June 7, 2005 -Cold Springs Shelter to Siler Bald Shelter
I was up and gone from the shelter at 6:45 a.m. I hiked very pretty terrain all day. Wayah Bald as worth this whole
week of rain. You could see all the way back to Clingmans Dome and Mount Albert. The old observation tower had
been redone since I was here in 1981. It is in great shape this time. I left the tower and two miles later I ran totally out
of gas. I stopped in the middle of the trail and had lunch and a big stiff cup of coffee, with hot chocolate added to it.
Rocket fuel is what we call this! Man that did the trick. I had a buzz up the trail till the end of the day. I made it to the
summit of Siler Bald in good time and then .5 miles off the trail to the Siler Bald Shelter. It is 4 miles to Winding Stair
Gap where I will resupply tomorrow. I will get 6 days food tomorrow. It was a miserable night in the shelter. There
were 11 people shelter and it rained hard all night. There were arms and legs everywhere. This shelter has a nice
back grassy yard and a good water source. This shelter is different looking than usual shelters. It has seen better
days but is adequate.
June 8, 2005 - Siler Bald Shelter to Rock Gap Shelter
It is resupply day. I hiked out of camp at 6:30 a.m. after coffee and toast. I did not have much more to eat in my
pack. I got to Winding Stair Gap at 8 a.m. and got a ride with some nice people who were headed home to
Hiawassee Ga. and turned around to give me a ride back into Franklin. They dropped me off at Burger King and I
had another breakfast there. The people who gave me a ride had moved up from Florida 4 years ago and had gone
to Alaska like we had done a few years back. I got groceries and went to drug store to get a radio. I met Tar Heel A.
T. class of 1979, he produced the A.T. guide to beer and ice-cream for 1981. I actually bought one and used it in
1981. It is strange that you would meet someone after all of these years. Even stranger, I met “Repeat” another
hiker in Damascus way back in early May and he had told me about Tar Heel then and I had told him the story about
me buying and using the little pamphlet. He told me he would mention this to Tar Heel when he got back home. I did
not know where home was so I let it go at that time. Tar Heel took me back to his office and he had a picture of him
and Repeat together hiking on the trail at an earlier date. If my little radio had not broken I would never have met
Tar Heel. We talked for a while and laughed how fate let us meet after all of these years. The stars were lined up
right on this day. I got a ride back to the trail by a young man who turned around like before and gave me a ride
back to the trail. I hiked hard for 5 minutes before I realized I was hiking the wrong direction. I laughed and turned
around and crossed the hard road again. I still had coffee in me from the Burger King 2 hours earlier. I met 3 other
hikers at gap and got a drink of water at the spring which was a nice one. Almost all the way up to top I had low
blood sugar and had to eat a lot to recover. Soon after I was rained on for ½ hour. My clothes were wet so I rinsed
them out and hung them up to dry. There is a nice spring here. This shelter has an added covered picnic table area
which is nice in the rain. Someone left some wood in a bundle and fire starter and I started one to dry stuff out.
There is a road within sight over the hill from this shelter. I am enjoying my pipe as I watch the fire. This is the first
tobacco I have had for a while. The sun is out and life is good for a change. There is no one else here at 4 p.m. I am
clean and dry and have too much food, perfect. I am hungry so I shall eat. I bought 12 eggs, 1# of sausage, 1#
peanut butter, Whoopee!! I am 102 miles from Springer Mountain as of tonight. I had to hang up my clothes inside
shelter because it is raining again. I just carried my food bags up and hung them up on bear cables. They must
weigh 25#s I thought they would break the cable. I am eating like a pig and am still losing weight but I feel stronger
everyday. Ahh, inside a dry shelter and rain!! Captain Blood and Walker came in the rain after a while. It rained all
night till daybreak and then cleared a little.
June 9, 2005 - Rock Gap Shelter to Big Spring Shelter
I slept well in a warm dry shelter. It rained again most of the night. Thundered and lightning, just a bad night to be
out in the woods. I had sausage and eggs and coffee for breakfast with some leftover mushrooms. My food bag is
getting lighter already. The hard rain held off for the 5.5 mile to Big Spring Shelter. I got here at 11:00 a.m. The sun
has been out and in all day. In the early evening it is out and not too warm, I may say. I met a section hiker who has
been following me for a while and is going back to Springer.
Black Swan is his trail name. I had pepperoni and bread with much hot coffee for lunch and then fixed some orange
cool-aid with fiber in it. It was really good. At 7:30 p.m. three more hikers came in and decided to go 5.5 miles further
for the day. They had poor battered feet, sore knees and still wanting more!! One other hiker had done 19 already
for this day and was going on to Franklin tonight. Man he had to be on meth or something else he was so hyper.
The man had told me he couldn’t stop till he got tired. I told him you have to work at taking it easy. I found a real nice
R.E.I. candle lantern in the woods near here. It is brass and about $25.00 new. I am here alone so far at 7:30 p.m.
The spring here is properly named. It is very big. The birds are putting on a concert here tonight on a cool and clear
night. I will try again to see a sunrise up on Mount Albert in the morning. There is a nice fire tower up there. Three
other hikers came in late and stayed too.
June 10, 2005 - Big Spring Shelter to Carter Gap Shelter
The rain just won’t let up!! It came down all night. I went by the fire tower and went up to the top and there was no
view. Socked in. I walked in rain all day and got to shelter at 11:00 a.m. I changed into dry clothes and went out and
got water at spring. My sleeping bag got a little wet today and I am trying to dry it out. Torrential rains drenched me.
At 1:40 p.m. the sun came out again for about 10 minutes. There is an old shelter by the same name near here in ill
repair and a few people are over there. This shelter has six up top and this shelter has a basement which can sleep
3 tight or 2 comfortable. We needed the space this night. This shelter does have a nice place to cook out of the rain
and inside the shelter. It is foggy so no more drying will happen tonight. I will go to Standing Indian Shelter
tomorrow.
June 11, 2005 - Carter Gap Shelter to Standing Indian Shelter
It rained again all night and got windy in the early hours. The weather is changing for the worse today. I hear there
are hurricane remnants heading this way. I will get to the next shelter and hunker down. I left the shelter after a quick
breakfast at around 8:00 a.m. I hiked in cloudy, foggy and windy weather conditions all day. I got into Standing
Indian Shelter early and decided to stay here. I could not find the water source. I went back to the trail and it was
across the trail. This is a new shelter since I was here before. It used to be on the water and now it is up on a hill at
an even prettier spot. I got my water and washed out some clothes and hung them up and tried to dry them. I am
caught up and hungry and it is getting cold here. No one else here at 1:00 p.m. I wanted to go to Muskrat Creek
Shelter, but I would not get my clothes dry if I washed them later. There are 30 m.p.h. winds here as I write and the
clothes are drying fast! Standing Indian Mountain is the last 5000 ft mountain till the end for me. Two men went up to
the mountain and said the view up there was excellent. I came over 3 hours ago and it was socked in. I am tired
tonight. I should sleep well inside this big warm dry shelter. Someone with a weather radio said we would get 10
inches of rain tonight and tomorrow.
If I can I will just go 5 miles tomorrow. If it is real bad I will go to Plum Orchard the next day. My only concern is I am
running low on fuel for my stove. I am down to 5 or 6 ounces. I will go into Hiawassee on Monday or Tuesday. I will
savor the last 75 miles. Slow Goat to Georgia!!
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