Date: 2009-03-31
From: Carter Gap Shelter, GA

To: Franklin, NC
Miles today: 15.9
Weather: overcast clouds

The plan for the day was to go to Rock Gap Shelter, but we decided to see what time we got to the shelter and then decide whether we'd stay or try to do the additional 3.8 miles to Winding Stair Gap. It was cool in the morning, so I hurried to pack up, get hiking and eat my breakfast while moving. There were many views to be seen today. I stopped at one great vistas and found Pink Blaze Nazi journaling. I don't know how he could sit there that long with the wind blowing, but I enjoyed the view until I started feeling cold and then hiked on. Right before the climb up Albert's Mountain I saw a sign for trail magic. I walked in and there was Gatorade and Fishing Freddie standing around a fire. They introduced themselves and offered me coffee or soda. I don't drink coffee and I was afraid a cold soda would chill me to much, so they offered me a grilled cheese sandwich instead. They grilled it in this cast iron contraption over the fire. It was wonderful. Thanks for the magic! While I was eating, in walked Captain D and Rock. I took some pictures and walked on. Coming up was the climb over Albert's Mountain. It looked extremely steep on the elevation chart and let me tell you it didn't disappoint. On parts of this ascent it felt like it was going straight up. I actually had to use my hands and climb up the rocks in places! It was quite challenging to negotiate this climb with a pack. I thought it was fun and different! At the top of Albert's there is a fire tower, so I took off my pack and climbed to the top. The 360 degree views were incredible! In the distance on the side of one mountain there was a stand of dark green trees amongst a lighter green background. The darker section looked like a heart to me. Was that done on purpose? I once again enjoyed the views until the wind had started to get me chilled. I climbed down, loaded up and hiked on. A couple of miles later I hit 100 miles! Big milestone for me. I know it is just a drop in the bucket to the entire trip of 2178.3 miles, but I was excited to hit triple digits in miles. Yeah!!The forest is wide open right now since the trees and most plants haven't leafed out. Now this provides great views that allow me to see great distances. This does provide a problem sometimes when I want some privacy for a latrine break. I haven't seen anybody for quite some time when I arrived at Glassmine Gap. I took off my pack and started to walk to find my latrine of the moment when Pink Blaze walked up and had some question about distances to roads (I'm thinking he isn't carrying a data book/map or he knows I always keep mine handy). I walked back to my pack and we figured the distances he was wanting and he hiked on. I started walking back to my latrine when Captain D and Rock walked up and wanted to talk distances as well. For crying out loud. They finally walked on and I ran into the woods to do my thing. Ah, relief. HaAs I walked around a bend I could see the Rock Gap Shelter and the privy. I could look down and see the toilet seat from the trail. I guess that privacy was not a consideration when they built that privy. Sorry, but I like my privacy. I arrived at the shelter just moments after Captain D and Rock. Andrew was there and he was looking at a shelf full of canned foods lined up on a shelf wishing he had a can opener. Then he sees a can of pineapple slices that had a pop top. He popped it open and shared his find. Rock tried to convince him that he could open the others with a knife if he wanted to eat something else. He was pretty excited with his find and with the fact that there is a garbage can not to far up the trail, so wouldn't have to carry the can very far. While we were trying to decide whether to stay or go, it started raining. That made up our mind and we headed to town. I hiked a bit slower then them, but we decided to hike together and get a ride together to town. While we were on top of Rocky Cove Knob, Rock had a signal and set up a shuttle and reservations for us. We got to Winding Stair Gap at 5:30 in the rain. We had to wait for about 45 minutes and even though I paced around the parking lot I was getting cold. Ron showed up and we climbed aboard. What a great guy!! He had to pick up some other hikers at the store before he took us to our hotel which was way cool. A bunch of hikers came aboard and one said hey Sunseeker. It was Joe of Joe and Honey that I had met the very first day on the way up to Springer Mountain. He had to send Honey, his dog, home because she was unable to get a good nights sleep due to the sounds of the night. She was the best behaved dog I have encountered on the trail. Joe and I caught up on things and whereabouts of fellow hikers that we both knew. It was fun to see him and I think similar encounters will happen up ahead. When we finally made it to the hotel, I was so cold I was shaking and I just wanted to get in a hot shower. I signed for my room, ran to my room, dumped my pack and took a very hot shower. Ahhh warmth! We had done 15.9 miles to get here and my feet were killing me. I decided to try ordering a pizza instead of going out to eat with Rock and Captain D. My pizza actually got delivered right to my room! Ha. I called Mark which always makes my day! I stayed up two hours past hikers midnight just relaxing in front of the TV. Just to let you know, hikers midnight is when the sun sets. Most hikers climb into their sleeping bags as it gets dark which is around 8 right now. What a great day and I didn't even go the wrong way on the trail today! Ha.