Samwise Hikes the Appalachian Trail! - Trail Journal -
	Home	| Updates	| Map	| Journal	| Photos	| Resources	| FAQ

April 11, 2001, Muskrat Creek Shelter - mile 78.4

  It was a short hike today - just over 7 miles from the last shelter. There's only a little swelling
on my knees & very little pain, probably helped by all the ice water springs I've been dipping into last
night & today. I got a late start, pulled in here around 2 & talked to a couple of hikers moving on to
Standing Indian Shelter, which I hear is gorgeous. It's on top of the first 5,000 plus foot mountain &
has great views. However, it's another 5 miles away & I suspect if I went for it today, I would be
regretting it tomorrow & perhaps longer. I some times get frustrated with fussing over these knew, but I try
to remember that it's not such a big deal & there's no rush to reach Maine.

  My first impression of North Carolina? STEEP!
I passed the "gnarled old oak tree" at the state line just after noon, but no one was there to take my picture
so I just got the tree on the photo. Immediately after that was Sharp Top Mountain -no kidding! I don't think
they believe in switch backs here. The seemingly unending hike went straight up the side of the mountain &
into a thicket of rhododendrum.

  I saw another deer today crashing through the woods & also heard a lot of new bird calls that I
haven't heard before. If I had the time & didn't mind the weight, I'd think about getting a bird book.
There are so many interesting birds in the South that I haven't seen (or heard) before. It's fun to watch
spring coming alive all around me too. The trees are starting to bud & I see more & more flowers along the
trail every day. The only bad part about all the leaves coming out will be that I won't be able to see
the views as well. Right now, most of the time I can look to either horizon & see endless ridges of
mountains, always shrouded in blue mist. The major benefit of these steep climbs is that I can stop often
to enjoy the sight.

April 12, Carter Gap Shelter - mile 90.9

Just in the nick of time! I pulled in to this fabulous, less than 1-year-old shelter about 2 hours
ago, had time to get time water & soak my knees in the spring & just got under cover when it started to rain.
It's already rained & stopped twice & I suppose it will keep doing that into the night. This is the kind
of night where I'm particularly grateful for shelters.

  I stayed in the shelter last night, too, thinking it would rain, but it didn't. I regretted the decision
all night long as I laid awake, listening tothe other fellas snore like a freight train. What a
racket! The worst one was on the far side - if he had been closer, I would have given him a kick to roll
over. He finally did roll at 3:30 & then I got a couple hours of sleep before it was time to get moving.

  Today I crossed the "grandstand of the Southern Appalachians" namely Standing Indian Mountain. To my
great shock, it was a BREEZE! The trail seems like it was built on an old road, because it was a very easy
grade & lots of switchbacks. I took the side trail up to the summit to see the view, which was absolutely
stunning. There was a rock out cropping where the wind was strong enough to keep the bugs away, so I
climbed out there with my lunch & settled in for half an hour. It was such a perfect moment.

  The rest of the day was equally beautiful, crossing lots of mountain streams & ducking through
the rhododendrums. It was about 12 1/2 miles to get here, though, & I'm pretty exhausted. The last 2-3
miles were the hardest because my legs ached like crazy. Even so, I think my knees may finally be
getting stronger (I hope!) because they're feeling pretty good tonight. I think it's another 12 mile day
tomorrow - we'll see how it goes.

 

April 13, Rock Gap Shelter - mile 103

  The day started out really wet, after a very wet night. I was so thankful to be in the shelter, with
the rain hammering on our new roof, followed by wave after wave of strong winds. I did get up once during
the worst of the storm to make sure our packs, which were all hanging in the "porch" area weren't getting
rain blown onto them.

  When I started out at 7:30 this morning, the rain had stopped for a bit, but after 10 minutes on the
trail, it started up again & rained heavily for a couple of hours. Just about the time that my rain
jacket had soaked through & my boots & gaiters were starting to leak, the rain started to let up a bit to
become just normal rain, for which I was very grateful. Then, about 2 hours later, it stopped
completely & the sun came out onto the the clearest, bluest sky, with huge cotton-ball clouds. I was so
happy I burst into song & almost started to skip down the trail! I got into the shelter around 1:30 &
pretty much stripped everything off & changed into my dry camp clothes. Now the shelter looks like we're
having a yard sale, with gear & clothes spread everywhere trying to dry.

  Because it was raining so hard today, I didn't have a chance to read my guidebook's warning about
Albert Mountain "infamous for its rock scramble" which essentially goes straight up. I also didn't read
about the blue blaze alternate trail for foul weather or I likely would have taken it. As it was, I did my
rock climbing in the pouring rain, using hands & knees & hanging onto tree roots to get up to the peak, which
had a lovely fire tower at the top with a spectacular view - or so I hear now! It was actually a very short
climb & the rest of the trail today was very smooth & easy, so overall it was one of the easier days out
here
It seems most everyone is opting for the shelter tonight - my first full shelter night in a while.

April 14, Wayah Bald Campsite - mile 117.4

  What a day! I decided today that there is nothing I would rather be doing than thru-hiking the
A.T. Of course, that was during the first 6-7 miles of the 13.4 mile hike! By the last mile, I was so
tired, I could hardly put one foot in front of the other. What a long trek it was! And Beautiful. I
hiked over my first "bald" today - a natural grassland on top of a mountain. It was unbelievably beautiful
to come out of the deep forest into an open meadow & be able to see all the mountains around us. A few
miles (mostly uphill) later we climbed up Wayah Bald, which also had a fire tower on top & an even more
amazing view. I was there with another hiker, Backtracker, & neither of us had the energy to climb
up the tower. We figured the view from the railing was essentially the same as ten feet higher. We could
see pretty much exactly where we had come from - pretty impressive.

  Backtracker got a ride today out of Franklin with the president of the local hiking club, who was
handing out Easter bags to hikers. When I ran into him later today, he gave it to me, since I hadn't been
into town. So at tonight's camp I've been handing out Easter candies to all the hikers who are here. I
think everyone's in for the night & there are 7 here. We've all been noticing lately that shelters have been
less full than before - maybe this is why, because people are camping out more. Either that or more
people are dropping out & I just don't know any of them. So far, I've only heard of a couple, but I
suppose it's inevitable.