1989. I will be interesting to compare.What a climb out of Georgia!! I remember it being steep, but not that long. The trail was different too. Muddy and rocky. A lot of ice along the trail. In the distance, we saw a mountain all white on top from frost. We never got a chance to take a picture of it. As we were walking along, it started snowing lightly. It was weird because there were perfectly blue skies. We looked up and realized it was coming off the frost covered trees. In spite of the cold, we saw our first flowers of the trip - little purple ones.While walking, we talked about the Blueberry Patch couple and how appealing their simple lifestyle was. We talked about if we could set up a hostel in Lafayette. I really think that would be neat!We hiked into Standing Indian Mountain Shelter - it only sleeps 6. It filled quickly and is now overflow is coming in. The Jersey boys - Twist of Fate, Shank, King Pin, and Rad. I think it will be cold tonight. We shared a little extra food with the Jersey Boys. They cut themselves short. Oh, 2 new people - Papa C and Ole Sam from Ohio - a man and his step son.