Date: 2015-04-24
From: Rock Gap Shelter

To: Franklin, NC
Miles today: 3.8
Weather: overcast clouds

2079.4 miles to go.Got up early and walked alone to Winding Stair Gap, intent on catching the first shuttle into Franklin, NC, with a hot breakfast weighing heavily on my mind. About halfway there, I walked below the crest of a long, high ridge and I could see the sunlight streaming over it from the other side. At one point there was a short side trail (just a few feet) to the top of the crest, and I could see a tent among the trees. I imagined the view could be spectacular with the sun still just rising over the mountain tops, so I detoured. I walked softly, not wanting to disturb the tent nearby.The view was quite impressive, and I just stood there, soaking it in and letting the sun's rays warm me in the chilly morning air. After a few seconds, I heard a noise from the tent, and looked over to find the door, facing the sun, had actually been open the entire time. A lady with a very intent look on her face was taking several pictures of me with a rather large camera - it was the sound of the shutter that I had heard. I thought she might have gotten some good ones, so I figured I would get her to email them to me. By way of opening the conversation, I said "That's a beautiful view you hav-""I don't want to talk," she interrupted me. I closed my mouth, a little taken aback, and realized that in the entire 3-5 seconds that we had known each other, her mouth had remained in an unfriendly scowl. That's when the pieces clicked in my brain and I realized who she was. A few days back, one guy talked about a weird lady who camped near his group. He said she tried to impose a "quiet time" on the group, made decidedly odd statements, and took many pictures of him, even inside his tent. She had asked him if she was making him uncomfortable, and when he replied yes, she said "Good."It took me all of about a second to realize this was the same lady, and about a nanosecond to decide breakfast was more interesting than her. I said "I know who you are," and immediately turned to walk away. She replied "Good," and then after a few seconds apparently she thought of a cunning insult, because she shouted after me: "Douchebag!" I just chuckled and kept walking. Hikers are generally such a friendly, easy going lot, that I had quite forgotten there are miserable people in the world.The entire hike took less than two hours, crazy encounter and all. At Winding Stair Gap I met up with Black Dynamite, Pipi, Fox Feet, Sashe, and TNT, all of them also intent on a hot breakfast. When the shuttle arrived, we all piled in and headed to town, pumping the shuttle driver for intel the whole way. We all went to the Budget Inn Motel, which until this year has been one of three options for hikers to stay at in Franklin - and all three were owned by the same guy. This year, Gooder's Grove opened, run by a thru-hiker, and hopefully a little competition will be good, because we all decided that we definitely did not approve of the Budget Inn - we may sleep in the dirt, but even hikers have SOME standards.The rest of the day was a pretty normal town day: an orgy of hot showers, good food, and checking out the gear stores ... except for the evening. "This Guy" (his trail name) texted us and said that "Zen," owner/operator of Gooder's Grove, was organizing a pub crawl. Did we want Zen to pick us up as well? Abso-frigging-lutely! So, Zen picked up Hare and Tortoise along with me, dropped us all off with This Guy and a few others at pub #1, and we commenced to sampling the drinks, swapping hiker stories, and meeting some local color. I lost track of how many pubs we finally hit, but I do remember having a great time.