We rented a heater for the little cabin we have. It helped to get the temperature all the way up to 47 inside (there isn’t any insulation in the cabins). It was nice enough that we didn’t have to use our quilts in the double sleeping bag. In fact, we didn’t even have to zip the sleeping bag all the way up to stay warm. It’s always a big plus if you wake up and don’t see your breath.
There were seven of us on the 8a shuttle back to Devil Fork Gap: Stickers, Lady Bug, Little Blue, Grape Stomper, Dirty R, Bunny Tracks, and me. We all started within a couple days of each other back in February yet we always managed to not run into Little Blue until about a week ago. He managed to hobble down the trail late last night and Dirty R borrowed Sarah’s car to pick him up.
The plan is for the Stickers, Lady Bug, and Bunny Tracks to slack pack today. Since I don’t believe in slack packing (for me), I am choosing to “summer pack.” It’s a fine moral hair I am splitting, but in a few weeks, I will be sending home our winter gear. I chose to hike today NOT carrying the gear I will be sending home. It’s important to note, I AM NOT SLACK PACKING.
We were all hiking by 8:30, a rather early start for us. When we got to the trailhead, Pit Boss and Play by Play were just crossing the road. We caught up with them and shared trail gossip trying to find out where two missing people are. Namely, Patches and Bear Foot aka Baby Bear Face aka Edward Plastic Hands. We have lost sight of them and were wondering if they might have possibly found each other. It was determined that Bear Foot caught up with Geo and Summit and Patches camped about 8 miles back last night—still no love connection even with everyone working so hard to make our dreams come true. It’s a long trail, we still have time to work on it.
Dirty R, Grape Stomper, and Little Blue quickly fell behind the rest of us. It was speculated they might be doing a little pain reduction therapy since Dirty R’s knee is hurting a bit as well as Little Blue’s ankle.
It looked like a beautiful day, sun shining and clear skies, but it was cold. We got the illusion of warmth climbing up from Devil Gap, but as soon as we got to the ridge line, the winds kicked in and we froze. The north side of the mountain was only just above freezing with a strong, biting wind while the south side would offer a little sun warmth. We encountered very little snow until we got near the summit and then it was only patchy (not Patches).
We hiked as a group of six most of the morning, but eventually broke up into our normal pairs. We all met back at the shelter for lunch. I’ve noticed that most of the twenty somethings all listen to radio, or music, or an audiobook—they can’t seem to unplug. I still look forward to the quiet of nature and just my own belittling internal voice to keep me company. Sometimes, if I’m really lucky, I can get the prick to shut up for a bit.
The shelter was only 2.4 miles from Sam’s Gap. Play by Play and Pit Boss were the first to leave to catch a shuttle into town to resupply. We exchanged phone numbers with them. Play by Play is the 14 year old hiking the trail and is a very smart and personable young guy. He’s a lot of fun to be around. I talked with him quite a bit while hiking today (with my summer pack—not slack packing!)
We took our time coming down and stopped for some scenic overlooks of Sam’s Gap below. Even with the breaks and stops, we made it down to the gap in 5 1/2 hours making our hiking pace a little over 1.75 mph—pretty good for us. I am looking forward to when it’s warm enough that we will be able to maintain and exceed this pace all the time.
There was a potential for some trail magic when we got down to the parking lot. There was a guy with a pickup waiting to offer rides to passing hikers. He asked us if we knew Gazelle because he had given her a ride in Gatlinburg with the group she was traveling with then (and still is as far as we know). We told him that we did know her, but she is probably a few days ahead. He offered to give us a ride to the hostel, but Sarah pulled up just then.
We were the first ones at the hostel today other than Strider and Traveler. I thought Joe Kool would be the first one injured in their group because he was complaining about his Achilles’ tendon. Traveler pulled something in his thigh which made it painful for him to walk and ended up taking a day off to partially recover. He’s already talking about how fast he can cover the 24 miles between him and the other two amigos. I hope he doesn’t push too hard too fast and do some real damage.
Lady Bug made us dinner tonight while we all sat around in the house talking and taking turns in the massaging chair. Play by Play managed to discover some new settings for the chair that we weren’t aware of which made the line extend out longer than last night even though fewer people are staying here tonight.
Tomorrow, we all catch the 7a shuttle back up to Sam’s Gap with the goal of hiking just over 18 miles so we have a short day into Erwin. As everyone knows, our plans never fail.
EFG
note to self: get some Vagisil in Erwin