Date: 2004-03-09
From: Carter Gap Shelter

To: Rainbow Springs Campground / Yurt
Miles today: 14.6

Day 10, March 9, 2004Well first off I think I forgot to mention in my other journals that I am now in North Carolina. Not a lot different from Georgia, but its neat to be in a different state. Also today the 100 mile mark was made. Officially have hiked 103.7 miles. Had another great morning start with breakfast on the trail. That is the way to do it. Get moving to get warm, that is excellent encouragement. It was very cold last night, and in the morning. Even though the night was spent in the shelter, with a 15 degree bag, with rain pants, fleece coat, and fleece mittens it was freezing! Oh yeah... and very noisy, you would not believe all the different types of snoring people snore. Wow, those people should not be allowed to stay in shelters. One person would start snoring, then another would chime right in, it was horrible, but that¢s life on the trail for ya. Saw my first shelter mouse last night. At first I thought it was just my imagination because it moved so darn fast. Then another swipe of my light showed this tiny thing running around on the table. It was a lot smaller than I had envisioned. Was about ready to take a picture of it but it had disappeared as soon as the camera was ready. Started climbing big butt mountain, yeah there were a few comments made on that one. We came to the conclusion that people with big butts could not climb this mountain because it had super narrow paths with sheer drop offs. Yeah pretty cool. The next mountain was Albert Mountain. This was quite a rock scramble. Once oo the top, the view was great. Climbed the fire tower for a few extra feet but the observation deck was locked. We still managed to get some funny pictures regardless. Ate some grub and got ready to move because it was too cold to sit around any longer. We had Sugar Daddy, Dejavu, Haiku, Catherine, and Wildcat. We have a Go-Lite team now. Haiku has the Go-Lite Breeze, a small backpack. I have the Go-Lite Gust, which is a midsized pack. Wildcat has the Go-Lite Trek, which is a large pack. We all got a kick out of that. So anyways, as we were leaving Albert Mountain, it started to snow lightly. No one thought much of it. I guess we should have when standing on 5,220 foot mountains :-) Once hiking, it started to pick up. Then it flat out poured. Within minutes the entire forest floor was covered in a coat of snow / snow pellets. Guess it was kind of a reminder that anything can happen in the mountains, and you have to be ready for it. Weather can hit within minutes, and it can hit with furry. So far it¢s been pretty calm. Tray mountain was pretty violent, not many people got a lot of sleep that night, myself included. The snow died off and a lot of it melted in the sun once the clouds cleared. Catharine and myself hiked a side trail to see a large wasalik poplar tree. It was massive ¢ that¢s all I can say. The rest of the gang waited up top freezin their butts off eating whatever they could get their hands on. From there it was a short walk off the trail to Rainbow Campgrounds. It was here that I found out my debit card is "broken". Called the customer service line and they said it would take 2 weeks to mail me a replacement card. So it might be a while till I bask in the luxuries of a heated yurt or hotel room. Need to stretch the few traveler¢s checks as far as they will stretch. The traveler¢s checks were a last minute idea. Why do you need travelers checks when you have a debit / Mastercard? So will have to give the bank people my best guess of my location in 2 weeks so that I can get a new one sent. Went to take a shower and when I came out a new coat of snow coated the ground. The weather channel was saying 6-12 inches of snow. That would make for miserable hiking for sure. Turns out all we got was that coating. Lucked out this time. And how does one close out the day? With a sauna of course! It was great after being out in the cold all day. It was simply a wood burning stove with a basket of rocks above it. It started out at around 150 and worked its way down to 120. It was a nice way to close out the night. Will be pushing some big miles and tenting when we get tired. The first shelter is only 8 miles out, and the next is more than 18 miles away, so it¢s going to be a long day for sure. It¢s 10:30, way past my backpacking bed time.