Date: 2014-04-05
From: Cosby Knob Shelter

To: Davenport Gap
Miles today: 8.0

I woke and got an early start on the day because this is the day I would be meeting Marcia at Davenport Gap. This anticipation had been an underlying motivational force thru the Smokies. And the day is finally here. Not that the journey through the mountains had not be rewarding but had been looking forward to this since day of start. I got my morning upper body workout before I even got out the shelter sleeping spot. That is, I wrestled my sleeping bag back into its stuff sack. Then put everything else in backpack except bear bag. Next I went out to bear cables and retrieved my food bag, put it in its place and closed the backpack. I kept my fleece pants and fleece jacket on as well as adding gloves for my fingers. Did not seem below freezing, but hands getting numb. I just wanted to get the day underway and worry about eating later. I thought that I would either stop at Davenport Shelter or just go all the way to gap, then make hot cocoa and cook some pasta. I passed up Davenport Shelter as well as the Mt. Cammerer fire tower because I was tired today and just wanted to get to destination and spend rest of day relaxing until Marcia arrived.After leaving Cosby Knob, the trail dips down into Low Gap at 4252 feet, then winds back up Mt. Cammerer to 5000 feet for a climb of 800 feet including some slight drops and climbs in the process. As I began to regain my altitude, I began to notice some slight twinges of frost on twigs and leaves, so I surmised the temperture was close to freezing. However the higher I went the frostier everything became. I climbed into the region where the hard rime frost had formed from the freezing cloud that engulfed the mountain. My phone was out of power but I snapped one picture anyway before it went to sleep. This was the first day since March 24, I had not seen snow in air and/or on ground, a span of 12 days. And today I saw flakes of frozen fog falling.Since I was in such a hurray to get to destination, it made the day seem as if it was going even slower. But actually, it only took 4.5 hours to go the 8 miles, which translates, into nearly 2 miles an hour. As I lost altitude, the frost disappeared and everything began to look more like spring. The rhododendrons were budding at the lower altitude and more varieties of flowers were blooming. It looked as if tulip poplars were budding high above my head also.Once I got Davenport Gap, where TN highway 32 intersects the trail, I got some water from the stream in the hollow, treated it, then got out the stove to have a meal on the large boulders by the road placed there by the park service to deter parking in the dirt area. I spent the day greeting and congratualting thru hikers as they came out of the park and proceeded north to Standing Bear Hostel or beyond. I was surprised to see a hiker coming down the trail who had left camp well before I did. She explained she had hiked two miles in the south direction after leaving camp. It is easier to do than you think because normally there are very few signs giving the direction¢just white blazes. Jeremy my son, asked if trail was diffiecutlt to figurer out where it was going. I said usually pretty clear but just have to make sure of direction when leaving camp. When on comes into camp, he or she is tired and ready for rest and is just looking for the shelter. Once site is spotted and one gets a good nights rest, some of the memory is erased from night before, and you have to be intentional about which direction you take off. So far I have gone the right way.Lots of drama at the Gap today. A boy scout troop unloaded backpacks and waited around for leader to park the vehicles. They were nearly ready to depart when the leaders noticed the boys had disappeared. The adults surmised in a few seconds that the boys had taken off on their on and went the wrong direction. One could hear the leader yelling ¢Michael!¢ forever, as he dashed up the trail after them. Each time a hiker came out of woods, he or she would report on the closing gap between troop and leader. Finally, all showed back up, having hiked a total of 4 extra miles for the day. Meanwhile a motorcycle gang showed up at the gap, but they were all friendly middle-aged or older men and women out for ride in the mountains. I had a lengthy conversation with one of the men who inquired about hiking on the A.T. I have now, if not already before, become a proponent of long distance backpacking as a way of encouraging others to get out into nature. Seems they had ridden up from Cleveland Tn to take advantage of beautify spring weather.One couple came by looking for I-40 exit after driving around for a while on the NC side of the gap. (Davenport Gap is on the boundary of TN and NC.) I showed them a map and they decided to try their luck on going back towards Cosby. Another couple who had KY license plates were looking for the car show in Sevierville. I suggested they go back to Cosby and ask for directions on best way to get to Sevierville from that location. Marcia (my spouse), Paris (daughter) and grandchildren got to Oakmont, checked in and unloaded the Prius. Marcia texted me for directions and I texted back to go to Cosby and take highway 32 to Davenport Gap. Then my phone went completely dead and I had no way of knowing if I had even typed in right road number. All I could do was wait. The sun was sinking low in the sky and the coyotes were started their evening serande along with a couple of owls calling. It was only now getting near the time when Marcia would have had time to get to the gap. An older couple came driving slowing up the road appearing to looking for something over in the ditch. They pulled over by me and started a conversation. Turns out that the man¢s name was Edsel Ford but he said not related to the Fords with the money. I replied I am a Partin but not closely related to the ones with the money in Sevierville. He stated that the little hollow just down the hill from me on the Park side of the road was his old home place. They were looking at the flowers blooming there. His father and grandfather had owned land around Davenport Gap that had been bought and included in the Park boundaries. They kept talking to me until Marcia arrived because they didn¢t want to leave me out there in the wilderness by the road all alone. They were actually the last vehicle of the day to come that way. I noticed a peculiar rock sitting up on the upper side of the road. It looked like an old tombstone of sandstone with carving of 1821 plus something else. Turns out that this stone was set up by Col. William Davenport who marked the beginning of a survey point when he re-surveyed the state line between NC and TN in 1821.I have made it out the Smokies now and passed my final exam. The first semester if over. My first semester at Berea College was the toughest academically ever for me. High School had been challenging as 5 of my class vied for valedictorian. We had a friendly competition in which we helped and encouraged one another. We ended up with a three way tie for first place and nearly a tie with the other 2 students for second place in the GPA. But when I went to Berea College everybody there was a valedictorian, so classes were tough. However, at the end of the last final, even before I received my grades, I reflected that if I never attended another class at Berea, it had been worth it all. When I reached Davenport Gap, I also reflected that if I did not go anther mile on the A.T., it had been worth it all. But I learned years ago that obtaining a liberal arts degree was the result of a complete process of 4.5 years for me. I have a sense of what an A.T. thru hike might be, but will never know for myself, unless I continue my trek north.