Date: 2006-04-12
From: Cosby Knob Shelter, Smokey Mountains, TN.

To: ..2 miles N of Lemon Gap, NC
Miles today: 29.6

74,269 foot steps today It's 9:45pm and I just got in my tent. I can't believe how much living you can get out of one day here on the trail. :-))) I woke up at 5:30 this morning and started thinking about cheeseburgers.I stuck my stove out the tent door and brewed my Starbuck's and had...guess what?? Yep, two fruit pies. :-))) I was packed up and walking by 6:55am. I was treated to a beautiful sunrise this morning. I need to start getting an earlier start because I love walking in first morning and watching the sun come up over the mountains. I keep forgetting to write this down, but 2 or 3 times a day, I hear male grouse making their drumming calls. I was walking down towards Davenport Gap and saw a bunch of wildflowers starting to bloom. There was even dogwoods in full bloom.At the higher elevations, there isn't much growing yet. It was in the mid 40's this morning and much more humid than it's been lately. I got to Davenport Gap at 9:55am and walked the 1 1/4 mile down the side road to Mountain Momas with cheeseburgers on my mind. :-))) I had one cheeseburger, two orders of fries, two cokes and a chocolate milk while I was there. I had them make a cheeseburger for me to pack out for dinner too. :-)))There's no longer a pay phone at the store, so I couldn't send in my journal entries. Mountain Moma dropped me back off at the trail at 11:25am. She only charges a dollar to take a hiker back up the mountain. That's a great deal. I got to Standing Bear Hostel and met Thelma and Louise, Stumbles, James and The Wanderers, a father, daughter and son that are thru hiking.I drank two more cokes while I was there and talked to Curtis for a short while.I also sent in my journal entries and received my emails. I'm not going to have time tonight to answer them, but I promise, I'll get to them soon...thanks, I love getting the emails. It helps me have a better hike when I hear from friends like that. :-)))I hiked on at 1pm and started right out with the long climb up Snowbird Mountain. I passed Thelma and Louise on the way up Snowbird. I stopped by Painters Branch and drank a litre of water and filled my bottle. Shortly after that I passed by Chewy, then Merlin. Even though there's not any leaves on the trees yet, the trees still provide some shade, because when I got up on the summit of Snowbird Mountain where there's no trees, it was definitely warmer. Near the end of each day, I have to put a little duck tape on a big toe because I feel a hot spot. I got that soft sitting in a recliner for just a month. I can't imagine how bad life must be for my old buddy Chief. His feet are probably so tender, he most likely has to wear shoes to walk on the carpeting in his house. Ha!!! Once I got back in some shade on the trail, I unwrapped the cheeseburger I packed out from Mountain Moma's and ate it while I was walking.That felt like the revenge to the cheeseburger that made me break my arm!! :-)))The cheeseburger I had this morning tasted great, but this one really tasted fantastic for some reason. I stopped by a spring to get some water and saw Sleeper, Fleur and Buford there taking a break. I walked on and got to Brown Gap, where I originally planned on staying near tonight.Apple was there doing trail magic!!He gave me a hot dog and a couple sodas and I took my shoes off and kicked back for a while.Howdy and Wolf Paw were there too, but left about 20 minutes before I did.That was great!!! Thanks a lot Apple. :-)))Apple told me that Circuit Rider and Sherlock came through about 6 hours before I did. I'll probably see them in Hot Springs tomorrow. I hiked on and wasn't sure how far I was going to go, but I was feeling full of energy, so I just kept walking.I got to Max Patch Road and saw Mala's truck parked there.I climbed Max Patch and really enjoyed the views today. This was the calmest weather I've ever seen up there. When I got back down into the trees on the north side of the mountain, I saw Mala's tee-pee set up and about 20 other tents.They all had a bunch of wine and were going to have a party.I talked to Mala for a while, but headed on out for some more walking.There was so many thru hikers there, that I didn't even try to ask any names, but I did see Lonesome Pole Cat there and said hi. I got to the new Roaring Fork Shelter and State Line Jed was there and no one else.He was already in his sleeping bag, so I walked on. I got to the old Roaring Fork Shelter about an hour after dark.I wasn't going to say anything, but I heard some talking in there, so I asked if Circuit Rider and Sherlock were there, but they weren't. I looked around for a suitable tentsite, but the ground all looked too hard, so I walked on. I got to Lemon Gap and didn't see a flat spot, but finally found a good spot about another .2 miles up the trail. I walked most of the time with no headlamp because there was such a beautiful full moon out tonight. I'm listening to an owl in the distance while I'm writing this...life can be so tough sometimes. :-)))