Date: 2008-03-17
From: Ice Water Springs

To: Cosby Knob Shelter
Miles today: 20.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Woke up at 7:30a to the sounds of the 4 friends waking up. Shortly, the whole shelter was up and stirring! Willie Boy was the first to hit the trail this morning because he told us that everybody would catch him anyways. As we were walking, Night Terror told me that Privy Monster had started the trail some time in January...I didn't think we were moving that quickly, but appearantly we are. Oh well, within 2 hours, Toddy Bear, Night Terror, Willie Boy and I ate our second breakfast at the sign to Peck's Corner. Having clear skies, we decided to hustle over to Charlie's Bunion. Man oh Man...the view was phenomenal! I've been to Charlie's Bunion before, but always seemed to go on days when the view wasn't great. After a photo opp. and a break to enjoy the view, we continued walking through the Smokies along a breath taking ridgeline. Okay, now we were getting ready to hit our two big climbs for the day, Mounts Sequoyah and Chapman. It must have been the weather, or possibly the views, but Night Terror and I cruised up Mnt. Sequoyah with ease--I think I'm developing a rhythm when I hike!!! Having used most of my energy on the first climb, I began to slow down during the Mnt. Chapman accent, but Night Terror encouraged me and I continued. Soon, we saw a young, high school aged boy (who Launchpad named RED MAN) hiking infront of us and Night Terror, being the morale booster that he is, whispered to me, "Burn Him." Instead, I stopped and spoke with him. Wow! This 16 year old kid was sooo stoned, he had no idea where he had slept last night or his destination! Red Man let us by and we continued hiking.After passing Red Man, I started to slow down again and Night Terror said, "Kabir, make this mountain your B***h!" With that said, I stopped, clicked my trekking poles together twice, gave a 'War Yell,' and began running up the Mountain. As we reached the summit, we ran into a 20 year old girl from the University of Tennessee (UT)--her name is Pi Girl because her birthday is on 3/14...a math nerd type joke, but funny--and her father Incus! Appearantly, the 'yell' had startled them slightly, but they did tell us that Green Blaze and Roses were heading to Cosby Knob Shelter for the night. When we made it to Tri-Corner Knob Shelter, we met 4 PA section hikers and chatted with them until Willie Boy, Incus, Pi Girl and Red Man arrived. We were all talking and eating, but Red Man told us that he too was headed for the Cosby Knob Shelter, but for some "unknown" reason, he began hiking towards the privy instead of on the Appalachian Trail. After helping him find his bearings, we simply told him to take the side trail back to the main trail, he was off! 45 minutes later, we'd packed up and headed out for Cosby Knob. As we began our climb up Mnt. Guyot, Night Terror took off like he was running from the cops. I mean, he just blazed up that Mountain as if I'd whispered, "Night Terror, make this mountain yours!!!!" He was within eye sight long enough for me to see him pass Red Man. I began laughing wildly because this kid had a 45 minute head start on us, but we caught him quickly! Close to the Snake Den sidetrail, we passed a group of 5 girls and 2 guys from DC and they told us of Night Terror's where abouts. When we found him, he was taking a break and we joined him for quite some time--we were getting to know each other a little better through stories! Just as we were about to leave, Night Terror looked south on the trail and said, "Oh no." Yup, Red Man was coming down the trail. Toddy Bear suggested that we quickly leave, but as we were putting on our packs, he rolled by us saying he'd found his stride and nobody could catch him now. Then, Toddy Bear whispered, " Hey! Let's wait a minute guys" because if not, we would have passed him immediately. I guess he did find his stride because we didn't see Red Man again...until we began climbing Cosby Knob. At this point, Toddy Bear and I began laughing because Red Man had his stride, yet we caught him for the third time today!!! When we got to camp, we were greeted by Green Blaze and Roses, Jake, Raver (AT '01), Raver's girlfriend, and 2 UT springbreakers. We all ate, told stories, including everybody's encounter with Red Man, and then decided to go into Newport, TN--the biggest town in my county--on Wednesday to eat at Ryan's Family Steakhouse...Thanks Barbara for agreeing to pick us up! Soon, a father and his 10 year old son, [little] Jake, arrived. Well, little Jake is/was slightly overbearring, but it was with his assistance that Jake the Thru-hiker got his trail name...Other Jake. This name was bestowed because Big Jake and Little Jake look slightly similar and after hours of pestering, little Jake told Big Jake that his name should be Other Jake so there wouldn't be any confusion when people yelled the name JAKE. How funny is it that the 10 year old named the 23 year old "Other?!?" Shouldn't it have been the other way? Oh Well, that's part of what makes it so funny. Oh! Today is my biggest day...20.3 miles. Also, Little Jake's dad told us a joke: "What does Bad Hummus call his brother? BUBBA GANUSH!" It's pretty humorous! Well, time to read my Garfield Comic Strip book I found in a Hiker Box...Easy reading!