Date: 2003-03-11
From: big spring shelter

To: US 64 - winding stair gap (franklin, nc)
Miles today: 9.1
Weather: scattered clouds

day 10had some breakfast and took off as soon as possible. i think i was the first out the door. was at rock gap shelter some 5 miles north in no time and found some pretty sweet majic. someone had left an apple and orange and i snagged them up quick. checked out the register and hiked out munching on my apple. hadn't heard of the 2nd biggest poplar in the US, the "wasilik poplar," so wasn't aware of the .5 blue blaze that took you there. just kept going.started on my orange not to long after and pretty soon was walking down the stairs that take you to US 64 - winding stair gap. spacemonkey had passed me about a mile or so back while i was peeling my orange, so he was already there. soon enough red and a couple others showed up. within 15 minutes there was about 8 of us at the road side. i went down the road a little ways so as to break up the group a little. within 10 minutes a black pick-up truck came around the bend and pulled over. we all managed to pile in and began to make our way towards franklin, nc.100 miles baby! actually 106, but who's counting. the 100 mile marker is pretty much where US 64 lies, and i, as well as everyone else as far as i could tell, was excited about it. we had gotten to the triple digits, now all we had to do was duplicate the feat 21 more times. that thought right there was very real, but you know what, it didn't dissuade me in the least. i knew i could do this, i just became more aware that it was definitely gonna take a good bit of time and that it wasn't gonna be easy. at the same time, though, i thought about all i had seen and experienced just within these first 100 miles and about how much more i could see and experience within the next 2100. it was great. this trully was an epic thing that we were all doing. i knew this before i started hiking the trail, but now i knew it from experience. from actually being out there and living it.we had the gentleman drop us off at the franklin motel. we figured that it'd probably be a good place to start. i wasn't sure yet whether i was gonna stay, but a shower did sound good and i had a maildrop there as well that i had to sort out. by the time java asked me, my answer was "yes." we got two rooms for the 6 of us and i immediately took a shower. i hadn't seen my self in a mirror for quite some time, so when i did i was a bit surprised. i was dark. my face and arms had been darkened considerably and i could tell that i had lost some weight. not much, but enough for me to notice. it didn't look bad or anything, but i became a little concerned about the sun. too much sun wasn't something i had really planned on. the AT is supposed to be a green tunnel, and it is for the most part, but i hadn't taken into consideration the times that you sit at a view with the sun pouring right on you. i concluded that i'd be okay and passed on getting some sunblock.after showering it was time for filling my belly. we had heard that there was a great little mexican joint right down the street that had an ayce buffet. i decided to check it out. "right down the street" turned out to be quite a bit down the street. hey, i know, i'm supposed to be walking, but not when i'm in town! just kidding. it wasn't that bad, but the sun was blaring and i wished that i had a hat. i made it to the joint, and yes the buffet was going on. i sat my self down, ordered the buffet and soda, and proceeded to tear some things up. some things turned out to be a whole lot of things and an hour or so later i could barely walk to the bathroom. i knew it was quitting time. i didn't want another repeat of daniel's steakhouse in hiawassee. guess what? it turned out to be a repeat. the good thing though, i had a nice walk to the p.o. waiting for me, and then a nice walk back to the motel, so i figured that i could walk it all off, or at least walk it down a bit. yes, it'd hurt at first, but eventually, god and all his relatives willing, it would go down.got to the p.o. and was thankful for the AC. it was hot outside. i knew exactly what i was gonna do when i got back to the room...another shower. this one colder than the last, however. i got my maildrop and nearly puked at the weight. there must've been 15 lbs of food in that thing. i knew there was no way i was gonna hike out with that amount of weight, not to mention i still had a couple of days left in my food bag. i knew i had some work to do. i headed back to the room alternating carrying my very heavy box from one arm to the other. sometimes shifting it to the top of my head to block off some of the sun. it was hot.got to the room, tore open my package, and started making sense of the mess. i had packed way too much food. i wasn't eating nearly as much as i thought i would and there was just no way that i'd carry that kind of weight out even if i was. i knew my appetite would eventually catch up, but when it did, i'd just resupply more frequently, not carry that kind of weight. i decided that a lot of the food had to go. once having taken care of that mess, i hopped in for my second shower.not too long after poptart came-a-knocking. she had gotten in earlier and had been taking care of errands all day. we talked for a bit, she had a maildrop at the p.o. as well, so i decided to take another walk. on the way there we passed a thrift store and she bought a nice pair of cowgirl boots for real cheap. we got to the p.o., she picked up her drop, which was considerably lighter than mine, and she shipped her boots home. we headed back to the motel. poptart decided to stay, and i called for a shuttle for the next morning. poptart had gotten a list from the motel folks of local trail angels that would take you back to the trail head and probably help you out with anything else that they could. i later found out that a lot of these towns have these lists. just another example of the great support community around the AT.i booked my self a passage back to the trail at 8am. not too early and not too late. just right. i shot it with other hikers for the rest of the day. didn't really do much drinking, just kinda chilled, watched a little tv and got my gear ready for the next day. was in bed in no time and that was the ending of my first 100 mile day .