Date: 2006-09-21
From: russell field shelter

To: silers bald shelter
Miles today: 14.7

======2003====== tuesday, march 11, day 18what a day!....great weather AGAIN!.....perfect for the views from rocky top!WOW!.....i think this might be my best-loved place yet!.....there was the neatest little stone ¢oven¢ someone had built into the slope there¢¦..and, like the song* says, it really was very rocky at the top!.....but you could see all the way down to cades cove (all lit up with the mornin¢ sun) and all the way over to fontana on the other side!....it gave a good perspective of where we¢ve walked¢¦(did we really do THAT?)almost forgot to mention another favorite place¢¦..spence field*¢¦.also AWESOME!.....it¢s a regular ¢garden¢!...i felt like i was in a movie, on location in ireland or something!....it¢s grass-y¢¦knoll-ish¢¦.with shrubs, dwarfed trees, rolling hills, boulders ¢¦and, of course, the trail itself, worn deep by the feet of many travelers, charmingly meanders over the ancient spine of this relatively ¢new¢ park¢¦..ah, yes!...i was all smiles!...(my energy seemed to be at a peak today as well!)¢¦..we saw a miniature beech tree in this area¢¦.bet it was at least 20 years old¢¦..but it was tiny and as perfectly formed as one you might see towering in a moist valley somewhere¢¦the kind with the ¢billboard¢ trunks that lovers like to carve their initials into¢¦¢¦and, of course, as is typical with beech trees, those beautiful, beige, papery leaves were still hangin¢ on for dear life (the rest, i imagine, the wind had stolen all the way to maryville!)¢¦this afternoon, though, we got really tired¢¦.i found myself needing to impose a rythmn of prayer and song as i tried to force my feet to ¢march¢ to the beat of ¢the joy of the Lord is my strength¢!....whew!...those last 3 miles were a doozy!....long climbs¢¦.straight up¢¦. we had to keep reminding ourselves that the views aren¢t free and that many more ¢rewards¢ were yet to come!....when we got to the shelter tonite we had a big surprise!...people we knew! (or sort of knew)¢¦..the dubles grandson, allen, the pettit¢s nephew and one other kid (kellogg, i think) were already settled in there for the evening!..crazy!....not really knowing them that well, however, we didn¢t recognize them as ¢neighbors¢ from lookout mtn¢¦it was so random!.....we walked in and allen said, ¢don¢t you all go to rock creek fellowship?¢¢¦(i glanced around the shelter for the hidden cameras as my mouth fell open!)¢¦. ¢tuckers, right?¢¢¦.. ¢uhhh, yeah¢¦¢i replied, stunned, and still tryin¢ to figure out if i was the subject for america¢s funniest home videos¢¦.. ¢my grandmother goes to that church¢ he said matter-of-factly and then it dawned on me!...SHARON!.... ¢oh, yeah!¢ i gushed, relieved that my memory was still partially intact¢¦ ¢is this a small world or what!¢¢¦we carried on with a bit of small talk and enjoyed another fire* that these young men had built¢¦( its warmth should be welcome as there is no tarp over the opening here)¢¦.but now we are drifting off¢¦no chance of us old folks spoiling anybody¢s plans for a party¢¦¢¦we¢re pooped!...we¢ve got to get a very early start for a 15 miler tomorrow¢¦. ======2006====== wednesday, march 1, day 18¢¦(silers bald to icewater spring 15.5 mi.)another VERY difficult day!...we walked in deep snow (18 to 24 inches) most of the day¢¦very tiring¢¦.hard on the old muscles¢¦(even my back was a little sore)¢¦we left at 7:30 and still could not make it in here to icewater springs shelter till almost 6:00¢¦we had few real breaks today¢¦..just snacked and trudged through the snow¢¦.it started off very foggy and damp but by midday it cleared off and was beautiful!....we saw our first fir trees today¢¦in fact, we walked through the boreal forests for the most part of the day (not as majestic, i¢m sure, as when earl schaffer hiked the first time, but really magical just the same)¢¦.. ¢there is the dearest freshness deep down things!¢*¢¦these struggling firs just keep on tryin¢!.....it¢s like we¢ve gone back to christmas, walkin¢ through the snow and among the fragrant ¢christmas trees¢!.....the stars are magnificent tonight!....in fact, this shelter is famous for views¢¦..as the sun went down in a pink, watercolor sky, the spires of firs were silhouetted against the sunset¢¦.a small town (bryson city?) twinkled in a valley far away¢¦..i¢m so glad we trudged on today to be able to see this tonight!....i tried to pray today though the majority of my concentrated effort went into each careful step as i tried not to injure myself in the ice and snow ¢¦it doesn¢t appear that conditions will be much different tomorrow¢¦¢¦.it¢s nice to be here with rubin again¢¦.like us, he¢s pretty quiet, but who needs a lot of chatter when the mountains are whisperin¢ their two cents worth!.....*NOTES/OBSERVATIONS/COMPARISONS-----*rocky top¢¦..never did figure out if this is THE rocky top all of us tennesseans grow up singin¢ about¢¦..is it north carolina here or tennessee?....the trail follows right along the border¢¦..*spence field¢¦.we had hiked there before (and some of the other trails in the smokies), but i think hiking the AT gave us a new appreciation for this particular section and the southern appalachians in general¢¦..what a TREASURE these mountains are!....i don¢t know why we americans dream of traveling to europe or ANYWHERE abroad when we have THIS in our own ¢backyard¢!......(don¢t forget to check out our other photos of this section!)*campfires¢¦we were always too tired to build them(though once or twice i forced myself to at least help collect a little wood for those dedicated ¢woodsmen¢ who really had their heart set on one)¢¦most thru-hikers decline a campfire, however, since cooking is usually done on a stove and many hikers practice a more ¢low impact¢ environmental ethic¢¦..still, there were a few who really loved having their fires and we have to admit, paw-ee and i often welcomed them when asked if we minded¢¦¢¦* ¢the dearest freshness deep down things¢¢¦..a quote from gerard manly hopkins (one of our favorite and most fun-to-read-out-loud poets)¢¦.from his poem, ¢God¢s Grandeur¢