Date: 2013-05-06
From: US 19E Elk Park

To: Camp by stream, mi 398.6
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: clear sky

The Stone Braemar Castle in Hampton, Tennessee was an approximate 10-mile hitch from the US 19E, where I had arrived drenched, along with Pool Cats on May 5. If I haven't introduced him yet, Pool Cats is a speed demon through-hiker from New Zealand in his late 20's I recall, who began his hike from Amacalola Falls State Park within a couple days of my start date of April 14. The AT was serving as his transition period between moving from New Zealand to somewhere in England, where employment as a web designer with his girlfriend would be more lucrative. He was tall and lanky, with a bushy beard and a tightly shaven head and dark metal rimmed sun glasses. He was a minimalist who hiked in paper-thin running shoes with a white cuben fiber pack smaller than a school book bag. It was not uncommon to find him running sections of the AT! He also had the same schedule as me, pack up and hike at dawn, until dusk, covering between 25 to 30 miles per day if not more. I met Pool Cats a few days earlier and enjoyed his company and drive to move serious miles every day. I did my best to keep up with him during the day, but had no problem pushing the distance and meeting up at a camp site or shelter by the end of the day. I would attribute a large part of my success in making it over the Roan Highlands during the vicious cold front that passed over on May 5, to his drive to move on and keep it fast paced, preventing the onset of hypothermia. After a sound night's rest, opportunity to dry out wet gear, and pack food we purchased yesterday afternoon, we headed across the street, next to Brown's Market to Compucraft. It was around 11 am already. Pool Cats was sucked into the nearby laundry mat-internet cafe-hamberger shack, where two well used coin-op pool tables sat near the entrance. While I never established whether he named himself "pool cats" or some one else did, it became quite evident that the first half of his name suited him well. While getting my ass handed to me in a game of pool with him, he sporadically decided to rename me "Rock Steady" from my former trail name "Schist". The name Schist had bothered him from the start. On the trail, this is how it sometimes worked. A trail name either "stuck" or it didn't. Today, with the witnessing and approval of another through-hiker, a young lady from Oklahoma, named Nutella, the name instantly felt permanent. Nutella had chimed in and thought it was a great name, regardless of not knowing my attributes. At the same time this occurred, the song "Rocksteady" was playing in the background! It was mine! It was a sign! In the middle of our games, a peculiar looking guy who was employed at the cafe to run errands, approached the table and requested to play the winner, slapping his two quarters on the side of the table. He had a long dark ponytail and vibrant polyester attire. Pool Cats was in for a challenge it seemed as this guy assembled his own cue with a few quick twists, floating about the edges of the table, looking at all the different angles. In the end, Pool Cats made him realize that he should retire his persona for a new one. After consuming a greasy burger and fries and playing a few games of pool, we ambled our way over to McDonnalds about a mile away on the 91. Within a couple hours of eating at the internet cafe, we were on round two, which included large chocolate shakes. By about 3pm, we began to hike our way south, back to 19E, with our thumbs out. About 30 minutes later, a kind woman in an old red Ford stopped to give us a ride back to the trailhead. We hopped in the back and lied on our backs as we made our way back towards Mountain Harbour hostel and the AT trailhead. We hiked 7 miles in the late afternoon in perfect weather and pleasant temperatures, to a stream, where we set camp for the day.