Date: 2004-04-27
To: Drawing From The Well Once Again
Miles today: 0.0

Carver's Gap SOBO to Hot Springs,101 miles, some of which I actually walkedSome random observations:Lotta ramps out thereWinter-virgin skin sunburns, even on a basic non-burnerFields of spring beauties under the open, leafless canopy - like apaintingA mere 13.5-mile day can wring a whimper from a six-months-gone-bythruhiker. Can you say "nail-in-the-calves?" How quickly we forget(and deteriorate).The new relo between Little Laurel Shelter and Jerry's Cabin is mostexcellent. An open, rocky ridge. Heard one exiting '04 NOBO commentdisgustedly, as we were approaching, "I hope you brought your rock-climbing equipment."Yes!Unfortunately, it was nowhere near the White Mt. standardsof rock-crawling, but it did provide a taste, the merest whiff, maybe,of the fun to come a "few" states further on.______________Preview - Fine Easter supper at the Sidetrack Cafe, courtesy ofMountain Man. Saw lots of good friends, including our crusty buddyLWOP, an '04 NOBO from Florida._________Day One, Carver's Gap - Foggy, wet and winds rocked the van. MissJanet our shuttler (we left the car in Erwin) said "How 'bout we justsit and talk awhile." Ha! Though the winds tamed a bit once we entered the evergreen forest, and the cool made for a great ascent up Roan Mt., well, I don't like cold, rainy weather any more this year than last.Last year, I had a mission - to hike the AT. This year, I'm a tourist. It makes a difference.The day faired off, and we ran into Burn and the delightful youngHoplite.) I traded back the bear "65 Roses" that Burn had asked me to carry. We tented somewhere in the woods before Greasy Gap.The next day, Stumpknocker's weather radio declared that more rain and very cold temps were moving in. Hasta la Vista, baby! SK was cleaning up some mileage from his '03 SOBO thru, forced off by bad weather, and was determined to walk no matter what. But me, I told him, I was just skimming the cream... I decided to bail at Greasy Gap to the Friendly hostel, and get them to reconnect me to the estimable, coffee's-always-on Miss Janet. Stumpknocker would gut itout over Beauty Spot and Unaka Mt. and walk into Erwin tomorrow.I went down the blue blaze but never did find that hostel, and cameout on a Forest Service Rd."Fine, I thought, "Forest service roads lead to people, if you pickthe right way." The right way, in this case, naturally, was downhill.Lucky for me it was.After a walk of several hours, I came to a paved road. Lightly traveled, the only car in several counties veered into the far lane to escape my eager, outstretched thumb.Finally, I came to a run-down shack. I thought about passing it by, but the fellow inside couldn't have been nicer. Turned out his step father was a former thruhiker and current TN-Eastman Trail Maintainer. Sweet! Small world.He also told me I was closer to Hampton than Erwin.What the...!!?Guess I came down the wrong side of the mountain.Anyway, in the manner of things AT, circumstances just fell into place.My rural hero had a phone with unlimited long distance minutes, he insisted I call Miss J from his phone, I happened to have her cell phone #, she was in the van and heading to Hamptonanyway (!), so was my benefactor; he dropped me off at the McDonald's there, I tanked up on coffee and burgers, Janet scooped me up to Kincorra, Bob Peoples hugged me, we went back to Erwin and all was copesthetic.StumpKnocker walked SOBO into town the next morning (after meeting Flyin' Brian and fiancee Silver Girl going north), saying he woke up to several inches of snow on his tent site near Beauty Spot. We could see Big Bald shining whitely in the distance, too.We stocked up and hiked on tho, and as usual, what a difference a day on the AT can make - it got sunny and pleasant, the snow melted off before our assault on Big Bald. Along the way, I ran into my old buddy Just Do It from last year. Ben is out rehiking the AT from the start. I had planned to bring him trail magic but he startled me; hadn't expected to see him so early. All I had to offer my old friend was a Snickers and my conversation; we sat on theside of the mountain and jawboned for about an hour. Also then, I metMelissa Jenks, now called Marzipan, a delightful gal I'd known slightly from a hiking e-list.The days start blending together now, and saw lots of '04 thrus, not in order of appearance - Apple Pie, Mickey One-Sock, GiGi, Woody, Roses, Squish, Green One, PA. Mule, Grant "Fire Marshall" Cibula, Pegasas, Slow Walker, Mockingbird, Beat Box, Mississipi Mule, Tinker, Francois (who, in hindsight, I wished we'd trail-named "Frank"), Bear Behind, Cuppa Joe, BooBoo, Vocal, Breathless and Speed, Weebles and Tongue-Tied, Berkley Bob, the Hobbits, Circuit Rider, Sherlock, KP, dear '02 friends Sunny and Sunset, MainSail (spent a lovely snack break near Shelton Graves grove with this young man), Blue Bell, Pooka, WolfCookie and spouse, Gaia, the ECT SOBO hiker Crash Test Dummy (who I met in Maine last year, and now Erwin and then Hot Springs), some without names, some diehard sectioners like Lady Di and the Ax Murderers, lots more whose names I'm not dredging up (mountain air syndrome). Clear, dry weather, a bit hot towards the end. I was able to work my mileage up over the week.Day Seven - Hot Springs. Yes, I did. Wouldn't you?Paddler had shuttled the truck down from Erwin to Hot Springs duringTrailfest, and Baltimore Jack was holding the keys for us. BJ isworking during spring thru-rush at the Bluff Mt. outfitters.I also heard that Backpacker.com is sponsoring Trail Days this year -true?Final news was tracking down AT-L lister Art "Gabby" Cloutman, hikingwith friend Goosebump, an '03 buddy of Stumpknocker's (and nowme), also cleaning up her weather-aborted SOBO thru. We intercepted them at Cable Gap shelter six miles south of Fontana. With 2 boxes of fried chicken, BoJangles' biscuits, apple pie, ice-cold cokes, chocolate cake and whipped cream and Bailey's irish Cream liquer for after-dinner coffees and hot chocolates. Also, cinnamon/pecan sticky buns for breakfast.Oh, and an orange, which we gave them first. Ha! They were grateful.The look on Art's face when the fried chicken finally came out waspriceless. It's the sort of magic I wanted to pull on Ben/Just Do It.All that poor man got was a Snicker's.We also dubbed a young man "Fireman," for his penchant and talent of keeping a blaze going with wet wood. Art then knighted him with his hiking poles.The next day we walked Gabby Art and Goosebump into Fontana, got them resupplied and pizza-ed up, then SK and I saddled up the truck and headed back to Southern Pines.What fun, what great skies and views, what great laughs. You can gohome again, if only for a little while. Stress? What stress?