Date: 2006-10-04
From: miss janet's erwin,tn

To: cherry gap shelter
Miles today: 15.1
Weather: few clouds

(a word of thanks before i begin my daily transcriptions: i¢m grateful, john, for your helpful input¢¦.perhaps my entries will be a little easier to read with the following reminder:[1]¢¦ entries actually consists of the transcribing of TWO accounts¢¦..each [originally on paper] were recorded at consecutive locations as we hiked the appalachian trail northbound¢¦...daily entries on ¢trail journals¢ begin FIRST with a copy of an entry from our 2003 thru-hike, and are followed NEXT by a copy of an entry from our incomplete [1653 miles] hike this year [2006][2]¢¦following these two transcriptions are current comments under the heading ¢NOTES/OBSERVATIONS/COMPARISONS¢¢¦.these comments [at the bottom of the page] are meant to represent an examination of certain similarities or dissimilarities in the two hikes so that prospective hikers might conveniently collect helpful information in preparing for their own hikes¢¦.[ also included are my own current musings][3]¢¦photos [in general] are also in consecutive order ¢¦..the photo displayed on each page illustrates one of the entries, and is usually referenced by the date [2003 or 2006]¢¦.the exceptions to consecutive placement of photos are at the very beginning of the ¢album¢ [when i was just learning the system] and our ¢katahdin photo¢ which i inserted a few weeks ago at thanksgiving [4]¢¦as for grammar and spelling, i prefer to write like i speak...why do i insist on almost always using the ¢lower case¢?.....because i don¢t believe in ¢capitalism¢![ha ha]¢¦.i plagiarized another good friend of mine [also named john] on that one!                  a very merry Christmas to you, too, sir!....may your deciphering of our journals give you far fewer headaches¢¦.keep in touch!)¢¦¢¦¢¦.now, on to today¢s transcripts¢¦¢¦¢¦¢¦¢¦.======2003====== Lord¢s Day, march 23, day 30 (a.m.)yesterday we walked all the way from big bald to erwin¢¦about 19 miles!*¢¦.but it was one of our ¢easiest¢, most pleasant days so far¢¦..(at least after we got into the Pisgah forest)¢¦.LOVELY walking!.....nice level trail following in and out around the base of the mountains¢¦.good temps¢¦.sunshine!...and coming into erwin was really neat!....looking down on the nolichucky river¢¦watching the train cross¢¦.little houses¢¦cabins¢¦.churches in the gorge¢¦the countryside and erwin spreading out far beyond¢¦.the river was bigger than i expected¢¦.. we saw carolina hemlock up on the top (our first time to see this type of hemlock in the wild!...very exciting!)¢¦.erwin looked to be a long way DOWN!....we traveled along the river to go get our maildrop¢¦.the trail was quite rocky and a bit ¢forlorn¢¢¦.we almost turned back thinking maybe we¢d made a wrong turn¢¦.but we eventually found the campground¢¦.the guy who ran the place was very nice to us¢¦.very helpful and even directed us to miss janet¢s¢¦(we wanted to shower, do laundry and get some town food)¢¦we told him we¢d probably be back, but we didn¢t¢¦.it got to be too late after getting¢ all our stuff done¢¦.miss janet offered us a bunk which was an offer we couldn¢t refuse¢¦(though we did feel at bit bad for not giving the other fellow our ¢business¢¢¦.anyway, we were glad to have experienced miss janet¢s¢¦.it was kind of a fun, crazy sort of place¢¦.very ¢laid back¢¢¦.(took a little getting used to for us ¢old codgers¢ who are way too ¢set in our ways¢!....but miss janet is one of the best ¢teachers¢ i know for learning the lessons of how to relax and ENJOY your life!....the people here are : sasquatch and nasty (trying to play the digeradoo), shaman (abundantly tattooed), pilgrim and sugar high, stitch, not yet, mikenango, sweet¢n¢low, and several others whose names we haven¢t learned¢¦.there¢s plenty of beer, t.v., and laughter!....amazingly though everyone zonked out by about 11 or so for some good, solid hiker sleepin¢!...it was very quiet¢¦.i don¢t know when we¢ll be able to get a shuttle back to the trail¢¦.i¢m gonna go see if i can give a hand with breakfast¢¦..a letter from carli and also the the dubles cheered us¢¦.(p.m.)well¢¦¢¦janet graciously consented to take paw-ee and me early on back to the trailhead (8:30), ¢cause the ¢kids¢ were gonna ¢slack pack¢ a little later¢¦(janet calls it ¢freedom hiking¢¢¦.i like that!)¢¦.so we kept on hiking north and met them halfway coming south¢¦.they said they¢d see us at roan mtn tomorrow night and did we want them to bring hot dogs¢¦(i doubted that when it came right down to it that they¢d really want to haul hotdogs up the mountain)¢¦but it could be a ¢party¢ at 6000 ft tomorrow nite if they do!....killeen and i had lunch at a power line clearing (before beauty spot)¢¦.PERFECT!....nice, warm grassy area¢¦..we had carried with us some fresh avocado, tomato and green onion which made a delicious ¢picnic-in-a-pita¢!(again we were thankful to miss janet who had taken us to purchase these items at the store)¢¦.the sky was so blue!....we pulled out our ¢parasols¢ to keep from getting sunburned¢¦.it was the best sunday afternoon picnic i think we¢ve ever had!...(we had even enjoyed ¢appetizers¢ on the way up¢¦.from a HUGE patch of teaberry with LOTS of berries!)¢¦THEN came beauty spot!...another incredible bald!....not as breathtaking perhaps as big bald, but it wasn¢t as windy either!...we went on over unaka ¢¦.THAT was hard!....and we didn¢t have much water¢¦.we had read our schedule wrong and after walking through this deep, magical red spruce forest, we mistakenly thought it was less than a mile to camp¢¦.it was over two!....we had collected water (thinkin¢ we¢d have enough for supper, too), but ended up dumping it out! (can you believe it!)¢¦it was just too heavy and we didn¢t know where the heck that shelter had got to!....the crows in the trees were just laughin¢ at us¢¦.i can¢t blame them¢¦we¢re tired¢¦.we¢re tenting here at the shelter¢¦..it¢s a bit easier that way to get up and out early without disturbing anyone¢¦.we didn¢t get to go to church today¢¦.maybe in damascus¢¦.i really miss it¢¦.i think of our little church back home each hour of every sunday a.m¢¦¢¦i think mom is supposed to have her mri tomorrow¢¦.we¢ll be thinkin¢ of and prayin¢ for her¢¦.======2006======monday, march 13*, day 30 (14.7 miles from roan high knob shelter to apple   house shelter)what an incredible day!...the Lord just keeps on givin¢ us great weather!....paw-ee just said that in his opinion, ¢today was the most spectacular day of the whole trip!¢ (and those of you who know him know that for him to ¢emote¢ like that is not typically within the realm of his usual mode of expression¢¦.he must¢ve REALLY thought it was good!)¢¦.and i think i¢d probably just hafta agree! the ice on top of roan really ended up bein¢ nothing to contend with¢¦we had on our yak trax and hiked carefully¢¦we were glad we didn¢t take the road (as had been suggested), because it was an absolute ¢wonderland¢ coming down roan through all those ¢Christmas trees¢*¢¦..then of course we had the balds today!......spectacular skies, clouds, views of mountains, villages¢¦.oh my!....it took our breath away!.....we saw a deer today on the trail, too¢¦.i tried to take her picture, but no way!....she was off in a flash!...the climb down to this shelter (apple house) was pretty hard¢¦.LOTS of roots and rocks¢¦..and i¢m feelin¢ kinda draggy like maybe i¢m getting¢ a cold¢¦.we had ¢thai coconut¢ soup for supper, though, and it felt very soothing to my throat...nice and lemon-y¢¦..different for a change¢¦.would DEFINITELY do that recipe again!...it is really warm tonite¢¦¢¦even a few mosquitoes¢¦.hope the mice leave us alone¢¦we both really need the rest¢¦..prayin¢ we¢ll feel revived tomorrow for a good 17¢¦.next day then, we¢ll be at kincora¢¦.can¢t wait!....need to decide what we¢ll buy at the grocery¢¦(everything?)¢¦paw-ee is indulging in this ¢fantasy¢ of building a camper top for the truck when we get back home and headin¢ out west¢¦.sounds good to me!...we¢re wonderin¢ about our place in the world¢¦¢¦.will we be ¢helpers¢?....missionaries?....what?.....out here on the trail is a good time to pray about it all¢¦¢¦Lord¢¦.You¢ve been gracious¢¦..please show us now Your will¢¦..*NOTES/OBSERVATIONS/COMPARISONS¢¦.*19 miles¢¦.it was actually only about 17¢¦.it must¢ve seemed longer*march 13¢¦¢¦you can see just how pretty this day was by looking at our photos¢¦.in the ¢journal list¢, click on ¢side trip to thanksgiving¢ (i think) and then click on the photo and then ¢previous¢ about 10 or so¢¦.that should get you there¢¦.*Christmas trees¢¦..speaking of Christmas¢¦.it¢s almost here! i¢m actually entering this transcript on dec. 21st, 2006 and i¢m excited and thankful to celebrate one more time the birth of my Saviour!.....He was willin¢ to enter my world to make a difference¢¦.am i willin¢ to do the same?.....