Date: 2009-04-19
From: Betty Creek Gap

To: Winding Stair Gap (Franklin, NC)
Miles today: 12.2
Weather: light intensity drizzle

This morning, we awoke to raindrops hitting our tents. As we poked our heads out, we saw ominous clouds up ahead. We quickly readied for the day, ate some energy bars, and began hiking early. Another group of boyscouts were up ahead and we passed them. I still had to hike in my Crocs and I knew that it was going to be a pain in the bum to have deal with the heavy downpours that were coming. I did put on my gaiters, which somewhat helped to prevent rocks and sticks from entering my Crocs. Our goal was to clear over Standing Indian Mountain before the rains came, but we were caught in the midst of it. The rain pounded us before reaching the mountain's base. We didn't realize just how steep it was going to be; we literally had to boulder up the cliffs, using trees as leverage to pull us up. Now --- imagine hiking in Crocs on rocks, slipping all over the place. Yeah, I couldn't wait to get to Franklin to get some proper shoes. At so many points throughout this tough climb, we easily could have looked off to the side and be rewarded by beautiful views. But, all we saw were clouds and precipitation coming through the clouds. When we cleared the summit, it was a steady decline on the other side, but I still had to take it relatively slowly, considering my slipping and sliding all over the place. We ran into a Boyscout leader, chatted with him for a short while, and then continued on. Wendy and I began to keep ourselves busy with some trail games - one where you have to come up with a word and then sing a verse of a song to match the word that you came up with. The other game was to begin spelling a word that could change direction with new letters added. The goal was to not be the first to spell a word. These were just some small things we could do to keep us occupied while the rain poured down. The other option was listening to one's iPod I continued to slip and slide as we headed down the switchbacks on the way to Winding Stair Gap. When we arrived, we tried to hitch into town, but no one was stopping. We called the local hotel and asked for the shuttle to pick us up, but just as we did a man stopped and shouted to us: 'Y'all need a ride?' We quickly said 'yes', jumped in the car, and our trail angel 'John' (NOBO class of 1979) took us 10 miles into Franklin. Unbelievable generosity. We immediately went to the outfitter, where I tried on several pairs of shoes, finally settling for some new 'Keen's'. I was very happy to throw away my greased up socks that had been so dirtied from the sticks, stones, and gravel that you didn't even recognize them as socks anymore. After purchasing them, I felt like a new person. I couldn't wait to get back to the trail and to begin hiking from square one. After picking up the shoes, we walked a short 1/2 mile to Ingles, where we made a large supermarket purchase of fruits, vegetables, and an assortment of other healthy foods. The Haven school bus came to pick us up a little bit afterwards and we headed to the Sapphire Inn where we stayed for the night. Tomorrow will be my first zero day and I'm looking forward to resting my weary body and getting myself ready to return to the trail.