Date: 2004-04-28
From: Allen Gap

To: Flint Mtn. Shelter
Miles today: 17.6

17.6 miles in 10 hoursWe were the only two camping in the clearing. A wood thrush awoke us at 6:15. What a beautiful song, one I've heard in Maine lately. A robin started our day two days earlier.Two big climbs today, Camp Creek Bald, then Big Butt (yes, really). The weather was sunny and clear, and what views we had.To the east, mountains rolled away to the horizon, with little evidence of man. To the west lay the broad flat Tennessee Valley, with towns and farms all around, and the low Cumberland Mountains way to the west.Looking west into TN, with Cumberland Mtns in distanceWe came upon a clearing in the forest where two gravestones stood, with some flags and flowers. The Shelton brothers enlisted in the Union Army, and made the mistake of returning to a family reunion in 1863. They died in a Confederate ambush. It was a peaceful scene, and we took a break. I'd seen and read "Cold Mountain" and some strong images came to mind. We pulled into this shelter toward dusk, and barely had time to cook supper and set up our tarps. My new one works so well!Characters met: 1) General, an Englishman out of the military. 2) Ketone, a young army vet and an insulin-dependent diabetic. He's managing his condition well despite his wild caloric requirements. I met another diabetic who was also doing well. 3) A-Dog, a young man hiking in flip-flops and doing very well. Amazing. 4) Gadget, a man my age, from Houston, named after the amount of hardware he was hiking with: a GPS unit, PDA, plus the usual cell phone and digital camera, and a solar panel to recharge it all, while out on the trail.5) Speak Up, a middle school language arts teacher from Michigan, nice guy, whose students are following his trip diary. When I mentioned son John is finishing his first year of middle-school science teaching, he said it takes three years to feel comfortable and somewhat in control, and to learn not to get sucked into the little power-challenging traps they're so good at setting. Take heart, Johnny.5) Sauerkraut, a young German who came over planning to hike the AT in the usual 5 1/2 months. But his best friend decided to marry in August, so Sauerkraut is blazing up the trail in four months. Guten Gluck! His shelter-register notes are in perfect idiomatic English.Lots of late arrivals at the shelter now (9 PM). All guys, maybe a dozen all told.Guys on the Trail: Some of the many older men on the trail are retired. But many more seem in transition, on permanent LOA, jobs lost in company takeovers, business failures (e.g., Raven's nonprofit venture to stimulate computer use among inner-city kids ran out of funding). Not that many are taking a huge chunk of time away from a going concern, as I am doing. Perhaps the ideal type for the trail gave himself the name "HUD" ("homeless, unemployed, and divorced")The young guys are a different lot. Most are between jobs, courses of study, or out of the military, or can work for as long as it takes to save up, then go hiking.Whatever the circumstances, everyone out here is in good spirits, eager to face the challenges of the trail, and willing to put job concerns aside.Spouses and companions left behind...now that's another matter for another day. It's serious.It's finally quiet around the tenting and shelter area. Time to pack it in, on a lovely cool evening. Heard my friend the owl hoot twice already. Mice beware. G'nite! Now-or-Never