Miles Hiked: 8.6
Trail Miles I moved forward today: ONLY 5.8
About 40 degrees and sunny
This morning I woke up at 4:20 AM because someone had turned on the TV. I decided to go to the bathroom and then investigate and go back to bed. I found Larry, AKA Sticker, watching TV, fully dressed and ready for the day. He had been already asleep here last night when I arrived at 8:00. Steve had told me that Larry had thru-hiked the trail already seven times. This year he is hiking the parts he feels like hiking. Larry is 71 years old. Steve had told me that the day before he got a call from Larry, who was on trail at Wayah Bald. Larry was trying to get his pack off so that he could make camp, but his fingers and hands were so cold that he could not unfasten the straps of his backpack. All of his survival gear for the night was in his backpack, where he could not reach it. So Steve got him off the mountain and Larry had spent the next day resting and warming up. So I sat down to chat with him for about 30 minutes.
When I told Larry about yesterday and that my water bottle had half frozen, but I couldn't get out the liquid he immediately told me that if I store the water bottle upside-down in my pack it will still freeze, but at the bottom of the bottle. Duh. I could have figured that out, and while it seems obvious now that he said it, I hadn't thought of it on my own. I'm tucking away that useful tidbit of information. Then I went back to sleep and woke up at 8:30 to catch a ride back to trail at 9:00.
At 9 I piled into the pick-up truck with Steve and Larry. After driving for a short while I realized that I wasn't quite sure where we were going, so I clarified, "Steve, you're dropping me off at Burningtown Gap again, right?" He said that Larry had said both of us were going to Tellico Gap. If I started at Tellico today I would skip 5.8 miles of trail. I explained that I didn't want to skip miles if I didn't have to and asked if he could take me to the other drop off point. He apologized and agreed that he would take me back to Burningtown. As we drove first to Larry's drop off point, a point I would cross almost six miles into my hike today, Steve explained to Larry that there is a tower at the top of the rise, if you take the A.T. it is about 2 miles, but if you take the road, it is shorter but steeper. Larry said he would prefer to take the road. I only half listened as I thought about how I was trying to take only the A.T. and it was proving difficult today and yesterday. We dropped him off and then Steve dropped me off. I would have 12 miles to complete today to get to another hostel tonight. I started hiking a little after 10, which was later than I had hoped. But I felt in good spirits and ready for the day.
I arrived at Tellico Gap around 1 and sat down in the sun and out of the wind to eat lunch and address a blister. I felt good. I knew I had enough time to reach the next hostel tonight just after nightfall. And since it was clear and there is a good moon, I was not worried. I studied the profile map which showed that it was a steep climb to the tower Steve had mentioned, and then about five miles downhill. I am faster going downhill, so I felt confident. I reached the tower quickly, climbed it, took pictures, and headed on down the trail. I felt like I was hiking quickly, in good spirits. I expected to reach the next shelter within 30 minutes or so of leaving the tower.
Instead, at the end of an hour, I came into Tellico Gap. Again. The only explanation I think could have happened is that I accidentally took the road up the mountain, then took the trail back down. Therefore I didn't recognize any landmarks. Also, I was so content to be going downhill that I didn't question why I hadn't passed the shelter yet. Oops. I sat down to study a map and think about my options. Should I still try to go another 7.9 miles to the next hostel? It was 3:00, only 3.5 hours until dark. And I had already walked over eight miles today.
Not even one minute after I pulled out my map Inspector Gadget pulled into the parking lot with his dad. I explained to them what had happened. They gave me a soda and some candy. Gadget was headed on to NOC, the hostel I was trying to reach. I thought that I could ask to go with him, but I knew that I would really slow him down. His dad offered to take me back to the hostel where I stayed last night and I gratefully accepted. So he drove me down off the mountain to the same hostel I started in this morning.
I am disappointed that I got turned around. I am disappointed that I didn't make it to NOC tonight. I am grateful to be safe and warm and well taken care of. It is the first time that I have mistakenly gone the wrong way on the A.T. I'm not quite sure how it happened. Oh, well. Tomorrow I will start again at Tellico Gap and hike up to the tower again. And I will have a second chance to take the northbound route away from it!
The common rooms at Aquone Hosel. Beautiful living room and kitchen.
Cold Spring Shelter
A warm spot on trail. Look at the Coral Bells on the right. In the next two pictures notice the solid ice. People often ask me what I think about with all of this time to walk. Today I spent a lot of time thinking about micro-climates because everytime I looped around to a new side of the mountain there was a different temperature or amount of sun or wind. So in some places there was snow, others none at all. I thought about how the Peruvians had exploited this knowledge of micro-climates to great effect for use in growing potatoes. I wondered if we also have the intimate knowledge of micro climates here in the states, and if so, what we use it for. For knowing the best location for different sports, or hunting spots, or where to put the garden, I'm not sure. I thought about that for awhile today. So that is one answer to the question.
I used to know someone who taught a classroom philosophy lesson essentially about what makes you you. If a person undergoes a radical change, are they a different person? Are they still the same person? What is the essence of any one person? I used to be terrified of stairs through which you could see. You know what I mean, stairs without the back part. I would not go near them, and I certainly would not climb them. Today I climbed these stairs. By myself. With only a little bit of trepidation. Am I the same person I used to be? Is this part of my essence? I spent some of my walking time thinking about this today- How people change. Why they change. What parts of a person stay the same and why.
View from the top of the tower.
Tellico Gap. Again. Sigh.
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