After we left the hostel, we drove to Ashville where we stayed at a hotel with an indoor pool and a hot tub. I retrieved my bottle of appletinis from my tote bag and drank them over ice while sitting in the hot tub. Then we went into downtown Ashville and ate dinner at Rosetta's, a vegetarian restaurant. Nothing we ate had been dehydrated. The next day we drove back to Roanoke and dropped Janet off. It was Easter Sunday. We arrived back at Richmond around 5 p.m. My family was happy to see me.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
My knees and my lower back hurt.I miss Jenni, AK and Janet.Things are exactly the same at work.On the plus side, I will never take indoor plumbing for granted again.And I can’t wait for our family trip to Italy in June.We plan to do some hiking along the AmalfiCoast, but these will be day hikes.At night we will eat real food and sleep in real beds.
I’m not planning any more long hikes any time soon, but when I do, they will be in Virginia. And I'm taking Billy with me.
We made it through the park
but we still have 3 miles to go
DAY 7
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Starting Point:Cosby Knob Shelter
Destination:Standing Bear Hostel
Today’s Miles:10.5
Total Miles:75.5
The last day of the trip. To be perfectly honest, I can't wait to be out of the Smokies. As much as I love to hike, this trip has not been as much fun as I was hoping. I feel rather guilty, as AK and Jenni have really enjoyed it. I have enjoyed their company and the company of the other hikers, however.
We decide to get an early start so we eat a cold breakfast—I eat a Snickers bar and a Cliff Energy Shot and drink a cup of double strong coffee.We have one small climb before the long descent into Davenport Gap.Jenni is really hurting.She mentioned last night that she isn’t sure she has one more day in her.But she must.It’s the last day and she has to make it back to the hostel. I amazed at her endurance and perserverance.
We reach the end of the park at a road crossing with a small parking lot.Jenni and AK are about to proceed, but I ask them to stop to savor the moment.There is a small group of bikers stopped there taking a break.We chat with them for a few moments.One of them, a huge guy with a white beard and overalls (how did he fit on his bike?) knows something about hiking the AT, and is not surprised to see us, but the women are astonished.“What do you eat?”“How far have you walked?”
There is only a small sign to commemorate our accomplishment and one of the bikers takes our picture in front of the sign.Then we cross the road to finish our hike.Much to Jenni’s disappointment, we still have two and a half miles to go.
Ironically, the prettiest part of the hike is this two miles outside the park.We follow the Stateline Branch stream with several waterfalls and crossings.
AK on the prettiest part of the hike
Outside the park-- the prettiest part of the hike!
Finally we get to the bottom of the road that leads to the hostel. The trail crosses under I-40 and then goes up a steep dirt hill for a mile to the hostel.One last climb before we are done.
Just as when we first arrived at the hostel exactly one week before, there is a group of hikers sitting around the fire pit.Curtis is among them.Interestingly, he doesn’t say a word to us.No hello, no welcome back.I’m tempted to say something snarky like, “you didn’t think we would make it, did you?”But I restrain myself.Curtis does not look happy, but I don’t think it has anything to do with us.
The first thing I do is take off my hiking boots and stick my feet in the stream that runs behind the fire pit.The water is ice cold but soothes my feet.AK buys a honey bun to tide her over until we can eat lunch.Janet tells us about her adventures in Hot Springs the day before, the visit to Maria’s restaurant (Curtis' wife)and the bluegrass music.She tells us that Spot and MarkTrail have moved on.I’m sad that I won’t see them again.
When we get to the car, there’s a note scrawled in red ink on the back of a Pabst Blue Ribbon carton tucked under the windshield wiper.It’s from MarkTrail. It says: "Can't wait to hear about your adventure. Thanks for making my trip thru the Smokies memorable! See ya! Mark Trail - GA-ME 2011"
“You should have told us,” says AK to Sarge the next morning.
“That’s why I waited until you all went to bed before I did,” replies Sarge.
As if that made a difference!
We take off about We have a short day today, only 7.7 miles.As we walk along, we agree that if Sarge shows up to sleep at our shelter tonight, we will make him stay in his tent.
We also toy with the idea of combining today and tomorrow’s hike and going all the way back to Standing Bear.This would allow us to catch up to Janet and finish our hike a day early.The trail is mostly downhill both today and tomorrow, but the downhills are harder on Jenni’s foot than the inclines.So we all pretty much know we will not try to go 15 miles today.
The afternoon is chilly, but there are plenty of flowers to keep us company.On this part of the trail we encounter the dwarf iris, and they are gorgeous.Just like the ones I have planted at home, but teeny tiny.
We get to the Cosby Knob shelter early in the afternoon.There’s only one other couple there, who came all the way from Buffalo, New York for the weekend.It’s the girlfriend’s first backpacking trip.The boyfriend wears a t-shirt that says, “No, I won’t fix your computer.”I get a kick out of it.They are curious about hiking, so we chat with them while the shelter starts to fill up with hikers.
Cosby Knob Shelter
A pretty setting for a shelter
Soon a family of 5 arrives.They set up tarps beyond the bear cables.An hour or two after we arrive, Sarge appears.As planned, we tell him he will have to stay in his tent.He says he’s only here to eat and then he plans to push on to the next shelter.We are relieved.
Then Caleb, the ridge runner assigned to this part of the park, shows up for the night.He’s been a ridge runner for about 7 months and he’s tired of it.He tells us he’s going to get a job singing on a cruise ship.More and more thru-hikers arrive; most of them set up tents.One goes directly into the shelter and gets into his sleeping bag without introducing himself.V-Dub, Mockingbird, and the professors also appear.A thru hiker named “Big Dog” also pulls in, and when we mention Sarge (who has left by then), he tells us he’s been trying to stay at least one shelter behind Sarge because of the snoring.Then Henry from California joins us.He’s a good looking boy with reddish blonde hair and home-made gators on this ankles.Rounding out our crew is “Eh”, who gets his trail name from the fact that he is from Canada, and apparently says “Eh” a lot.
Caleb the Ridgerunner
Henry, with Big Dog sitting behind him
Henry's homemade gaitors
Between Caleb, Henry, Big Dog, V-Dub, Mockingbird and the “Virginia Ladies”, as we have come to be known on this trip, we have a lively conversation and a lot of laughs.Mostly we talk about the other hikers we have met. At this point, the thru hikers have been on the trail for about a month, and many know each other.Thus, Big Dog knew Sarge.Caleb, the ridge runner, has encountered many of the same hikers we have gotten to know in our short time on the trail.He tells us for example, that Beans (who gave me a roll of toilet paper the night before) is “pink blazing,” which means he is following Lady Sherpa.He’s not stalking her; they met when they first got on the trail and like each other.But according to another thru hiker, he has to pant to keep up with her!
We take full advantage of having a ridge runner with us, and we ask Caleb lots of questions.One of the things we ask about is the lack of African Americans on the trail.Other than AK, I’ve only seen one other on the trail.AK says it’s a cultural thing.She says her family thinks she’s crazy.We ask Caleb how many African Americans he’s seen on the trail this year, and he replies four.But he adds that one of those looked more Polynesian.
As dusk falls, it’s time to hoist the food bags on the bear cable and I gather them from AK and Jenni.They get a kick out of my fascination in doing this.Bear cables consist of steel cables strung horizontally between two strong trees at about 15 to 20 feet above the ground.Then individual bear cables are looped around the horizontal cables.Each loop has a hook at one end and a clip at the other.The clip attaches to the tree.To hoist the food bag, one unfastens the clip from the tree, which causes the other end with the hook to fall to the ground.The food bag is attached to the hook, and then hoisted back up to the cable.Once the food bag is back to the level of the horizontal cable, the clip is refastened to the tree.The process is reversed in the morning.These bear cables are so much easier to use than the bear poles in the Shenandoah National Park or throwing a bear rope.
Finally we turn in, and we are all happy not to have the freight train with us tonight.I put a big note in my journal:EAR PLUGS!!But, we have a different type of surprise in store for us.Around , I am awakened by a retching sound.Someone is throwing up.I’m on the top bunk, and the vomiter is on the bottom bunk, so he or she is presumably throwing up onto the dirt floor of the shelter.It is pitch black and I don’t want to turn on my headlamp.I hear Caleb say, “Get out of the shelter if you have to do that.”But the vomiting continues.Once it stops, another voice says something unintelligible, except for the end—“smart ass.”
Early in the morning, while it is still dark, Henry gets up, packs up and leaves.That makes me think he was the vomiter.When Mockingbird gets up, however, she says she thinks it was the professor.Later in the day, Jenni, AK and I surmise that it was probably the hiker who came in late and when straight to bed.He must not have felt well then.It must be awful to be sick on the trail.
I sleep ok in the full shelter and wake up at The morning is foggy.Charles Bunion socked in so we walk on instead of taking the summit.The morning turns sunny and the trail is level.We have beautiful views once the fog lifts.
We stop for lunch right before Pecks Corner shelter and meet a day hiker who is about our age. He tells us he is doing a 27 mile hike to complete all the trails in the park. There are 800 miles of trails in this Park!
One thing I have missed on this hike is seeing dogs. They are not allowed in the Park. I never really know why, but it could be because of the number of visitors. This is the most visited of all the national parks, with over 10 million visitors each year.
We reach the shelter by .Janet has moved on, again.We won’t see her again until Saturday.
Day 5 on the trail
The Virginia Ladies
I have really enjoyed meeting the other hikers.It’s ironic because I like hiking for the solitude, but the people I meet are the best part.I enjoy hearing their stories. Some of the younger hikers tell me they are on the trail because they can’t find a job.When I was in college, if you couldn’t find a job, you went to grad school or in my case, law school.What would my life have been like if I had hiked the AT instead? That is a totally moot point because I had no desire to hike the AT when I was 22!In fact, I barely knew it existed, even though one fourth of if, or 540 miles, runs through my adopted home state of Virginia.
Then there are the older folks like the Professors, Spot and MarkTrail.Tom, one of the professors, has the AT thru hike on his bucket list.After he finishes, he intends to go to vet school!Spot is on his fourth AT thru hike attempt.We don’t know why he keeps coming back to the same trail.And MarkTrail, well, he hiked it over 40 years ago.
We arrive at Tricorner Shelter and we are relieved to find only grownups there.Annie (V-Dub) and Mockingbird, two women about my age, are doing a section hike from Clingmans Dome to Davenport Gap.Annie is a teacher from outside SavannahGeorgia, and Mockingbird is an unemployed architect from Florida.Apparently she is an expert on bird calls; hence her trail name.Sitting with them when we arrive is Sarge, a retired Air Force sergeant from Wyoming.He’s a big storyteller and will regale us with funny stories and poem readings from his Kindle during the evening.He has the poem “The Cremation of Sam McGhee” by Robert Service almost memorized, and he recites it for us as before fall asleep.
Around dinner time, an Australian thru hiker named “Vegamite” joins us.He pitches his tent on a dirt mound that Sarge says was the location of the former privy.(I think Sarge is wrong; I saw the remnants of a toilet area on the hillside near the privy).Vegamite is undaunted, and after he finishes pitching the tent, he says cheerfully:“the stakes go right into the shit.”Sarge has met his match.
Around 7, the professors show up, and that rounds us out for the evening.After Sarge reads us several Aesops Fables, we all bed down for the night.
As soon as Sarge falls asleep, his sleep apnea kicks in and he snores louder than anything I’ve ever heard before.I’m stunned that the noise can be so loud.His snores increase in volume and intensity like an atonal Wagnerian symphony.They crescendo; he turns over, quiets down, and then the snoring builds up again.I have no earplugs and I don’t know what to do.It didn’t occur to me to get into my tent, but then again, the next morning Vegamite says he could hear him anyway.AK is lying between him and I, so I try to get her to poke him, but she’s actually sleeping.If only I had brought my trekking poles into the shelter.
It's only about 6:30, so instead of going to the privy, I squat beside the shelter. I hear a voice saying, "I'm not looking!" A woman about my age is already on the trail, looking for the spring. Her name is "one of the chosen phew" and she is a thru hiker. I calmly pull up my shorts and show her where the spring is. Just another day on the trail.
Jenni and I at Newfound Gap, after we
yellow blazed our way there
DAY 4
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Starting Point:Double Spring
Destination:Icewater Spring
Today’s Miles 13.8
Total Miles:43.7
Maggie Smith.Maggie Smith.Maggie Smith.Every time I see an incline I say to myself, Maggie Smith.It means slow down.Maggie Smith is 75 years old.If she were hiking, she would not try to hike the hills so fast.So slow down.Maggie Smith.Maggie Smith.
We had decided last night to get an early start today, so we got up at 6 and started hiking at .The skies opened up at .I put on my rain jacket, my waterproof pants and my pack cover.The rain is cold but it’s not rain.It’s hail.When we get to Clingmans Dome it is still raining, so we decide not to go to the top.What is the point?We would not be able to see anything.So we trudge on.Maggie Smith.Maggie Smith.
Clingmans Dome, the highest point
on the AT
I had hoped there was at least a bathroom at Clingmans Dome there so I could steal some toilet paper.I ran out last night.But the bathrooms are a half mile down the road.Maggie Smith.Maggie Smith.
My mind wanders a lot when I hike.I replay movies I’ve seen in my head.I love Maggie Smith in GosfordPark.She plays a guest at a shooting party in the English countryside. Also at the party is an American movie producer who is doing research for his next movie, a Charlie Chan mystery.Maggie says:“How horrid.And who turns out to have done it?”The producer says:“Oh, I couldn’t tell you that.It would spoil it for you.”To which Maggie replies:“Oh, but none of us will see it!”I love that scene.
Plus, Maggie Smith is Toby Stephens mother.So then my mind wanders to Toby Stephens in Jane Eyre.He was very sexy in that movie.And he was in Possession, also, but he played a bit of a scoundrel.And Jeremy Northam was in both Gosford Park and Possession, so my mind wanders to him in Possession (there’s a pretty racy scene in that movie with Jennifer Ehle.)Jennifer Ehle was in Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth.He’s hunky too, but too popular now that he won the Oscar.So my mind wanders back to Maggie Smith.She was in a movie years ago with Peter Ustinov called Hot Millions.That was a funny movie.I like British movies.The humor is usually more subtle than in American movies.You have to pay attention.Thank goodness for Netflix.I can watch all sorts of off the wall movies.And I then play them again in my head as I walk in the rain in the Smokies.Maggie Smith.
As we arrive at the Mt. Collins Shelter for lunch, the rain stops and the sky clears.There is no one else at the shelter so we strip out of our wet clothes and put some dry clothes on. I make a hot lunch of cheese rice soup (thank you Jetboil) and dry out a little.Then we have to put our wet clothes back on and walk again.
The shelter is ½ mile off the trail, so as we rejoin the AT, we see Caro and Kermit sitting on a log having lunch.They are both archeologists who met on a dig in Peru.Caro is from Alexandria, Virginia, near where Billy grew up.And she went to William and Mary.It seems it is easy to find things in common with other hikers.
The rain stays at bay but the sky is grey.We come upon a road crossing, the first one on the hike.There is a small parking lot there, so AK suggests we hitch a ride to Newfound Gap.It will cut 1.7 miles off of our long day.Jenni and I take our packs out to the road and wait for a pick-up truck to come by so we can hop in the back.We assume we are too dirty and smelly to get inside anyone’s car. AK stays at the back of the parking lot, away from the road. Unfortunately, the cars are all going the wrong way.Caro and Kermit come upon us as we try to get a ride and seem amused at what we are doing.I’ve never hitched before and I’m not sure I have the nerve to do it.But I’m tired and wouldn’t mind yellow blazing.Yellow blazing means hitching a ride instead of hiking. Since we are not thru-hikers, it’s not really cheating for us.
Soon a white pick-up truck with a double cab lumbers up the hill going toward Newfound Gap.Jenni and I stick out our thumbs. The truck slows down, as if hesitating, and then pulls into the parking lot.The window rolls down and a elderly white-haired woman sticks her head out and asks if we need a ride.Inside the cab is a family with the parents, the grandmother, and two wide-eyed boys in the back seat.The three of us jump into the back with our packs.The boys gawk at us through the back window as we laugh hysterically.
The family drops us off at the Newfound Gap visitors area.We thank them profusely as the boys and mom head towards the rest room.We take some pictures by the sign and then we head toward the rest room. The rest rooms do not have sinks in them and we think we know why--they don't want thru hikers taking what my husband Billy calls a "whore's bath" in there and scaring the tourists.
I finally have cell phone reception so I call Billy to tell him I’m ok. Billy did not want me to go on this hike. He did not say so when I first told him about it, but as the time drew closer, it became evident that he did not want me to be away for a week, and he was worried about my safety. Maybe he was worried that I would run off with a thru hiker. We've been together for 30 years, so that's kind of sweet in a way. I'd love for him to join me on my trips, but his idea of roughing it is a Holiday Inn without cable.
We arrive at the Icewater Springs Shelter at
It’s my first time sleeping in a totally full shelter.Janet and I line up our sleeping bags side by side.I start telling Janet stories about how Billy and I met and we fall into fits of laughter.Sadly, this is the last evening I will spend with Janet on the trail before the end of our trip.
When I look at the elevation changes on the map, they don’t look very bad.But when walking, they are horrible.Even though we only walk 7 miles today, it is another tough day.
We arrive at the Double Spring shelter around I immediately lie down to take a nap.Janet, on the other hand, is itching to hike further.Janet talks AK and Jenni into walking another 7 miles to the Mt. Collins Shelter.AK and Jenni agree because tomorrow is supposed to rain and they don’t want to hike 14 miles in the rain.Also, they want to see Clingman’s Dome, which is the highest point on the AT, on a nice day.AK and Jenni tell Janet we will rest here and then continue on to the Mt.Collins shelter.Janet takes off.
After Janet leaves, I tell AK and Jenni that I cannot go any further today.They agree to stay as well.A little later it occurs to them that we need to get a message to Janet to let her know that we will not be arriving at Mt.Collins tonight.Just as they are discussing this, a trail angel appears.A trail angel is a person, usually a former thru-hiker, who does nice things for hikers like bringing them food.Mark, AKA Godspeed, arrives at the shelter with a backpack full of sodas and Little Debbie Snackcakes.He tells us the story of his thru-hike and we chat for a while.The only other folks at the shelter at this point are the professors, so even after we have our fill of trail magic, Mark still has a backpack full of snacks.We tell him we need to get a message to Janet, and he agrees to go to Mt.Collins and tell Janet that we will not get there tonight.Then he packs up his stuff and strides off.Watching him march off with a full pack, we realize that there is no way we could hike another 7 miles.
As we finish dinner and get ready for bed, we notice several deer behind the shelter, under the bear cables.They are quite tame and don’t run off as we hang our food bags.Instead, they graze placidly as we move among them.
Without Janet here, I’m sleeping in the shelter for the first time. Late in the evening we are joined by Caro and Kermit, another young couple thru hiking the trail.There are only seven of us in the shelter tonight.And no mice so far.
People often ask us what we eat on the trail. Because we have to carry everything we need on our backs, weight is a consideration. We carry as much powdered and dehydrated food as we can. Breakfast us usually instant coffee and oatmeal. For lunch, I carry flour tortillas and either peanut butter or tuna in pouches. Last Christmas, my mother gave me a dehydrator, so I make dinners especially to dehydrate (there are several good cookbooks on the subject), or I dehydrate leftovers from dinner. Thru hikers favor Ramen noodles, Knorr/Lipton noodle dinners, and powered mashed potatoes. I learned a new recipe this trip, called the "Ramen bomb", which consists of Ramen noodles cooked with mashed potatoes. For snacks, the universal favorite is Snickers. Lots and lots of Snickers.
Lightweight stoves are a necessity. Most hikers this year seem to favor the Pocket Rocket or similar stove, which uses a butane gas canister. Last year, homemade alcohol stoves were the rage, but they can be finicky, especially in colder weather. I use the Jetboil, which is slightly heavier but is extremely reliable. Some hikers forego the stove altogether to save weight. I can't do that, however. I need my morning coffee. I can only give up so much on the trail.
Something has happened to Survivor Dave.As chatty as he was last night, he’s quiet and moody this morning.Yesterday he told us he was a thru hiker and this morning he announces that he is going home.
Before we started this hike, we had studied the elevation changes and figured that the toughest day would be the first day, because of the climb from Fontana Dam.But on Saturday at the hostel, Turtle Feet and others warned us that the second day would be just as difficult, if not harder.Ridge Runner Carl told us the same thing.Great.I was already having a very difficult time with the inclines.All these warnings are not helping my mood or motivation.
We had been told that the morning’s hike from our shelter to the Spence Field Shelter, where we would have lunch, would be a “cake walk”, but that the afternoon would include tough climbs over Rocky Top and ThunderheadMountain.Well, the morning is no cake walk for me.I try to walk too fast instead of keeping a steady pace, and I quickly get short of breath.I have to keep reminding myself to slow down.
Since AK keeps a slower pace, I try to walk behind her.But, she has a shorter stride and so I keep walking up onto her heels.I can sense that she is getting annoyed with me but she doesn’t say anything.However, later she draws a picture in a shelter register in which she depicts me right on her heels!Oh, this is turning out to be a difficult hike!Not exactly a walk in the park!
AK
Rocky Top
Earlier in the day I pass an elderly couple having a snack on the trail. They later join us at the shelter for the evening.They are Tom and Brenda, retired professors from AuburnUniversity.This is their second thru-hike attempt.Last year they had made it 900 miles when Tom got Lyme Disease.If I were Tom and Brenda, I would have started where I had left off the previous year instead of starting all over again!They walk very slowly, but manage to make it to the same shelter as us every night.
So far, the weather has been very good.The Smokies can be changeable, with a lot of fog.Spot, who is attempting his fourth thru-hike, says this is the first time he has actually seen the Smokies.The views are amazing. Here we are, walking along the top of mountains, looking over range after range of more mountain tops. It reminds me of the John Denver song, the Eagle and the Hawk, and I sing it to myself as we walk:
I am the eagle, I live in high country
In rocky cathedrals that reach to the sky
I am the hawk and there’s blood on my feathers
But time is still turning they soon will be dry
And all of those who see me, all who believe in me
Share in the freedom I feel when I fly
Come dance with the west wind and touch on the mountain tops
Sail o’er the canyons and up to the stars
And reach for the heavens and hope for the future
And all that we can be and not what we are
Words and music by John Denver and Mike Taylor
Come dance with the west wind and touch on the mountain tops
AK and I take our time getting over Rocky Top and Thunderhead. She and I are the last of our group to arrive at the shelter, at 7 p.m. Janet and Jenni are already there, as are Mark Trail and Sweet Tea, Sir and Lady No Name, Spot, the professors and a couple of firefighters doing a section hike.
Derrick Knob shelter has no privy either.Yuck. On the other hand, we have fun company tonight. We sit around the fire telling stories.
We had been warned that the Park Rangers would give us a ticket if we did not sleep in the shelter.But once again Janet and I decide to take our chances and sleep in our tents.It is a windy night. Unfortunately for Janet, her tent pole breaks and so this is the last of tenting for her.
We leave Standing Bear at and arrive at Fontana Dam at .Along with us for the ride is Backyard Boogie, a retired truck driver who has just finished a training hike to prepare for hiking the Pacific Crest Trail and is heading back home.Curtis’ stepson Ian drives us.He is a quiet college student from EastTennesseeState.He seems to take everything in stride.Ian takes our picture before he drives off.
We fill out our camping permit at the visitor center and start to walk across the dam.On the far side of the dam lies the entrance to the Smokies, but there was just a little sign there to commemorate the start of our hike.As we take some more pictures, two thru hikers, Spot and Dan, stride past us.They are not being unfriendly; they are simply hiking at a swift pace.They are much too fast for AK, Jenni and I to keep up, but not too fast for Janet!I can see her fall into conversation with them as they charge up the trail.This would be her pace for the rest of the week.
It is an understatement to describe the climb up from the Dam as difficult.I fall way behind both Jenni and AK, but they are having a rough time too.This is much harder than I had expected.I had been working out and doing training hikes for weeks, and I expected it to be easier than this.
We climb from 1775 feet to 4020 feet over 3.9 miles to ShuckstackMountain.On the top of this mountain there is an old fire tower that all three of us decline to climb.Janet told us later that she got about half way up but the stairs were too decayed and rickety.
We walk another 2 miles and stop for lunch near the Birch Spring Gap campsite.Here we meet Carl, a ridge runner.Ridge runners are employed by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC).The ATC employs three ridge runners in the park.They hike back and forth between their assigned shelters, monitoring the trails and the shelters, picking up trash, and educating hikers about the park rules.They live on the trail for 5 days each week. Carl checks our permit and asks about our shelter reservations.He is very helpful and cheerfully answers our questions. We later find out that Carl is 70 years old.
At lunch we also meet Spot and Dan, Janet’s hiking companions, and Sir and Lady No-Name, a young married couple thru-hiking the trail.They are an adorable couple with whom we will share several nights on the trail.Sir carries a chair and a huge pack, but he does not seem to mind the weight.Lady smiles a lot but doesn’t say much. Sir tells us that he gets a lot of flack from other hikers for carrying the chair, which he says makes him all the more determined to keep it with them.
After lunch, the hard climbs continue, but we encounter the first of many wildflower surprises.After Doe Knob, we see a white carpet of Spring Beauties extend from both sides of the trail and into the woods.This is a ground cover of small white flowers with thin lavender stripes down each rounded petal.They are stunning.We are lucky to see them, for they only bloom for about two weeks each April.
AK has been studying Leonard Atkins’ book, Wildflowers of the Appalachian Trail.She points them out as we progress -- white and scarlet trillium, violets, mayapples, and later in the week, crested dwarf iris.Her botany lessons enhance my enjoyment of the walk.
At our shelter for the night, Mollies Ridge Shelter, I receive a rude surprise.There is no privy!Instead, there is a “toilet area”, which is a hillside with small trails and strategically placed logs.There is also a shovel at the shelter for digging cat holes.The hillside is adorned with clumps of toilet paper, or “white roses”, as Spot calls them.Disgusting.Who would think there could be something worse than a privy?
Inside Mollies Ridge Shelter
Mollies Ridge Shelter
At the shelter we meet Survivor Dave (whom I recognize from WhiteBlaze.net, the website I frequent for information about the AT),El Flaco,MarkTrail and Sweet Tea. Spot, and Sir and Lady No Name are also there.
I notice that Sir and Lady No Name and Survivor Dave have set up tents. In the Smokies, hikers are required to stay in the shelters, as opposed to sleeping in their tents.Thru hikers are allowed to tent, but only if the shelter is full.As section hikers, we must sleep in the shelter and we must have reservations.
The shelters are three sided structures, typically.In the Smokies, they have stone walls with tarps tacked on the open front to keep the wind and rain out.Inside there are two wooden platforms for sleeping (upper and lower). They sleep about 12 hikers (more if it’s raining).The floors are dirt.They usually have a fireplace, but we are not supposed to use them.They also usually have a bench or two on the inside, and benches and a narrow table on the outside under an overhang for eating and socializing. I hate sleeping in the shelters.Shelters are known to house mice and other vermin. I prefer the privacy of my own tent.
I had debated whether to bring a tent and in the end decided to bring it along in case the shelters were full.Janet brought hers too, for the same reason.Janet and I both tent this night.We debated whether we should, since the rules require us to stay in the shelter, and the shelter is not full so we have no excuse not to. But when Janet pitches her tent first, I decide to do the same.It is just so much more comfortable in the tent.It’s easier to change clothes, step out to go to the bathroom, and I don’t have to worry about mice or snoring.I never did have a problem with mice in the shelters, but I did have a bad snorer later in the week.
After we unpack and get water from the spring, we get to enjoy what I consider to be the best part about backpacking—meeting the other hikers.Since this is prime thru-hiking season, many of the hikers we meet have started in Georgia and hope to make it to Maine.
Survivor Dave, for example is a beefy guy with large tattoos on both his calves.He used to be a chef.So was El Flaco.Mark Trail is from Florida. I had started to read his trail journal before we left for this hike.He had thru-hiked the trail in 1978.His trail name is MarkTrail because he refuses to adopt a trail name—he says that hikers did not take trail names in 1978 (the tradition apparently started in the 1980’s).Since his real name is Mark, he has been dubbed MarkTrail.He dubs us the “Virginia Ladies.”Mark is hiking with El Flaco (which means skinny in Spanish), a tall skinny man who had greeted us earlier on the trail with “Hello, intrepid hikers!”
Also with Mark is Sweet Tea, a blond woman about our age from Dothan, Alabama.She had hiked much of the trail the previous year with her Chihuahua perched on top of her waist pack.She skipped the Smokies last year because of the weather and is hiking just the Smokies this year.
Mark is in his element at the shelter.He carries a huge external frame pack that reminds me of Mary Poppins’ carpet bag.But instead of pulling out a lamp and a bird, he retrieves a large pot and makes us all popcorn, complete with butter and salt. We are amazed and we snap pictures, much to Mark's delight. Some people hike for the challenge, others for the solitude, still others to enjoy the scenery, the wildlife, the birds or the flowers. But I think Mark likes the company more than anything. By the way, he's doing his own blog, which is being published by his hometown newspaper in Jacksonville, Florida. Check it out here
