May 2005

Date- Tuesday, 5/10/05
Start- Louisville, KY
Stop- Newport, TN
Miles Travelled- 0

After a 10 day or so hiatus I'm back in Tennessee. We left Louisville at about 3:30 and after a lesurly drive got here at about 11.

We are about a half hour from the trailhead. Looking forward to a good nights sleep and an early start tomorrow.

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Date- Wednesday, 5/11/05
Start- Newport, TN
Stop- Groundhog Creek Shelter
Miles Travelled- 7.2

I promised myself I would do a short day today to ease back into things after taking 10 or so days off. I'm glad I did because I'm really tired.

During my hiatus I had forgotten how endless some of the ups were. Snowbird was one of the endless ups. I got dropped off at about 9:30 thls morning and started hiking up. Didn't reach the top till 2:30 in the afternoon. There was a strange white structure at the top. The warning signs identified it as some type of FAA beacon. It may be, but it looks lilke something from area 51.

Kentuckians rule the shelter tonight In here with me is Tom, from Lexinton and Puxitawny Phil from the Hikes Point area in Louisville. Puxitawny graduated from St. X in 1970 and knows Billy Redmon. Claims he was Billy's wrestling partner. Well, they say it's a small world and I guess it is

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Date- Thursday, 5/12/05
Start- Groundhog Creek Shelter
Stop- Roaring Fork Shelter
Miles Travelled- 11.3

Today was a long, grueling day in the heat. The temperature was in the 80s. Despite all of the above the day was very rewarding.

The main feature of the day was Max Patch. While I've been on other Balds before, Max Patch is the most magnificent one I've seen. The summit is gently dome shaped, nearly a mile across, and completely devoid of trees. Couple these facts with a perfectly clear day and the fact that it is the highest point for miles and the view. The complete 360 degree circle was stunning. I stayed up there for 2 hours before I felt like I had to move on.

The trail was virtually empty of hikers today. Most it seems have skipped ahead to Damascus, VA. Damascus is holding its annual Trail Days festival this weekend.

Am currently in the shelter with Tom from Lexington and Charles from Nashville.

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Date- Friday, 5/13/05
Start- Roaring Fork Shelter
Stop- Deer Park Mountain Shelter
Miles Travelled- 11.7

Today actually seemed easy. Though there was the daily 1000+ foot climb, there was only one of them. The rest of the way was moderately downhill to level. The rain helped to cool me down too.

Got to the shelter at about 5 and had to make a difficult decision. Hot Springs is only 3 easy miles away and it is so tempting to want to move on. However, I figured that by the time I got there most of the businesses would be closed and I would incur the cost of a room without being able to accomplish anything. I thought it better to spend a free night here and be in town by breakfast.

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Date- Saturday, 5/14/05
Start- Deer Park Mountain Shelter
Stop- Hot Springs, NC
Miles Travelled- 3.2

Hot Springs occupies many hikers minds from the minute they enter the Smokies. True, there are other trail towns but there is only 1 Hot Springs, NC.

The town is small, about a half mile from end to end. You could drive through it without realizing it but it is as close to hiker heaven as you can get. The trail goes right down main street. On this half mile stretch of road are 5 inexpensive to moderately priced places to stay, 3 restaurants, 2 grocers, a laundrymat, an outfitter, a mineral water hot spa, and a pub. What more do you need?

Hot Springs is a significant psychological milepoint as well. It is generally believed that if a hiker reaches Hot Springs in decent physical and mental shape there is no reason, except for injury, that they will be unable to hike at least to New Hampshire.

Had lunch at the Smoky Mountain Diner. Had one of the best burgers I ever had. It was so good I went back for dinner.

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Date- Sunday, 5/15/05
Start- Hot Springs, NC
Stop- Spring Mtn Shelter
Miles Travelled- 11

Well, I summoned up the determination and left Hot Springs this morning.

It was especially difficult to do because it was raining. The weatherman promised that it would clear in the afternoon and fortunatly he turned out to be right. I don't mind morning rains too much if I get to dry out in the afternoon.

I got here rather early and felt like going on but determined after checking the map and guidebook that the next likely camping area was 8 miles away and I didn't think I had another 8 in the legs.

Today I passed what looked like grave markers. I've passed old ones before but these were recent. I photographed them and if the inscriptlons are readable on the prints I will research them further.

It seems that most decided to stay in town today as it's just me and the mice here tonight.

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Date- Monday, 5/16/05
Start- Spring Mtn Shelter
Stop- Jerry Cabin Shelter
Miles Travelled- 15.4

The longest day yet and I'm completely exhausted so my notes may be incoherent.

The trail had just a little bit of everything today. The day started rough. The temperature was cool and the terraine was relatively easy. The problem was my back and the pack. Seems I could go only 15-20 minutes before it would spasm and I would have to stop to work it out.

It started getting hot as I got to the big climb of the day. It seems lately that the general terraine has leveled but each day has a major climb. For some reason the back pains stopped during the climb.

Once I reached the top, hiking became easy as I walked through a parklike meadow. Here I saw a Turkey wallkin up the trail toward me. By the time I got my camera out he hopped off and disappeared into the brush.

The day ended with a beautiful but terrirfying ridge walk. The ridge was made up of large blocks of rock sort of like paving stones. The main problem was that it was only 2 - 4 feet wide and was thousands of feet up. Some of these paving stones were only a few inches thick and some were 2 feet or more in thickness so you are constantly stepping up or down. To add to the fun most were canted at angles of up to 45 degrees towards the abyss on either side.

At Jerry Cabin Shelter I met other hikers! I had basically been alone since Hot Springs and it was pleasant to have company. These are section hikers I had overtaken and I suspect I won't be seeing them again.

The maintainer at Jerry Cabin has a sense of humor. The shelter was equipped with a light switch, a mailbox, and a wheelchair acessible picnic table.

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..Date- Tuesday. 5/17/05
Start- Jerry Cabin Shelter
Stop- Hogback Ridge Shelter
Miles Travelled- 14.7

Todays hike started out well. The grades were moderate. It was just like a road walk. In fact it was a road walk on a long abandoned road. It was very similar to Prather Road in the Louisville Nature Center.

The hike had a somber tone though. It was on this road that the Shelton brothers were bushwacked and killed in the 1860s. Even though they lived in N. Carolina they were Union Loyalists and fought in Lincoln's Army. They survived the war and were on their way home when they were ambushed by vengeance seeking Confederates. Their graves are along side the trail.

Hiking was so easy it encouraged a long day. Then disaster struck. Without warning my infamous knee popped and spasms of pain threw me to the ground. After a few minutes I managed to get up and hobbled the last mile to the shelter

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Date- Wednesday. 5/18/05
Start- Hogback Ridge Shelter
Stop- Bald Mtn Shelter
Miles Travelled- 10

I knew today was going to be a difficult day when I woke up. It was going to be hot and humid. There were a couple of long climbs. And my leg was still throbbing.

It was more difficult than I expected. I had resolved to rest frequently in order to keep from overstressing the leg. However, whenever I stopped clouds of biting black flies descended on me. The day was sheer misery. It took me 12 hours to cover those 10 miles. I didn't even notice the views from Big Bald, reputed to rival Max Patch.

It was so bad I started entertaining notlons of leaving the trail at Erwin.

Shortly after I got to the shelter, Bill arrived. Bill is a local and comes up to the shelter 2 or 3 times a week bringing goodies to the hikers. He walked up and offered me a beer. Now I haven't had a beer in years and declined. As we sat talking I was thinking about how this guy walked all the way up here to give someone a beer and that there was no one to give one to. I changed my mind and accepted one. It was delicious. I savored it for over an hour. When it was finished he took the can, wished me a good night, and left.

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Date- Thursday 5/19/05
Start- Bald Mtn Shelter
Stop- No Business Knob Shelter
Miles Travelled- 10.6

A relatively hike over wide trail on good grade. Of course, there was the daily big descent (into Spivey Gap) and ascent out of it. There must be some unwritten rule among Trail Maintainers stipulating that each day must have a major up and down.

The leg seemed to respond well to yesterdays light day. I'm still taking it slow and breaking often. It is a bit frustrating and may cause me to re-evaluate how far I will get this season. I was wanting to be able to maintain a 15 mile per day pace. I seem to have the heart and lungs for it. The legs just can't seem to keep up.

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Date- Friday 5/20/05
Start- No Business Knob Shelter
Stop- Erwin, TN
Miles Travelled- 6.6

Spent a noisy night in the shelter as the lightning cracked, thunder rolled, and hail bounced off the tin roof. The weather was too bad for the mice to come out to play. At least it was dry in the shelter.

I think its time to introduce PUDS and MUDS. PUDS are pointless ups and downs. Too many PUDS become mindless ups and downs. Normally they occur when level terraine is expected.

The topographical maps I use have a 50 meter countour interval. This means that the elevation has to change 150 feet before it is indicated on the map. It's amazing how many 100 foot ups and downs can be compressed in a few miles while the map indicated level ground. This was before the long descent to the Nolichucky River and Erwin.

This area is Davy Crockett and Andrew Jackson territory. Both used to come to this area for community activities. In fact there used to be a racetrack here and Andy Jackson used to race his horses here. He insisted in riding his own mounts rather than hireing a professional jockey and never won a race.

Erwin is also noted as being the only town to have hung an elephant. The elephants are still boycotting the town. More on this later

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Date- Saturday 5/21/05
Start- Erwin, TN
Stop- Erwin, TN
Miles Travelled- 0

While I've done one or two short days since I restarted, I believe this is the first 0 mile day in a while.

In looking back over prevlous entries I fear I may have painted an overly grim picture of long distance hiking. It has its light side and many enjoyable moments. I don't know why I don't mention these more. Perhaps its because they are so commonplace that only the bad times stand out.

Long distance hiking is physically demanding and punishing. On the other hand, it is mentally, emotionally, and spiritually healing.

I see evidence of this healing in the shelter registers. Two months ago entries were brief and factual. "Gray Ghost arrived last night and left this morning", would be a typical early Georgia entry from most hikers. Now entries may be a page or two in length and are festooned with drawings and poetry. It's as if creativity is reawakening or perhaps hikers are losing their fear of letting it show.

What you are now matters more than what you have. In Georgia, a lot of mental energy was focused on equipment. Hikers were comparing their stuff with other's stuff and wholesale gear changes were made at the Walasi-Yi. Most hikers are now beyond that and no longer even cares what another has. With that issue behind them, hikers are focusing more on each other as people. I probably know more about people I meet here than I do people back home.

When 2 hikers meet or pass each other for the first time they introduce themselves and exchange a greeting. I rarely see this acknowledgement of another human being on Louisville streets.

Of course there's the health benefit. I'm sure the low fat diet, reduced calories, fresh air, pure water, and regular exercise are adding years to our lives.