Date: 2013-03-17
From: Tray Mountain Shelter

To: Plumorchard Gap Shelter
Miles today: 15.5
Weather: broken clouds

Sunday, March 17, 2013 I arose at 7:11 AM and left Tray Mountain Shelter at 8:46, anticipating a long day. It was a pleasant morning; I saw a couple of squirrels and a small, narrow salamander, the first wildlife I¢ve seen on the AT! A few birds, and, of course, the Justus Mountain hawks. At 10:30 AM I was back to shorts and T-shirt, and was moving well, smoothly and well-paced, on the pleasant dirt leaf-covered path. A couple of fast pair of youngsters passed, but my walking has been very much alone; sometimes an hour goes by, perhaps more, without encountering anyone else.        About 11:30 AM, I passed Bottle Cap, Fun Size, and Moonshiner, resting on a log. They have a short day planned, to Deep Gap Shelter. Moonshiner is having boot problems and will buy new ones in Hiawassee. Ten minutes earlier I¢d passed the hurting Pilgrim ¢ he could not possibly have had that pack fitted at an REI store. (As mentioned before, I learned that he¢d bought his REI Flash 62 over the Internet.) I was cruising along, whistling Jelly Roll Morton¢s ¢The Pearls¢ and Joseph Lamb¢s ¢Contentment¢ rag, and feeling fine.        At 12:45 I finished a long ascent and snapped a photo, southwest, to give a sense of the view. A man with braided black hair passed, moving fast, using another Flash 62, and we exchanged a few cordial words. At 1:55 I bopped past a ¢Vista¢ sign ¢ one minute later I thought about Sourdough¢s tips and backtracked to it, snapping a couple of photos and returning to the AT at 2:10 PM! I¢m glad I spent that 15 minutes ¢ smiles not miles, smell the roses, etc.!        The path was smooth, well-packed dirt virtually all the way to Dicks Creek Gap, which I reached at 3:24 PM. It had been only 1:15 when I reached the Deep Gap Shelter, where Bottle/Fun planned to stay, far too short a day for me. (Blackhawk Bob, at 2:00 PM, reached the same conclusion.) The braided-hair man was at the Dicks Creek Gap road crossing¢s picnic tables; he¢d passed me again perhaps 10 minutes earlier, having taken a break at Deep Gap. I asked if he had any potable water left ¢ he was being picked up for a trip into Hiawassee ¢ and he graciously used his Sawyer ceramic filter to get me 2L! He is Backtrack, tattooed all over, and it was a great pleasure to make his acquaintance. Blackhawk Bob soon arrived, also headed for Hiawassee. I photographed them as I left for Plumorchard Gap Shelter at 3:47 PM.        Cowert Gap arrived about an hour later, and the long climb resumed. I thought I¢d reached the crest at 5:09, 5:36, and 5:55, and the last one seemed to be it! I descended to reach Plumorchard Gap at 6:26 PM, and six minutes down a steep blue-blazed side trail brought me to the shelter. Rooster (who I¢d first met at Gooch Mountain Shelter Tuesday night) and his dog Bangarang were alone here, using a hammock behind the shelter; they had spent the day here (alone and lonely) to give the dog¢s hip a rest. A high-school senior named Josh arrived with me, but he hammock¢ed that night too, so I had the entire 14-person shelter to myself! It had been a good 15.5 mile day, in 9:46! I may have had too much coffee after arriving ¢ it was nearly 9:30 PM when I turned in, alone in that unique and large shelter. Josh was a nice young man; he¢s planning to start a SOBO end-to-end in late May and is just exploring sections of the trail now.