Date: 2004-04-18
From: Walnut Mtn Road

To: Rt 19E
Miles today: 10.2

AT in the Surrounding Community7AM - KincoraFirst off I'd like to thank Gnorts and Donna for the package waiting for me when I got to Kincora. In accordance with Trail tradition, the cookies and jelly beans were shared around. The raisins went into the Ponderer special GORP, which until then had no R (I tend to use dried cranberries). It also generally has no P, since I favor cashews and almonds, especially since I have added peanut butter to my food bag.11:30AM - Jones Falls on the Elk RiverI met 10 hikers within 1 hour of when I started walking:Apple Pie; Singe; Oaja, short for Oatmeal Ninja; Walks Softly (yes, he does carry a big stick); Princess; Princess's friend; Maizie; Lars; Long Shot; and Poona. All were heading for Kincora for tonight, so I bet that all bunks will be full. All were through hikers except Princess and her friend who are walking between the Smokies and Virginia.About an hour later I met two other hikers, Scott and his brother-in-law, Kenny. They are out for a day's hike and Kenny is essentially hiking home, since he told me he lives just down the hill from the shelter where I ate lunch yesterday.I was a little startled by this statement, since from the Trail you see very little evidence of the community around the Trail, except for an occasional pasture or road. After a bit of reflection I realized that this is because the AT runs through a corridor of government controlled land that is sometimes only a quarter mile across (Something like 2% of the Trail goes through private land, on which the gov't has easements.). So it is not at all surprising that someone lives close to a shelter which has the feeling that it is in the middle of the wilderness.The government's method of acquiring land was a little heavy-handed in the early days, so there is still some lingering resentment. In fact, the Trailhead where Bob will be picking me up is the site of some of the more well-known ugly incidents (burning of a shelter, verbal abuse and trash thrown at hikers, etc). Since I am hiking way ahead of schedule this morning so I am finding it much more pleasant to take my lunch next to this peaceful waterfall than to hike out to the road and wait an hour for Bob to come (so if you don't get this entry, please send out a search party :-). But Bob has told me that the relationships with the community have improved in recent years, since their method of acquiring land for relocations is much more respectful of the landowners now. There have not been any notable incidents in the last couple of years.2:45PM - Rt 19E, Waiting for BobIn fact, now that I have given you the bad side I must tell you about the good side of this trailhead. I have talked to three hikers in the last few days who have had very good experiences. Two of them were actually offered rides into town to pick up food and back out to the Trail, without the hiker even asking. The third was a hiker who got a hitch into town, and another back out with no difficulty either.8PM - KincoraThe hostel is full, and the overflow has gone off to other hostels nearby. About half of the people I met who were headed in this direction are here. I guess the others went elsewhere or continued along the Trail. Now everyone is relaxing out on the porch making tomorrow's plans as the day fades. Tomorrow I head over the Humps, over 5000', and maybe to the top of Roan Knob, over 6000'.Milestone: Today I crossed the 500 mile point. To me this is the first significant milestone since the 100 mile point - it is nearly halfway to the midway point.See you on down the Trail------------------------------ Local access to Pocketmail mobilee-mail now available in Europe, NorthAmerica & Australia http://www.pocketmail.com