Date: 2006-10-05
From: cherry gap shelter

To: roan high knob shelter
Miles today: 15.2
Weather: clear sky

======2003======monday, march 24, day 31(a.m.)it¢s 8:30¢¦.we¢ve been walking since before 6:00 and have stopped to have breakfast in the sunshine¢¦very springlike today¢¦.not a cloud in the sky!....the vireos* are cheering us on this a.m¢¦..the trees* have caught our fancy on this trip¢¦.never in your wildest imagination could you ¢invent¢ these trees!¢¦..all their shapes and colors and, yes! even ¢actions¢!......i saw one¢s gaping mouth laughing aloud yesterday!....i¢ve seen them kneeling, dancing, and even blowing bubbles*¢¦..sometimes they¢re tall and dark and straight¢¦.sometimes gnarled and tangled¢¦..you never know what you might find them doing!...this morning as i gaze across the gorge into the deep , gray mountainside before me, the sun illuminates every twig, so that it looks like the ¢scrawl¢ of some secret code¢¦.some ¢calligraphy¢ dashed across the ridgeside¢¦¢¦if only i could read it¢¦.(p.m.)most of this day was UP!.....at least from about 1:30 on¢¦it included the climb up to roan mtn. shelter¢¦.the highest on the AT¢¦.6200ft!....there was still ice and snow at the top...the ¢hill¢ up from the gap was really hard because it was a steep, ungraded 45 degrees all the way (my feet didn¢t want to bend that way!)¢¦.once we got into the spruce forest , though, it was easier¢¦.the climb was just as steep (if not steeper), but there were rock ¢landings¢ to give your feet a chance to ¢level out¢ with each step¢¦.the forest was indescribable!...¢Christmas trees¢ everywhere¢¦.lots of moss carpeting the boulders¢¦.green rock cap fern¢¦.club moss¢¦.and lots of ¢sculptural¢ roots¢¦(some really fat ones that looked as if they¢d been hugging the rocks for decades!)¢¦.one of these tree/rock/root combinations looked like this: ( * see our notes below )but before we got up to the evergreen forest, the hardwood mountainside was carpeted with grass¢¦.probably mountain oat grass or perhaps some type of sedge¢¦.most of the trees were birch with a few scattered spruce (i think) and they were scattered around ¢ankle deep¢ in this wonderful pale grass¢¦(how i DO love the grasses!)¢¦..at one point we took a picture of what we called ¢big birch knob¢(photo above)¢¦.because it had this big ol¢ gnarly birch nestled into a ¢vignette¢ of boulders,, rhododendron and even a small spruce¢¦..this ¢arrangement¢ perfectly framed the mountains which ¢hazily slept¢ in the distance¢¦.and i forgot to mention that we also had another fabulous picnic* today at little rock knob!....it was great!....we were able to lean back against some boulders in a cushion-y stand of grass amid plenty of nice, warm sunshine!the shelter* here is so cool!.....a real log cabin nestled in this spruce forest has the look and feel of what i always imagined ¢middle earth¢ to look like¢¦..big boulders rise up out of the soft, needle-strewn floor¢¦and the sun¢s setting was especially fantastic!...the whole mountaintop became an ¢earth-room¢¢¦. the dark evergreen ¢ceiling¢ was barely lit with the warm glow of ¢hearth¢ or ¢lamplight¢, reflected off ¢walls¢ awash with red sky!.....black tree-trunks, thick moss and laurel ¢furnished¢ the room perfectly with comforts and cornices only God could dream up!....we were ¢at home¢¢¦.even in the cold!the ¢gang¢ finally showed up¢¦.alas¢¦.there¢s no party¢¦..hotdogs are a bust!......we are tenting out here away from the shelter¢¦..i hear a radio!....well¢¦.these kids are havin¢ fun!..... i so admire these girls that are hikin¢¢¦¢¦..no wimpy women out here! tomorrow we¢ll cover the balds!....bill and diana have ¢4 hearts¢ assigned to the schedule!....it should be beautiful!....i hope i have enough film to sufficiently document the whole thing!.....i read today about Jesus raising lazarus from the dead¢¦(i had changed my bible to ride on top of my pack, so i was able to easily get it out at ¢second breakfast¢)¢¦it was good to have that reading to occupy my thinking for a while as i walked along¢¦.the unpacking of the Book was much easier than the unpacking of its message¢¦.i had an AWFUL case of spring fever today!======2006====== tuesday, march 14, day 31(18.2 miles from apple house shelter to moreland   gap shelter )these very cold winter days make it difficult to think¢¦.much less to write!....we¢ve been spoiled the last few days by the lovely warm weather¢¦.and today was actually beautiful, too, just WINDY with dropping temps all day¢¦but we were grateful for the clear skies¢¦.it stormed last night¢¦shook the shelter!...but we were warm and dry and safe (¢under the Shadow of the Almighty¢)¢¦..some scouts came in about 10:00 and pitched camp in the rain¢¦i felt so sorry for them and went out to ask if they were okay (needed water, etc¢¦) they seemed fine¢¦.didn¢t want to share the shelter¢¦..but one of the adults ended up movin¢ his tent down the trail¢¦..i don¢t know when¢¦.we just noticed it was gone when we went out at 6 and then passed it on the way¢¦.it was mostly easy hiking today¢¦.a few climbs out at first and then a couple more just before the shelter here at moreland¢¦¢¦we¢ve hung a tarp someone left behind (THANK HEAVEN!) as the wind is blowing directly into the shelter (which is perched right on TOP of this windy ¢knoll¢¢¦.i had to find a place behind the shelter to cook supper out of the wind (lipton chicken/broccoli¢¦.no ¢homemade¢¢¦..wasn¢t that great, but at least it was hot!)¢¦.we met craig and rachel today¢¦they had camped in the storm at the elk river¢¦will do the pct in may¢¦.they went on to WARM kincora tonight¢¦.we will go tomorrow (i f we don¢t wake up FROZEN!....we¢re prayin¢ that the Lord will still these winds a bit for us tonight¢¦.we also met some german hikers and a couple of other guys near walnut mtn road¢¦.AND¢¦.SEIKO came by!....good ol¢ Seiko (whom we met at kincora in ¢03)¢¦he had come to shuttle all these folks¢¦.said (among other things) he had been sailing on watauga!....how good it was to see him again!.....prayed for our small group today¢¦.and we took the little side trail over to jones falls (which we didn¢t do in ¢03¢¦it was worth the few extra minutes over there)¢¦but someone had left their trash so paw-ee had to pack it out for them¢¦had an ¢epiphany¢ this a.m¢¦..we had read last night from one of the epistles of peter about ¢being prepared to give an account of the hope¢ that we have¢¦.. so, the thought of ¢hope¢ came to my mind again as we passed 19E where locals had unfortunately dumped a lot of trash there by the roadside and stream¢¦(hadn¢t changed from 2003)¢¦but i had changed i think¢¦.my attitude i found to be a bit different this time as i stopped short of criticizing and began to consider WHY people might do such things¢¦..the answer that seemed to echo back to me out of my own soul somewhere was: ¢because they have no hope¢!¢¦.could i have been so stupid to have thought that i (a ¢non-trash-dumper¢) was somehow ¢better¢ than the trash-dumpers?!! NO!! how ridiculous!....we aren¢t who we are because of what we DO! (contrary to what some of us may think!)¢¦.we do what we do because of who we ARE!....and aside from Christ, NONE of us can truly BE anything¢¦.there is no real hope apart from Him¢¦.no meaning¢¦.no reality¢¦.we might as well be dumpin¢ our trash onto the roadsides and into the streams!....for what possible (LASTING) reason would i pick it up?....so that my grandchildren and theirs can ¢live¢ in a pristine world without true hope?....it doesn¢t matter if i behave ¢responsibly¢ or not in terms of my life havin¢ real meaning¢¦.my life is just as hopeless and dead as the next guy¢s if i am not ¢re-born¢¢¦.(no matter HOW many nice, philanthropic ¢trophies¢ i stack on the ¢shelf¢ of my existence!) ¢¦.the ¢do-gooders¢ and the ¢bums¢ all line up on equal ground here¢¦.it seems to me we are all ¢dead¢ until Christ gives us life!...to realize this has given me a freedom difficult to express sufficient thanks for¢¦.i am 100% freed from ¢striving¢ to pick up the ¢garbage¢¢¦.AND¢¦ i am 100% free to pick up the garbage!....Christ enlightens and enlivens all!.....i will have to think about this some more later¢¦.. well¢¦the winds do seem to be dying down a bit now¢¦.MAYBE i can force myself outa this shelter to go ¢take care of business¢ before i settle in¢¦.here goes!*NOTES/OBSERVATIONS/COMPARISONS *vireos¢¦.little songbirds that have a constant ¢chattering¢ type of call¢¦it sounds sometimes like ¢questioning¢, sometimes ¢declaratory¢¢¦.we liked to ¢anthropomorphize¢ the vireo¢s song by imagining the bird was cheering us on with a long stream of encouraging ¢words¢ like this: ¢ready?...here we go¢¦.c¢mon¢¦.you can do it¢¦.let¢s go¢¦.katahdin?....be strong¢¦.it¢s not far¢¦.up you go¢¦.feel the wind?.....this is fun¢¦.okay¢¦.one more step¢¦.that¢s good¢¦here we go!¢¢¦¢¦and that, my friends, is how a vireo sings to hikers on the AT!*trees¢¦.you can take a look at some of our photos of trees in our album if you like¢¦..in the upper left-hand corner here under ¢journal¢, click ¢list¢¢¦.scroll down to ¢little laurel shelter sep 30¢ and click¢¦..when that page appears, click on the photo (paw at ¢high rocks¢)¢¦..then click ¢next¢ for each of the following 15 photos of ¢AT trees¢*trees blowing bubbles¢¦..we once observed (in the rain) at the bottom of a fork in a tree, a large bubble protruding and getting bigger!...i don¢t know if it was the sap or just the rain¢¦(or perhaps some hiker had unloaded his ¢heavy¢ bath bar there!), but this particular tree really was blowing bubbles!*looked like this ( * ) ¢¦¢¦.sorry folks¢¦..i haven¢t learned to sketch on the computer yet¢¦.my paper journals from the trail, however, did sometimes include the occasional quick sketch of something i wanted to remember¢¦(like the enormous roots that engulfed a boulder and sheltered a tiny spruce planted in its ¢lap¢)¢¦.more of my drawing was done in the shelter registers, though, where i¢d sometimes sketch a ¢botany lesson¢ or scribble off some silly cartoon¢¦.my own journals would receive a drawing if i was out of film¢¦..folks who knew i liked to draw, sometimes asked if i had been doing so on the trail¢¦.but as you hikers already know, there is little time for that!....a thru-hike is mostly about walking!....i do think it would be cool, though, to go out for a year or so and have the time to sketch or paint¢¦.i love cindy ross¢s sketches in her book ¢a woman¢s journey¢!*picnic¢¦..i LOVE picnics! and that¢s one part of thru-hiking we really came to appreciate!....nearly all your meals on the AT are picnics¢¦.we always dined ¢al fresco¢¢¦.and, of course, as you may know, food (no matter WHAT type) always tastes better in the good ol¢ ¢great outdoors¢!*the shelter at roan high knob¢¦..take a look at it in our album!....(click on journal ¢list¢¢¦..scroll down to ¢miss janet¢s, erwin, tn oct 03¢¢¦.voila!