Date: 2012-05-31
From: Honest Abe

To: Sarver Hollow Shelter
Miles today: 17.1
Weather: clear sky

I woke up early this morning. Everybody was still asleep. I had fallen asleep picking out the various twinkles of the dark night sky and hadn't even bothered to put my ukulele back in its waterproof bag. I gathered up some breakfast and went up to the rocks for a bigger view of the morning. The girls were mostly packed up when I got back. They left me to my business. I talked with Semplesee, mainly about his tent and the factors that drove that decision, as we packed up camp. Such a great guy. You meet a lot of truly fantastic people out here but rarely are they of the caliber of this man. He has the clarity of a person intent on figuring out how to live this life. He honestly questions himself without the normal public facade getting in the way. I hope I see him more throughout this hike. He mentioned Tab Benoit as a musical influence and I intend to check this fellow out next time I get some internet. I hiked out of there leaving Semplesee to the rest of his morning.I ate lunch at War Spur Shelter and met Hot Wheels. Semplesee came up midway through lunch. The three of us left together to face the big hot climb in front of us. At the top, there was some RATC trail magic apples. Thanks guys! I noticed for the first time, how I am starting to eat out here. There is the beginning, where you dig in like a person who hasn't had fresh fruit for awhile. Then you realize that it might be awhile before you taste fresh fruit again and you slow down to savor the flavors, texture, temperature. Then there is the reflection period. The memory of that apple remained for much of the day. Food is funny out here.Up on the ridgeline I took a break and called up MSR from Kelly Knob. I noticed the other night that a rib in my filter that holds one of the O rings in place had broken off. It looked to me like it was on the clean-water side of the mechanism and probably ok but I still wanted to know for sure. Patricia patiently dealt with my crummy phone connection, the wind noise from the ridge, and the fact that I didn't even know what filter I owned. We traded photos over email and they got one of the mechanical engineers who helped design the product to confirm that it was ok to continue to use. They also got my next town address to mail me a replacement. Every time I have dealt with MSR, they have been top-notch. Thanks again, Patricia and MSR, you guys are wonderful!Not much hiking has gotten done today so I got trucking down the huge mountain I just walked up. The weather has been sunny all day but off to the west some clouds were coming my way. I stopped in at Laurel Creek Shelter to find a full trail register. I had no idea as to where the girls were planning on staying. The next shelter was still more than 6 miles away (and 0.4 off trail) and there was a long ridgeline walk to get there. Memories of the walk to the Captain's made me shudder. I got down to the valley and walked though some lush rolling farmland. There were many fence stiles to cross and I saw the most amazing caterpillar.I have only ever seen things that look like this in fly fishing shops! I passed by Keiffer Oak, the largest oak tree on the AT in the South at 18' wide. I suppose you could say that it is most likely the second largest oak tree on the trail. The rain started falling as I hiked away from this 300-year-old giant and the most amazing rainbow appeared against a wall of grey while golden sunlight brightly painted the tall grass. It made me stop and gasp in delight. Such a moment!As the thunder and lightning clamored about, I stopped to eat under the protection of thick oaks. It might be awhile before I have a dry spell. I lounged about on a giant damp slab of granite and put down an entire package of fig newtons. I moved on with an unbelievable amount of energy. I powered up the mountain in front of me, under some scary power lines and cruised along the ridge. It seemed like I had been hiking through this rain for too long. The wind was whipping with such force, I had to put on my rain gear even though the trees provided protection from the top. The rain was actually sideways. Ridgelines, sheesh. I started to think that maybe I had missed the shelter trail. I kept moving on despite my pesky thoughts of the shelter trail, PMo, and Jumanji most likely being behind me. It eventually came and it was a long 0.4 down the hill. I got to the shelter and saw a giant tent city set up. I thought I was going to be setting up in the rain for sure. Must be a full shelter. When I walked up to the table, preparing to make friends willing to make space in the shelter for me, Semplesee made a hilarious comment to about how worried he was about me and his attempts to call me on his sat phone. This was in reference to a hiker we met earlier who told a pretty ridiculous tale of his emergency rescue. "Thank goodness for the sat phone I was carrying," he said. I was already in good company.I found a lively crew eating in the shelter including Nemo, Squeeze, Rocky and Bullwinkle, and a guy named Matt. It was a very nice shelter, a large single-story raised sleeping platform and an even larger wooden-floored eating platform with two picnic tables. This wasn't a shelter, it was a palace. I found PMo and Jumanji who fed me their leftover mac and cheese; I was very happy to see their smiling faces. Hot Wheels was there too. We all goofed off, happy to be dry and protected from the weather outside. I sure do love three-sided structures like this. You get to appreciate all that weather you are avoiding. Darkness was upon us and hiker midnight was fast approaching.