Date: 2009-04-04
From: Wayah Crest Picnic Area

To: Cold Spring Shelter Camp site
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: clear sky

Give credit to whom credit is due. So thank you Lord for such a beautiful day.But with the great warm and sunny day came also the biting gnats.OUCH! But I won't blame Him for that. I got up real early and packed up. I didn't know if someone might come out and check on the picnic area and find me there sleeping like I owned the place.Heehee. But I didn't feel to good. I just felt really weak and going up out of Wayah Gap and up to Wayah Bald was zapping the very life out of me.My legs felt like jello.I had only a poptart for breakfast and that didn't help. But I was just feeling bad before I started hiking. I was very glad to get to the top of Wayah Bald for two reasons. One because my biggest climb of the day was over and second there was a latrine(better than a privy). Ha, I told ya I am easy pleased out here.Then someone hollered,¢Trail magic over here if you want a snack!¢ Now I don't claim to be the sharpest tool in the shed,but I hollered back as I was entering the latrine,¢I do. I'll be right there!¢ It was Indiana Jones and Mickey Mouse both of them are from Evansville,Indiana. Indiana Jones get her name because she is from Indiana and her last name is Jones. So there is her trail name.She has sectioned hike the whole trail. Yay And my other trail angel was Mickey Mouse because she thinks her boots look too big like Mickey's. Now ain't that a hoot?She has hike 300 miles of the trail I think she said. But they ask if I wanted a sandwich or just a snack. ¢Uhhh. A sandwich?Well yes please.¢ So they fix me a Pimento Cheese sandwich,a bag of Chili Cheese Fritos(my favorite),a coke and an apple. Yummy. To top it off they gave me snacks to go. You ladies are awesome. But my Ding Dong(chocolate cake with creamy filling) did get smashed but it was very good. It is amazing how much better I felt after the food. I was wondering if I was going to even make it to Cold Spring Shelter or not but they fixed me right up. Thanks so much girls. The Wayah Bald Observatory Tower was unique to see and it had great views of the mountains and a city below. It might have been Franklin,NC. I had six more miles to go to get to the shelter and it was getting really warm. I turned on my MP3 player. Sometimes it helps to get in a rhythm and to get your mind off of the discomfort you might be having. I was just jamming along, gettin' jiggie with it, waving my trekking poles in the air to the beat of the music and I got a whiff of under arm BO (body odor). HaHa. Put them arms down woman!!!I got to the shelter and Two Shoes was there. I met him at Unicoi Gap when I was headed to Helen,GA and he was getting back on the trail. Also he had hurt himself and was moving slower. Hope he gets better soon. It don't take much of a twist,turn or fall to slow you down or even take you off the trail. It's very hard work even though we like what we are doing. There was also a dead mouse with his head smashed and his beady eyes bulging out in a trap on an outside log of the shelter. He wasn't moving so I guess he was dead.Ugh what a sight. I took a picture. I don't think that's playing fair for the mouse. We come to his house and he thinks we are his guest and are bringing food to share with him but when he partakes in the meal he gets it right between the eyes. Well I don't stay in his house so he better stay out of my food. :p. I went up a little way to a great camp site on a ridge. Views of the mountains from my tent was fabulous and as the sunset I got a picture but I didn't do it justice. Tonight I ate a hearty helping of Veggie Noodles and Snickers Bar compliments of my new trail angels today. I am full. I am tired I am well. Life Is Good!Thanks again to all who sign my guest book. Knowing that I am in your thoughts and prayers does mean so much.