Date: 2004-04-06
From: Davis Farm Campsite

To: Knot Maul Branch Shelter
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: clear sky

Chestnut Knob7:30PM - Knot Maul Branch ShelterIt turns out that Burkes Garden has more activity than I had thought yesterday. As I ascended the rim of that depression this morning I could see more and more of it. I would guess it has a score or so of farms, and a residential population, but I would be surprised if it had more than a thousand people in it. So it is still small by most measures.My morning was spent going about one fourth of the way around the rim, with Chestnut Knob my destination. It was mostly a ridge walk with a gradual increase in elevation, so it was not too strenuous. Chestnut Knob itself was a different story. Just before there was a fairly deep gap, so the climb to the summit was nearly 1000' in just over a mile (I think that Chestnut Knob is the highest peak I have climbed so far on my hike, at 4410'.), so it was a steep hike. Moreover, about halfway up the trail began to be covered with snow, and was about 6" deep most of the rest of the way with drifts over 1'.At the top is a shelter. It is much different in design from all the other shelters I have stopped at. First if all it is made of stone with a concrete floor. Its picnic table is inside, and there are sleeping platforms on 2 levels, with room for at least a dozen people. And finally, there are cables embedded in the walls and looped around roof members. These were clearly to keep the roof from blowing off, and the shelter is clearly designed to be a haven in a storm.I have met about a half dozen hikers who have stayed there. They all talked about how cold it was. That I can believe since where I was last night fell to at least 20, and that was 1000' lower down. But when I got there around noon it was in bright sunshine and quite comfortable.As steep as the slope up to Chestnut Knob was, it was gradual going down. In the first two miles past the shelter the elevation probably fell only several hundred feet. The first half mile or so of that was in the woods. But then I came out of the woods onto a long grassy slope and saw the most awesome sight of my hike so far. There in front of me, spread over 180 deg were mountains, mountains, mountains. Some, way in the distance were completely covered in white. I'm sure I was seeing my next three weeks right there in front of me. If I were a NoBo and turned around at the top of that grassy slope, I'm sure I would feel a sense of accomplishment as I looked back on what I had just hiked through.I met two thru-hikers today, Jay Walker and Brick House. They were travelling together and headed for Chestnut Knob Shelter for the night. I also met Mr Persistent, who has been section hiking the Trail every year since 1989, in order. This year he will go a little past Bland (to the hamburger place Enoch mentioned).Today, a milestone: one month on my thru-hike has been completed. Tomorrow, a mail stop and town stay in Atkins, but my first mail stop without a zero day.See you on down the TrailA couple of word problems: (Just don't expect this every day.)1) I am thinking of three four-letter words, each two vowels, two consonants. Each is the brand name of a type of article used in the outdoors. The first word can be changed into the second by changing just one letter, and the second to the third by changing one letter.The first type of article is used by nearly every thru-hiker. The second type of article is used by almost no thru-hiker. The third type of article is used by many thru-hikers, probably more than half.Here is an indication of the three types of article, in order:_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ s_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ s_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ sHint: The vowels don't change.2) Yesterday I referred th Swishy Chrissy by two phrases: 'math master' and 'cast member'. These phrases are 70% anagrams (Two expressions are X% anagrams if there is a 1 to 1 correspondence between X% of the letters of one expression and X% of the letters of the other, spaces ignored, but no larger 1 to 1 correspondence. Eg, 'Pooh' and 'Fudd' are 0% anagrams while 'ways' and 'sway' are 100% anagrams, or just anagrams.).a) Find an anagram for the letters that are in the 70% anagram correspondence that is a verb associated with one of my expressions in the 0% anagram example (maybe both).b) Take all of the letters NOT in the correspondence in the 70% anagram. Find an anagram that is what the little guy would have doubly shouted if instead of the South Seas the setting of 'Fantasy Island' had been Manhattan.------------------------------ Local access to Pocketmail mobilee-mail now available in Europe, NorthAmerica & Australia http://www.pocketmail.com