April 6- 1981 -Plumorchard Shelter to Standing Indian Shelter-
I woke up this morning and it is very cold at 34 degrees. I was on the trail by 6:35 a.m. I had
granola for breakfast and a lot of coffee. I am carrying a 20 degree sleeping bag and am
getting cold almost every night. I dropped my granola on the ground. I got to Bly Gap, which
is the N.C. border and the winds were 30 mph and freezing rain was falling. I kept moving
and got to Standing Indian Shelter at 2:40 p.m. I did 13 miles today and my knee is getting
stronger everyday. It will be another cold night with temperatures at around 35 tonight. I had
lentils and rice for supper. I also drank a lot of coffee. I cooked over an opened fire tonight.
Roger helped me eat some of my extra food which I am carrying. I took a lot of pictures today
and one of this shelter too.
April 7-1981 - Standing Indian Shelter to Big Spring Shelter-
I left lean-to at 6:35 a.m. It got very cold, around 30 degrees. About froze last night. My
knee feeling better, but new blister is on my right foot. I made it to Big Spring lean-to
today. I did 15 miles today. The last one mile was straight up (600 vertical feet in less than
one quarter of a mile.) Very pretty, could see for miles. I am going to help Roger get fire
going now. It is said that this short accent is the steepest one until we get to the White
Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire.
April 8, 1981 -Big Spring Shelter to Siler Bald Shelter-
I made it to Siler Bald lean-to which is one half mile off of new trail. (Trail has been relocated)
This shelter is sufficient but is very old and has seen its better days. I'm sure it has seen a
lot of good days and nights. I made 14 miles today. It is not suppose to get as cold tonight,
around 50º or so. That will be a lot better than the last two nights. This could mean rain.
(Old shelter with cutting sickle hanging up and board missing from shelter and we burned a
sassafras log that smoked a lot.) This shelter is on a nice setting with a lot of grass out back
of the shelter.
April 9, 1981 -Siler Bald Shelter to Cold Springs-
I was gone from Siler Bald lean-to at 7:05 a.m. It is very cloudy and foggy and it looks like
rain. About 8:00 a.m. it started raining. It was a miserable 10 more miles of sopping wet
walking. I arrived at Cold Springs lean-to at 3:00 p.m. Changed clothes and ate Rice-a-Roni
and tuna. A lot of coffee and hot chocolate also went down good. Roger had tuna helper
and shared some with me that was left over. This shelter is very old also. It is made of l2
inch logs made of chestnut. My most favorite shelter yet. It is going to rain again tonight.
After today I don’t want to see rain again. I was really cold and hurting today. Thought I
would die before I got here. Going into Wesser N.C. tomorrow. Going to stay at motel, get
shower and wash clothes, get supplies and etc. Old shelter had the initials G.W.1776 on it. It
doesn't take much to amuse us on the trail. Threw away cane stick. My hands got so cold
that I could not hang on to it any longer.
I woke up this morning and it is very cold at 34 degrees. I was on the trail by 6:35 a.m. I had
granola for breakfast and a lot of coffee. I am carrying a 20 degree sleeping bag and am
getting cold almost every night. I dropped my granola on the ground. I got to Bly Gap, which
is the N.C. border and the winds were 30 mph and freezing rain was falling. I kept moving
and got to Standing Indian Shelter at 2:40 p.m. I did 13 miles today and my knee is getting
stronger everyday. It will be another cold night with temperatures at around 35 tonight. I had
lentils and rice for supper. I also drank a lot of coffee. I cooked over an opened fire tonight.
Roger helped me eat some of my extra food which I am carrying. I took a lot of pictures today
and one of this shelter too.
April 7-1981 - Standing Indian Shelter to Big Spring Shelter-
I left lean-to at 6:35 a.m. It got very cold, around 30 degrees. About froze last night. My
knee feeling better, but new blister is on my right foot. I made it to Big Spring lean-to
today. I did 15 miles today. The last one mile was straight up (600 vertical feet in less than
one quarter of a mile.) Very pretty, could see for miles. I am going to help Roger get fire
going now. It is said that this short accent is the steepest one until we get to the White
Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire.
April 8, 1981 -Big Spring Shelter to Siler Bald Shelter-
I made it to Siler Bald lean-to which is one half mile off of new trail. (Trail has been relocated)
This shelter is sufficient but is very old and has seen its better days. I'm sure it has seen a
lot of good days and nights. I made 14 miles today. It is not suppose to get as cold tonight,
around 50º or so. That will be a lot better than the last two nights. This could mean rain.
(Old shelter with cutting sickle hanging up and board missing from shelter and we burned a
sassafras log that smoked a lot.) This shelter is on a nice setting with a lot of grass out back
of the shelter.
April 9, 1981 -Siler Bald Shelter to Cold Springs-
I was gone from Siler Bald lean-to at 7:05 a.m. It is very cloudy and foggy and it looks like
rain. About 8:00 a.m. it started raining. It was a miserable 10 more miles of sopping wet
walking. I arrived at Cold Springs lean-to at 3:00 p.m. Changed clothes and ate Rice-a-Roni
and tuna. A lot of coffee and hot chocolate also went down good. Roger had tuna helper
and shared some with me that was left over. This shelter is very old also. It is made of l2
inch logs made of chestnut. My most favorite shelter yet. It is going to rain again tonight.
After today I don’t want to see rain again. I was really cold and hurting today. Thought I
would die before I got here. Going into Wesser N.C. tomorrow. Going to stay at motel, get
shower and wash clothes, get supplies and etc. Old shelter had the initials G.W.1776 on it. It
doesn't take much to amuse us on the trail. Threw away cane stick. My hands got so cold
that I could not hang on to it any longer.
Standing Indian Shelter
5