The Peace Corps bond

First, let me thank all of you who have written and called in response to my last entry. I'm sorry I haven't been able to write back. It's been a tough week for me, and I've been at a loss for words. The days go by, and I watch the posts on our Peace Corps Yahoo group flow in. We all feel devastated. We all feel lost.

By the time I returned to Fredericksburg last Wednesday, I had voice messages and e-mails from several volunteers, all of them wanting to know if I was ok. Peace Corps creates a bond between people that is about as close to family as you can get. We look out for each other, we love each other - even if we don't always get along.

On Saturday, I went to a Halloween party hosted by some of my Peace Corps friends. We spent most of the afternoon avoiding the elephant in the room. Other guests began flooding in - old college friends, coworkers - and the volunteers found ourselves drawn outside into a small circle to talk about Dave. In those moments, we talked about his death, but more often in conversations we talk about his life. We all have stories that make us laugh and allow us to remember him the way he would want us to.

Last night, I logged onto my instant messenger account for the first time in months and found waiting for me a message from him. Dated September 27: "Yo dude. You ever use this thing anymore?" His way of reaching out. I was in the Smoky Mountains then, I think. Is it so strange that I felt compelled to respond? "I love you. I miss you. Why didn't you tell me?"

Today I talked to Katie. She attended the memorial service and gave me the details of his death and his final words. They were so him that we sobbed together as she told me. He wrote that he'd found his way to peace. "When you find my body, use it to feed a tree."

Thanks again to all who've written. I'll be back to regular coverage as soon as I can.

The loss of a friend

I'm not sure how to begin this entry or whether I even should. I tend to be a pretty private person, so the most personal things stay out of my published writings. But I feel a great sadness right now, and writing about it always seems to help. I just wonder if posting it here is the right thing to do. But I created this blog to talk about my life, and this is a part of it.

 

Many of you know that during my first few months of Peace Corps, I was seeing another volunteer, David. Those of you on my newsletter will remember me talking about him a lot in the beginning and then not at all for the rest of my two years. It ended badly, what can I say? We started out as close friends, and the thing I missed most over the rest of my tour was that friendship. He seemed to get me in a way others did not.

 

But time heals all wounds. By the time I'd returned to the states, I had perspective on our relationship and was able to see my own mistakes as well as his. I was able to look back and remember a lot of happy moments, even if our friendship was now over.

 

Just before I started my hike, I got an unexpected e-mail from him. Just a hello and how are you, nothing earth-shattering. We corresponded back and forth for a few days, catching up on our lives. I wasn't really looking to become friends again, but I felt a certain peace and resolution to our relationship. Maybe that's what he was looking for too.

 

David committed suicide this week. I can't even begin to ask why. It's so overwhelmingly sad to think that he's not in this world anymore and that no one will ever really understand what happened. And just like anyone, I am left wondering if there was something I could have said or done.

 

This seems like a good opportunity to say how grateful I am for the friends and family I have. I love you all.

--
Amy E. Yates

"Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and finds himself no wiser than before. He is full of murderous resentment of people who are ignorant without having come by their ignorance the hard way."
-Bokonon

The Appalachian Trail - NC/TN Part 4 of 4

Yes, I'm finally finished! Mom picked us up from Damascus yesterday and brought us to Roanoke where we have reverted to being complete slugs to try and balance out the last 7 weeks of hyperactivity. I still haven't uploaded pictures from my camera, but here are my final journal entries. I'll be back in Fredericksburg later this week.

October 13, 2006
Iron Mountain Gap - Clyde Smith Shelter
(6.1 miles, 363.9 total)

Mallory met her dad yesterday and has returned south to complete the Smokies. We had a short day of hiking planned, so we spent the morning cleaning up at Miss Janet's and packing our bags. The hiking was fine. It was nice to be back in our groove again with our packs on. About 4 miles of the day, the trail was on what the guidebook calls an "undulating ridge". What that means, apparently, is a lot of short, steep ups and downs that don't show up in the contours. But it wasn't bad.

It was a cold day, so we didn't stop much. It's an even colder night. It will probably get below freezing. We set up the tent for warmth, filtered and cooked quickly, and are in our sleeping bags at 8:00 with heated Nalgenes at our feet.

There are several people at the shelter tonight, 6 guys out of college, 2 older men together, and Bean. He's an interesting one. He started at Springer August 1. His pack weighs 70 lbs, because he carries a few weeks worth of food at a time and rarely resupplies. He's an old hippie, who lives nowhere in particular and talks about marijuana a lot. He says he lives on an income of $1000-$2000 a year.

He is quite a talker, but often loses his train of thought mid-sentence or doesn't really make sense. Although he tells us that marijuana prevents Alzheimer's.

Still, he's a harmless, nice guy. We lost our Swiss Army knife today, so he opened our canned food for us and lent us a knife to use for the rest of our trip.

October 14, 2006
Clyde Smith Shelter - Overmountain Shelter
(12.9 miles, 376.8 total)

It was an exhausting, challenging day. I was warm enough last night, but slept poorly thanks to this cold I have.

The hills were tough today, especially the ascent over Roan Mountain. It was our steepest long climb yet - about a 19% grade over 2 1/2 miles. That climb alone took us 2 hours. Overall we did 4100' in ascents and 3900' in descents. Roan Mountain also took us over 6000' today, and the temperatures were frigid. We saw icicles and were negotiating ice on the trail at 2 in the afternoon.

It warmed up a bit after Carver's Gap, and we had some nice views on the balds north of there. My right knee is giving me some trouble, so I'm worried about the descent into Roan Mountain town tomorrow.

We're at a very cool shelter tonight, an old converted barn. It's just on the North Carolina side, which means they're allowed to build a privy. None of the shelters in Tennessee have one. There are a dozen others here too, so we got a sleeping spot in front of the open hayloft. We set up our tent to keep the wind off.

October 15, 2006
Overmountain Shelter - US 19E
(8.7 miles, 385.5 total)

It got really cold last night. The wind was blowing so hard that our unstaked fly was flapping loudly and kept Tina from sleeping. She removed it, leaving us more exposed. In the early hours, I started suffering, but it wasn't as bad as those nights in the Smokies. I have a fleece balnket borrowed from Miss Janet now, so that helps.

Despite the frigid temperatures this morning, it turned out to be a beautiful day. It was clear and cool, and we were able to shed our extra layers five minutes into the first climb. We went over Little Hump and Hump Mountain, two very cool balds. The descent between them was steep, but the last one into town wasn't bad. It was "gnarly" though, as Tina put it - lots of roots and rocks to avoid.

When we got to the road, we walked another 0.3 miles to the B&B we'd booked. They have a barn where they rent beds to hikers for $15 a night. Unfortunately, someone had booked the barn for the entire month. So they gave us a room in the house for the same rate! The house is gorgeous, and the room is so beautiful that we didn't want to set our grungy bags down. We have a huge bed, TV, microwave, bathtub, and fridge. We got right down to business and managed to squeeze in an episode of Project Runway before dinnertime. The husband drove us down the road to the only place opened - Subway.

This, by the way, makes 4 out of 6 weeks that we've arrived in a town on a Sunday and have been unable to get good food or booze here in the south!

October 16, 2006
US19E - Moreland Gap Shelter
(17.7 miles, 403.2 total)

Ugh! Why do we push ourselves like that? It started out being such a glorious day of hiking too. After a short, steep ascent, the trail leveled out and it was a true pleasure to walk. For the first time in our entire hike, we were able to spend a good portion of the day looking around us instead of at our feet. The foliage was beautiful, and the weather was cool but not cold.

We made great time and were feeling elated at the change in our luck. We got to the new shelter, Mountaineer Falls, after 2 and decided to push farther to shorten our day tomorrow.

At 3, it started to rain. We put on jackets and pack covers, but not rainpants since it was still a light sprinkling. But it never stopped. Our boots got wetter and wetter and eventually our socks too. But we kept walking.

We saw a nice campsite by a waterfall at 12.4 miles, but it was only 4:30 and we didn't want to stop. Tomorrow, the rain is supposed to be worse, so we figured we'd press as far as we could today.

After 5, we made up our minds to try for the shelter, even though it was still 4 miles away. I'm not sure why, as we had little notion of actually sleeping in it.

The trail continued to be nice, but exhaustion crept in and we barely noticed. We had a few climbs, some steep, and those we noticed. We were both in the berge of dropping when the final climb came and then a steep descent. The winds were picking up by then, and it was nearing dark. We got to the shelter shortly before 7. There was a fire roaring in front unattended. The guy who'd lit it was sitting behind several hanging tarps inside the shelter, rolling cigarette after cigarette. It became quickly apparent that he is basically homeless, and yes - a little crazy, but benevolent enough. We were a little taken aback when he asked us if we had some "weed puff". We don't even know what that is.

We were just crazy enough on arrival to still follow our nightly routine. We took headlamps to go filter water and set up our tent because the smoke in the shelter was so bad, we couldn't breathe. We cooked, but the wind was terrible, and it took forever. Plus we were still shivering in our wet clothes. We had mac and cheese and gave the guy what we couldn't eat. He was very grateful, and we expect that will keep him from murdering us in our sleep. Kidding! We talked to him a bit after dinner, and he's a nice guy. He's very worried about us out here in the tent, because large branches are falling from the sky.

October 17, 2006
Morland Gap Shelter - Dennis Cove Road
(6.1 miles, 409.3 total)

Well, I guess the guy was right to be worried about us. It rained heavily all night, and around 8am, we heard a large crash a few feet away. A giant tree limb, about 10 inches in diameter, had fallen onto the shelter. It made a few dents in the ceiling, but it would have demolished our tent. We decided that was a sign we neede to move. We packed quickly and didn't even eat breakfast. The winds were howling on the ridge, and we were happy to finally get down to a lower elevation. But the trail turned rocky and steep in places, and we felt mentally defeated.

At one point, we were walking under a powerline in a pasture, the wind whpping through, and a thornbush smacked me in the head and stayed there. I wasn't hurt, just fed up, so we took one of many mental breaks. We got to the road around 12:30 and walked the 0.2 miles to Kincora Hostel.

We were told it was a place we HAD to stop, and after missing Elmer's in Hot Springs we didn't want to make the same mistake. I'm so glad we came. Bob and Pat Peoples are awesome. They are from Boston and when they retired searched about 1000 miles of road crossings along the trail to find a place for a hostel. They are long distance hikers themselves, and Bob maintains over 100 miles of trail here too. They've been running this hostel for 10 years and have housed over 13000 hikers.

The walls of this place are lined with hiker pictures, people who've completed the 2000 miles. The cabin is two floors with bunks, laundry, showers, kitchen. All this for a suggested donation of $4 a night. Plus Bob will shuttle us to town for free to buy groceries. And he's made friends with the local pizza joint. They deliver here, even though it's several miles up a horseshoe curved road. But they make a good prift. Bob said in May the pizza truck was here 52 times.

Bob and Pat come over at night and just sit and chat. They're fascinating people and curious about everyone. We went crazy at the grocery store and spent $40 on dinner and snacks. We made fajitas. There are 5 others here tonight, and we played Trivial Pursuit with three of them.

October 18, 2006
US 321 - Dennis Cove Road (slackpack/flip-flop)
(8.9 miles, 417.2 total)

Bob drove us to US321 today, so we could do a slackpack and enjoy his hostel and company again tonight. It was great. The uphill was well graded, although the downhill was quite steep. We went by Laurel Fork Falls today, a gorgeous huge waterfall. We had lunch there and took our time enjoying the scenery. We ordered pizza tonight, and met up with Bonjour again, a hiker we'd been with at Miss Janet's.

October 19, 2006
US321 - Iron Mountain Shelter
(15.4 miles, 433.6 total)

Curse those southbounders who told us how easy this day would be. Even Bob said the rest of the way to Damascus was abreeze. It was much harder than we expected, though no different than the elevation profile predicted. It doesn't matter how gentle the grade - 4000 feet is still 4000 feet. We were climbing nearly all day, and the trail was still gnarly in a few places.

It was just a long day. By the time we got water and got to the shelter if was after 6:30. Another 4 people came in after us. They are nice, but new to backpacking and obviously don't know much about trail etiquette. Their dog barks and growls at us, and they've spread their stuff all over the picnic table so we have no room to cook.

It's been sprinkling most of the afternoon and the weather report is calling for storms after midnight.

October 20, 2006
Iron Mountain Shelter - Abingdon Gap Shelter
(15.9 miles, 449.5 total)

Our last night in the wilderness. How surreal. It's been an amazing trip, but it's time to move on. I figured that out when I broke down crying in the trail today. Why? I don't know. It was wet; I was cold; there were 14 miles still to go.

It rained hard last night, and there were no signs of clear weather this morning. Our lovely shelter-mates had decided after we went to bed to move the picnic table out into the rain - with our stove still on it. I was glad to pack up and leave them behind.

The walking was fine today, but it was windy and still raining on the ridge, and our boots were wet. We made decent time though - just short of 2mph for the day including breaks. We can't seem to get past that barrier.

It's cold again, but I'm warming up with a heated Nalgene at my feet. Ten niles to go. How strange to be almost done!

October 21, 2006
Abingdon Gap Shelter - Damascus, VA
(10 miles, 459.5 total)

I'm writing this the next day since we were too busy celebrating last night. We did it! 460 miles!

Our last day of hiking was perfect - a crisp, clear autumn day. My boots were almost dry, so with a fresh pair of socks, I was golden. The terrain was so nice that we were able to do the faster pace Bob had promised us.

Sadly, my boots gave up about 5 miles before I did. I stepped on a stick, and it went through a small opening between the sole and the shoe, making for a very large opening! Luckily, the ground was dry.

We conquered the 2mph barrier even with sveral breaks and got to town around 2. We stopped at Mt. Rogers Outiftters and were contemplating whether to go inside the store or across the street to the hostel first when Bob opened the door and said, "Welcome, ladies!" He was there picking up another hiker. He introduced us to the store owners and made sure we got a room at the hostel.

At the hostel, we met Hal who's just come in from a 3 day loop. We'd seen him on our cold, wet day but hadn't stopped to chat. We told him about our trip, and he offered to buy us dinner and beer to celebrate.

He drove us to a hamburger place. Then we returned to the hostel and walked to Dot's Inn for a real Damascus experience. We played about 50 songs on the old country jukebox, watched Project Runway on mute, and drank 4 pitchers of Amber Bock. It was a great way to end the hike!

The Appalachian Trail - NC/TN Part 3

September 28, 2006
Davenport Gap Shelter - Standing Bear Farm
(3.3. miles, 237.3 total)

It was a short day of hiking, but busy nonetheless. As soon as we left the Smokies, the trail became a steep downhill. On the other side of I-40, it was a steep uphill. It's been raining since afternoon, and it's gotten cold again, so I'm glad we took the rest of the day off.

Standing Bear Farm is an unusual place. It's run by a guy named Curtis, sort of an educated good ole boy. He lives with Maria, who he affectionately calls "my old lady" or "the mother of my children". It's a very laid back atmosphere. They have a little store where you can load up on trail food for a bit more than you'd pay in town. There's a laundry room with a computer for dial-up internet. Then there's a kitchen and a bunkhouse and private cabin. We have a cabin tonight, and Statesman is in the bunkhouse. It's not too clean, but it's pleasant. A creek runs right under the cabin. There are showers heated by propane in a separate building and a mouldering privy where in daylight you can actually see the red worms going to work. Magnificent!

We spent much of the day trying to figure out how to get to Hot Springs by Saturday to meet Mary, but it's 33 miles and so complicated that we'll just stick to our schedule and arrive Sunday.

September 29, 2006
Standing Bear Farm - Roaring Fork Shelter
(15.4 miles, 252.7 total)

Well, it was a challenging day to say the least. Probably 4700' in climbs today and 2700' in descents. Definitely our biggest ascent day and our longest mileage.

We enjoyed our night at the farm and sharing a meal with Statesman. Unfortunately, I got sick either from the coffee or scarfing down so much food. I ended up throwing up around 1am and finally fell asleep 45 minutes later. The combination of sickness plus my obsession with getting in more miles made for some interesting dreams. At one point, apparently needing to pee, I dreamed that the privy was 0.1 miles along the trail and that if I could just go there now, I'd have fewer miles to hike in the morning.

We started at 9:30, thinking we'd try to make Max Patch to camp around 13 miles away. But Curtis kept warning us we had lots of ups, so we weren't sure how we would handle it. But the first ascent was well graded. In fact, we climbed almost 5 miles by noon. The summit was Snowbird Mountain, a big bald with an FAA tower on top. It was gorgeous, but freezing. I kept my rain gear on for warmth most of the day.

After making good time until lunch, we decided to try and get to the shelter at 15.4 miles. On one of our maps, it showed the shelter at 18.4, but Curtis told us it had been moved closer. Some of the later signs had not been changed, though, so it was discouraging that we started getting farther from our destination! We continued to make good time to Brown Gap, but then we had a horrendous uphill that just wouldn't end. It didn't look any worse on our map than our other ascents, but it was. We slowed down considerably. When we finally started going down again, Tina said: "Son of a bitch! We should be going up!"

Around 5:00, we made it to Max Patch and summited the bald. It's an outstanding place, probably my favorite views yet. But we didn't have much time to enjoy it, and with the winds blowing it was bitterly cold. We left the summit before 6 and walked another 2 miles to the shelter. We had to filter water on the way in, so it was after 7 when we got here.

Two older men were already here and in their sleeping bags. We cooked Ramen and sausage, washed up, and got in our tent inside the shelter.

Thanks to the long day, we can be in Hot Springs early Sunday now. We want to take Mary back to Max Patch. It's beautiful there!

September 30, 2006
Roaring Fork Shelter - Deer Park Mountain Shelter
(14.8 miles, 267.5 total)

Another long day, and we were really fatigued from yesterday. It was a cold night, but I slept pretty well - mostly from exhaustion.

We woke up around 7:30 and shivered as we got ready. The other guys left before us, leaving their trash in the firepit. I picked out the foodstuff and packed it out. No manners!

It warmed up quickly. The day was mostly downhill, but we were hurting from yesterday. It was 5 hours before we'd finished the first 7.2 miles. The last half went quicker. We got to the shelter around 6. Tina got stung by a bee again this afternoon. Oddly enough, my old sting immediately started itching. I looked, and there's still a mark there after 3 weeks!

We're at camp with 7 guys tonight - 5 college boys and 2 others. Only 3.2 miles to go tomorrow. Hot Springs, here we come!

October 1, 2006
Deer Park Mountain Shelter - Hot Spring, NC
(3.2 miles, 270.7 total)

We woke up this morning with pancakes on our minds. We'd been talking about food for days - the cravings had set in. We decided to walk the 3 miles quickly, hoping to beat the Sunday church crowd to the diner on the edge of town.

We got to the road around 10:30 and followed the AT markers embedded in the sidewalk of Hot Springs, the Smoky Mountain Diner heavy on our minds. And suddenly there it was! We crossed the street and rushed for the door. "Closed", the sign read, "due to scheduled power outage." We were disappointed but hopeful that one of the other places in town would be open.

We stopped by a convenience store to use the pay phone. Our cell phones weren't working. We asked the woman there about cell coverage, and she said we might get some if we climbed the hill. She also thought Paddler's Pub might be open on the other side of town. She was wrong on both accounts. The entire town was shut down until 6:30. Looks like we picked the wrong day to arrive from Springer Mountain, GA!

It was like being in Kenya all over again, which I'm finding to be a common theme here in the south. We were able to contact Mary, though. She picked us up in Hot Springs and drove us about 20 miles to a Waffle House - which, as it turns out, does not actually serve pancakes. Only waffles. We made do.

Mary had rented us a nice place in Hot Springs for the night, with kitchen, laundry, satellite TV, and jacuzzi. So we hit the grocery store and headed back to town.

Luckily, the power was on in our cottage. We showered and did our best to catch up on Project Runway. In the evening we watched a movie and made a steak dinner and a boxed cake. Tina and I had been craving that too.

Next was a second stab at Edward 40-Hands. We used 24's, but added a layer of difficulty by playing in the hot tub. No one cheated as far as I know.

October 2, 2006
Zero Day

We lazed around this morning until we absolutely had to leave. But the day was beautiful, and we'd promised Mary some hiking and camping.

We ran all over town trying to prepare for our campout. Hot Springs is not the booming mecca we were expecting. We had to hit three different stores for hot dogs, buns, and marshmallows.

Before heading out for a hike, we decided to check out the famed hot springs. Not at all what we expected. The historical remains of the original baths were there, crumbling to the ground. Now they do things a little differently. Water from the springs is piped into plastic jacuzzi tubs, set up along the banks of the river. You pay an hourly rate to sit in them. The water isn't even all that hot, and it turns out the original town name was "Warm Springs".

We headed up to Max Patch in early afternoon. It was beautiful weather, and we started out with a lopp hike up to the summit and around the mountain. Just as we reentered the forest road, Tina's friend Nick drove up. He had flown in two days earlier, but hadn't realized just how far Raleigh-Durham is from Hot Springs.

We got all our gear together for camping and walked about a mile to a nice spot just under the trees where the bald ends. We took an afternoon walk and then went to the summit for sunset. Spectacular!

In the evening we roasted weenies and marshmallows and drank a few beers.

October 3, 2006
Zero Day

I slept so well last night that I missed the commotion, so I'm in no position to speculate. But I will. Big Foot came to our camp last night. Nick and Tina heard beer cans rattling and the sound of our food bag hanging from a tree being batted around. In the morning, we found tooth marks on two sides of a gallon jug of water. Originally, we thought this was simply the workings of a common balck bear. But apparently there have been Big Foot sightings in the area recently, and several experts came to investigate.

We packed up and congregated at the Smoky Mountain Diner for a huge breakfast before Mary took off. Then we rented the cottage again, deciding to spring for the luxury accomodations on our last night. Whie waiting for check-in, we stopped at the outfitters, and the guy there was able to fix my stove. He had to flush the fuel line.

We also asked at the outfitters about the cell coverage in town. We were confused, because there is a US Cellular store right in town. The guy says that they opened up a little prematurely and sold everyone plans. The new tower that will bring coverage to Hot Springs was supposed to be finished months ago, but it's looking like sometime next year now.

Mallory met us in the afternoon. She'd done a two day hike from Max Patch and was ready to start hiking with us. We bought groceries for the next several days of hiking and had pizza at the pub.

October 4, 2006
Hot Springs, NC - Campsite by pond
(4.9 miles, 275.6 total)

Back on the trail. It was difficult to get motivated again after the time off. My muscles have felt more sore and fatigued the last fews day than they have the whole trip.

We went to the Outfitters at 9, so Nick could shuttle his car 3 days ahead. The driver was not a patient man, ended up getting there while Nick and Tina were getting gas, and left them. So they had to come back to town and try it again.

In the meantime, Mallory and I had breakfast at the diner again. Then Nick and Tina had lunch there when they got back. They were going to just go to the pub across the street, but Dan, the shuttle guy, said, "They're not open. It's Wednesday!" as if no further explanation was needed. When we all looked obviously puzled, he added "This is the South" with a note of finality. OK then.

We started hiking around 1. After the river, the trail rose steeply and quickly to Lover's Leap Rock. I was really dragging and unable to keep up with the others. Thank god it was a short day!

October 5, 2006
Campsite - Spring Mountain Shelter
(6.1 miles, 281.7 total)

Not much to say about today. We're doing shorter days with Nick here, but I'm still mentally fatigued. We had a firetower at Rich Mountain, but it was a little hazy today, so the view wasn't as nice.

I've sketched out a new plan to Damascus that puts us there the 21st. Hard to believe we're a little over two weeks from finishing!

October 6, 2006
Spring Mountain Shelter - Little Laurel Shelter
(8.6 miles, 290.3 total)

It's a late night since two southbounders helped us build a campfire, and I couldn't pull myself away. It rained heavily last night, and we hiked in raingear until it started to clear. Nick left us at Allen Gap, and we resupplied at his car.

The rain brought very cool weather, and I may be shivering in the tent tonight. There are 3 others at the shelter. Mary Alice is a woman in her 70's who is doing sections to Damsacus. She said she talked about hiking the trail as a teenager and even sent away for information, but it never materialized. She only got into backpacking 4 or 5 years ago. After doing every trail in Tennessee, she decided to start on the AT. She's done everything south except for the Smokies.

October 7, 2006
Little Laurel Shelter - Devil Fork Gap
(15.5 miles, 305.8 total)

We had a nice fire last night, but once we went to sleep it was a difficult night. It must have gotten into the 30's, and my sleeping bag isn't working as well as it once did.

We made oatmeal and cocoa before packing up this morning. We warmed up quickly with a steep ascent first thing. At 2 miles, we took our first break. That's when Mallory mentioned that there was a road crossing less than 3 miles from where we intended to camp. If we could make it there, we could get a shuttle into Erwin and have a warm night's sleep. The southbounders last night had mentioned spending 4 nights with Miss Janet doing slackpacks. Sounded heavenly to us.

We decided to push it harder and see if we could do it. The terrain didn't make things any easier. Our next challenge was Firescald Knob, an exposed ridgeline with some large boulders.

We were supposed to pass 4 or 5 exquisite views today, but we were walking in a cloud and saw nothing beyond 20 feet.

At 1:30, we made the first shelter 6.8 miles away. At that pace, we weren't sure we could make it to the road by dark. But a thermometer hanging in the shelter read 45 degrees at the hottest time of day, and that spurred us on.

Mallory was able to call Miss Janet and arrange a shuttle at sunset, so we were committed. There was a particularly bad, rocky descent into Flint Gap. We made it to the road at 6:30. Miss Janet met us a little after 8. She drove us to McDonald's first, then to the house. It's packed with people.  Two southbounders, some ex-thru hikers, Miss Janet's sister's family. One southbounder shared his PBR's with us, though, so it's all good.

October 8, 2006
Sam's Gap - Devil Fork Gap (slackpack/flip-flop)
(8.4 miles, 314.2 total)

We're having a great time at Miss Janet's. I'm not sure I want to leave. It's what she calls happy chaos - I couldn't live with it all the time, but it gives you a nice sense of family and community.

This morning she and some of the people staying here made a huge breakfast. We all went around the table introducing ourselves. It turns out one of the guests is "Baltimore Jack", a hiker I met in 2000 north of Bland. He has hiked the trail every year for the last 12 years.

We went south today since it made more sense for Miss Janet's shuttle. She was taking Colby and Ben, two southbounders, to Sam's Gap to hike the 24 miles back here. We can't do those kind of days, so we opted for a shorter one.

When we met Miss Janet on the other side, she had just found a lost hunting dog. This is probably the fifth we've encountered along the trail. It's almost bear hunting season, so the dogs are in training. This one is just a puppy. We tried finding the owner for awhile. Then it curled up in my lap, and we took it home. We named it TR, short for Walker, Texas Ranger because it's apparently a Walker Coonhound.

In the evening we went to a Mexican place with three other hikers. Then Miss Janet made us White Russians while we watched a movie. I could get used to this!

Quote of the day: "If you're a woman hiking the AT, the odds are good that you'll find a man. BUT... the goods are odd." Fat Chap

October 9, 2006
Sam's Gap - Spivey Gap (slackpack)
(13.3 miles, 327.5 total)

Things are pretty hectic in the house. It was noon before we started hiking today. We had a few different hikers to drop off in places, plus we found TR's owner and had to return him. Lucky for me, he curled up in my lap again when we got in the van. A few minutes later, he peed all over me, and we had to drive back to the house so I could change.

As Miss Janet was dropping us off, she got stung by something and was practically jumping out of her pants to try and get it off. It turned out to be a gigantic spider, like nothing I've ever seen. She took it to the emergency room, but the doctors and nurses couldn't identify it. She had a big welt on her backside, but other than that she's fine.

The weather was great today. We climbed up Big Bald, a beautiful spot with nice views - and a great Trailname for dad if he didn't already have one! Just past the balds, we came across some volunteers with the wildlife service with nets set up to catch and band birds. Apparently, we had just missed a Cooper's Hawk being caught.

Next we hit Bald Mountain Shelter, where we experienced our first trail magic of the trip. Someone had left 3 Busch Lights in a Dale Earnhart cooler! Colby and Ben had told us about the beers - they'd had two the day before. But we didn't think there would be any left the next day.

October 10, 2006
Spivey Gap - Nolichucky River (slackpack)
(11.2 miles, 338.7 total)

We did it! Only 3 short days after arriving in Erwin, we finally hiked to Erwin! This is getting ridiculous - the slackpacking. We need to face facts. We're never leaving Miss Janet's house. Once I can finally accept that, perhaps I can make a good life for myself here.

I decided today that her house is like a black hole. You get sucked in and can't leave. But you're not crushed by the force of it. Instead, it's like a donut hole - sweet and wonderful - and ultimately bad for you.

We didn't start until nearly 1 today, but the terrain was easy, and it was another nice day for hiking. We had planned on putting our packs on again tomorrow and walking out of here. But then Janet offered to slackpack us 20 miles tomorrow, since she's going up there anyway. She also drove us into Johnson City for a night of Baked Potato Soup and margaritas at Cheddar's. This made the idea of walking out into the rain even harder.

We're supposed to have 2 days of severe thunderstorms followed by a cold snap. So one more night of warmth sounds nice.

October 11, 2006
Iron Mountain Gap - Nolichucky River (slackpack/flip-flop)
(19.1   miles, 357.8 total)

Ugh! Long day and I'm tired and sore, but in better spirits now that the walking is over. These slackpacks really take a lot out of me mentally. The last couple of days are a bit of a blur. I know we saw some nice views, but it's hard to remember.

The rain still hasn't come, except for a few sprinkles. They're still calling for it tomorrow, so we plan to take a zero day and hang out with Miss Janet and do some baking and cleaning.

October 12, 2006
Zero Day

Here I am, writing this in the present tense. We took our zero day, and it's been nice. We spent much of the morning cleaning up the house for Miss Janet. Then we baked Pumpkin Rolls, and Tina made Scotcharoos. I've been typing this up for half the day as well. There are a ton more hikers here tonight, so Tina and I have moved into Miss Janet's room with her.

But we really are leaving tomorrow. The rain never came, and now they're calling for sunny weather until Monday. But it will be cold! We'll only have two overnights before we get to Roan Mountain, our next hostel stop. We're still on schedule to hit Damascus on the 21st! Til then.

--
Amy E. Yates

"Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and finds himself no wiser than before. He is full of murderous resentment of people who are ignorant without having come by their ignorance the hard way."
-Bokonon

The Appalachian Trail - NC/TN Part 2

I'll just jump right in. Only a few minutes til I have to hit the laundromat.

September 25, 2006
Double Spring Gap Shelter - Icewater Springs Shelter (13.8 miles)

Finally! A good day in the Smokies! I love the Smokies. Have I mentioned this?

It was a rough night. The temperature dropped a good 20 degrees after the rain came through. We spent the night shivering and woke up an hour late because Tina's alarm didn't go off. We were covered in thick mist still, and weren't convinced there wasn't more rain on the way.

We left the shelter around 9:30. The trail started out pretty muddy, but the sun was starting to peek out a little. We started with a 3 mile ascent to Clingman's Dome. Only a few parts were steep, but we were sweating in our raingear. Still, I felt like I was flying and was disappointed that we still didn't break our 2mph barrier that has plagued us in the Smokies.

We got to the top around 11 - our first milestone of the day. Clingman's Dome is the highest point on the AT at 6643 feet. Unfortunately, they're doing some work on the tower, so it's only open on weekends now. The mountain was pretty socked in anyway, so we got a picture in front of the construction flags and the sign reading: "Tower close". A ranger took the picture and also mentioned to us that the Smokies had received about 5 inches of rain in the last three days.

Our other milestones today? We made it halfway through the Smokies and 200 miles!

We set off again at a brisk pace and had lunch near Mt. Collins shelter. By then we'd done 6.3 miles and it was almost 1:00. We left there at 1:30, donning dry socks - hoping that would spur us on. It did. We made 2.8 miles in the next 70 minutes, entering into heaven - a small grassy sunny spot on the side of Indian Gap road. We quickly laid out all of our things to dry.

The closer we got to Newfound Gap, the road crossing in the Smokies, the better the trail got. There were a lot of log steps and bridges and stumps over mud.

We hightailed it to Newfound Gap after our things got a little drier, took some snaps, used the bathrooms, then headed another 3 miles uphill to our shelter. The shelter is packed tonight, and we are lucky the section hikers made room for us. In the Smokies, thru-hikers are the bottom of the barrel - we have to sleep in tents if section hikers have filled the shelter. They are allowed to reserve their spots.

September 25, 2006
Icewater Spring Shelter - Tricorner Knob Shelter (12.6 miles)

It was a good hiking day. We were reluctant to get up after shivering much of the night. One of the guys there said he checked his thermometer at 4am, and it was 35 degrees. Now it's 46 degrees at this shelter and not even sunset. Brrr!

Still it was great weather for hiking! We walked along a ridge all day with frequent gorgeous views. We said goodbye to some of the guys from the shelter at Charlie's Bunion. They were a fun group. Plus we got some help opening our water filter, which was so dirty it wasn't working well.

September 27, 2006
Tricorner Knob Shelter - Davenport Gap Shelter (14.8 miles)

A record day for us! It was freezing last night and this morning, but it warmed up nicely as the day progressed and we went down in elevation.

Things started out roughly with some downhills on loose rock. I have two blisters on the bottom of my toes and the molefoam didn't help. But eventually we got into a groove and made good time. It was a mostly downhill day and we're sleeping 3300' lower.

We did a long climb on Mt. Cammerer. There was an observation tower 0.6 miles off the trail; we couldn't decided if we wanted to go, so we flipped a rock for it, and were happy when it told us to move on. Our day was long enough!

On the rocky downhill from there, my feet had had enough. Every step was excruciating on the blisters. So I wrapped the foot up good, and put a Teva on to hike in. It worked!

We have company at the shelter - a guy named Statesman who is doing the trail in sections. He's very pleasant and gave us some freeze-dried ice cream!


----OK, breakfast time! Don't know if I'll have a chance to write again before I'm done. Official ending date: October 21.

The Appalachian Trail - NC/TN Part 1

I'm afraid I won't have time for the exruciating detail of my last effort. And I'm sure you all are thankful. I'll just break down the days and give you a "good parts version" of each.

September 12, 2006
Muskrat Creek Shelter - Carter Gap Shelter (12.5 miles)

"It's good to know we aren't the only ones suffering. The day we were slackpacking, we saw a guy about a mile or two south of Dick's Creek Gap. Apparently he was so tired he left his pack there and walked the rest of the way without it. He offered two other backpackers $40 to go get the pack for him, but when one of them did, the guy had already taken off in his car! I don't know if they got their money."

September 13, 2006
Carter Gap Shelter - Big Spring Shelter (6.8 miles)

It was raining all night, and we didn't get started until 11:00. Luckily we had several easy miles ahead. The toughest part of the day was Albert Mountain, a 350 foot ascent in 0.3 miles. It was pretty steep and involved some rock scrambles, but it was short. There was a fire tower at the top, but we didn't climb it, since there was nothing to see in the rain.

Tina's raingear failed her. This was our first full day wearing it, and she got a big rip in the crotch!

September 14, 2006
Big Spring Shelter - Siler Bald Shelter (13.3 miles)

As usual the mileage tally fails to mention the extra 0.6 miles straight down an old logging road we had to walk to get to the shelter. It was a beautiful day today. The rain stopped and the sun came out. Temperatures were cool. We walked under a lot of rhododendron canopy this morning, and it was so dark it felt like we were entering Mordor.

After Winding Stair Gap, we started our 4 mile climb to the shelter. I had to stop almost right away, because one of my toes was bothering me. I took off my sock to do some bandaging, and found a blister the size of another toe! (Pictures to come.)

September 15, 2006
Siler Bald Shelter - Cold Spring Shelter (11.6 miles)

The climb back to the AT from the shelter was hell. We ascended about 800 feet in .8 miles. But the views from Siler Bald were spectacular. It was a clear day, and we finally got a 360 degree view - our first of the trip.

We reached Wayah Bald after a difficult uphill around 1 or 1:30. Again, we had some gorgeous views from a stone observatory.

This shelter is even skankier than the last one. It was built in 1933, and has no picnic table. We had to cook on a crooked shelf on the side. The floor slants, so my feet are downhill, and we've already heard mice.

September 16, 2006
Cold Spring Shelter - Wesser Bald Shelter (5.8 miles)

It was a wonderfully short day today. We didn't start until after 10, dawdled in several places, and still made it here by 2 or 2:30.

The higlight of the day and maybe the trp so far was Wesser Bald. There's a fire tower there that affords some gorgeous views in all directions. Since arriving at the shelter, we've stretched, laid out our damp clothes and sleeping bags, snacked, read. And it's not even dinner time yet!

September 17, 2006
Wesser Bald Shelter - Nantahala River (5.7 miles)

Another short day. We are going to get spoiled. The descent into Nantahala turned out not to be so bad. There were some steep parts, but there was a lot of nicely graded trail.

NOC is not as nice as expected. The bathrooms are kind of trashy, and our room, though private, looks like a prison cell. I got the top bunk tonight, which only has a few feet of headroom. They didn't give us towels, and there's plastic sheeting on the beds.

Mice got into our food package in the basement of the store. They ate all the peanuts and M&Ms out of our trail mix and left the raisins! I bought a new fleece and termarest from the store, since my thermarest hasn't inflated the entire trip!

September 18, 2006
Zero Day

We hitched into town today, ate some pizza at Anthony's, and went to the grocery store. We had to hitch 2 different rides back; Tina and I are terrible hitchers, but we managed.

September 19, 2006
Nantahala River - Locust Cove Gap (10.5 miles)

It was a blessedly perfect day for hiking. We lagged a bit this morning, because it was still raining lightly. We checked out around 9 and weighed our packs at the store. Finally, we reduced! Mine is down to 41 lbs, and Tina's was 39!

It was raining a little when we started, but we didn't even need our raingear. We were ascending most of the day. In the first 5 1/2 miles, we had a fairly steady up with few steep sections, ascending 3000'.

We planned to stop at Sassafras Gap Shelter, 6.9 miles away, but we were there shortly after 2 and still had plenty of energy. We cooked and filtered water, then packed our food and headed on. We had another nice view on Cheoah Bald - lots of balds in this area. We stopped in this gap, where there's a nice campsite.

September 20, 2006
Locust Cove Gap - Cable Gap Shelter (11.6 miles)

We had one bitch of an up today after Sweetwater Gap - 750 feet in 6/10 of a mile. We had no nice views today either, though the data book listed some we must have missed.

We estimated last week that we're taking between 40,000 and 50,000 steps a day. And our average mileage so far is 9.7. Today we finished 1/3 of our planned section hike!

September 21, 2006
Cable Gap Shelter - Fontana Dam (6.9 miles)

It was another very chilly morning, but we had a nice uphill to warm us. After the last few days, my uphill muscles feel so fatigued. We got to Fontana Dam around one, ate lunch at the "Hilton", the nice shelter near there with a beautiful view of the lake. Then we called The Hike Inn for a shuttle. Jeff and Nacy were off shuttling other people, so we had to wait awhile. The Inn is a nice break, though the 5 cats are getting to me. Nancy drove us into Robbinsville for dinner. I had a Mexican meal of 3 cheese enchiladas, but was still hungry, so I hopped over to Wendy's for a junior bacon cheeseburger and a frosty!

September 22, 2006
Fontana Dam - Mollies Ridge Shelter (11 miles)

Ugh! I hate the Smokies - hate them! It's cold, it's wet - nothing will ever dry up here - the wind is ridiculous. Who would ever put a mountain range here anyway?

OK, so I'm a little cranky. Despite checking the weather forecast yesterday afternoon, we woke up this morning to an unexpected rain. Nancy shuttled us to the trail, and we arrived at the same time as an older couple heading the same way - Chuck and Ann. They were old pros at bakcpakcing, packed light, and moved quickly. The first half of the day was chilly but the canopy of trees blocked the light rain, so we didn't need rain gear. We had some major elevation gains, going up most of the day and ending over 3000' higher.

After lunch, the rain started in earnest. We picked up our pace consdierably, but didn't get to the shelter any sooner than expected. The trail became a swamp, then a river, then a lake. We had to waddle up it along the muddy sides. No matter how far or fast we went, we didn't seem to progress. Our boots couldn't stay dry in those conditions. We got to the shelter around 3:45, a few minutes after Chuck and Ann. It was now become clear that they were annoyingly cheerful people, somcething we did not need in our current circumstances. My rain gear failed in these conditions too, soaking through and getting my clothes wet.

I really hope this rain passes. We have 5 more days of hiking, and most of what I'm carrying is soaked!

September 23, 2006
Mollies Ridge Shelter - Derrick Knob Shelter (11.7 miles)

Tina's quote: "Amy and I don't think there's anything great about the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Except for great amounts of rain. And a great lack of visibility."

The weather has not really improved, and it's been an extremely difficult day. It did warm up overnight, and that was a blessing. It made putting our wet clothes back on a little more bearable.

So I guess i can say one good thing about the day. It didn't rain much. The trail was still pretty ugly. Horses are allowed on parts of the trail, and this left lots of muddy ruts. The second half of the day began the "roller coaster", a section with lots of pointless ups and downs. Some were quite steep, and our feet - pruned inside our soggy boots - were feeling the worst effects. Tina says that the bears here probably have a high suicide rate!

Setpember 24, 2006
Derrick Knob Shelter - Double Spring Gap (7.2 miles)

The weather hasn't changed yet. In fact, it's gotten worse. We had hard rain last night and this morning, and again this evening. All the section hikers we passed swear this is supposed to clear up tomorrow.

The trail was in pretty horrible shape, but the walking itself wasn't that bad once we got moving. I was immensely pleased with the presence of a privy here, our first in three days. The trail to it is so badly waterlogged, though, that I probably won't visit it again. The whole shelter is water-logged. It poured right after we arrived, and now in addition to our bear cage, we have a moat for extra protection!

Buckeyes are dropping from the trees and hitting the roof with a bang tonight. It's not a comforting sound, since the guidebook says two hikers were struck by lightening and killed here in 1980.


----OK, so that was more detail than you wanted after all! I can't type any more today, but rest assured the Smokies got better after that 3 days and 5 inches of rain. I'll save the rest for another time!