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THE BACKBACK TRIP THAT WAS WAY TOO MUCH FUN
MARCH30TH---We skipped our Saturday hike so we could get ready to leave for Georgia this morning. Spent a lot of the day deciding if all was in the pack and what might be removed. At eight thirty five we left to drive to Neels Gap, Ga. We arrived at Mt. Crossing at the gap at one after a quick lunch and gas stop in Blairsville. It is cold and very foggy here. I am wondering if I brought enough clothes. Our only backpacking has been in the summer or fall not this early in the year. We parked facing the trail and knew it would be awhile before our group would hike out. A hiker with his dog came off the trail and started trying to thumb a ride. Two hours later he was getting really annoyed when a nice lady came into the store and then took him and his dog in her nice car which now has a back seat that needs cleaning. At four-thirty out of the heavy fog came six very wet and cold hikers; James [whose backpacking trip this is], Ernie, Marcia, Jean, Charma and Cindy. The women were wet and cold and had decided they wanted the cabin with its own shower and washer and dryer if we could still get it. I went inside and it was still availably [I had gone in the hostel earlier and I do not think they would have been happy there.] I told them to divide the price by seven and I would collect the money. They said 21.50 each but when I went back to pay they said more for tax and I said they should make what I had collected work because there would be no one else to rent it to today since they were about to close for the day. So those who gave me 22.00 got no change, they took what I had. Then we asked where the cabin was and learned it was one and a half miles down the road. James and Marcia had already left to go get the car from Springer. They took some of the hiking packs and some of the hikers in the store van and Howard took the rest. Cindy chose to drive home tonight so there will be seven in a cabin that they say sleeps six. A nice wooded area with lots of cabins; this one has a for sale sign out front. The girl who drove us down was the hiker at Bear Mountain hostel last year with a brown recluse spider bite that Rose and Carlton had taken to the doctor. She was shocked when asked how her leg was as she did not remember us; we only saw her from a distance at that time. The cabin was cold and so Jean started turning on every heater she could find. She and Charma were cold and just remembered that there dry clean clothes were in the car that went to Springer. Howard turned on the stove and pulled the oven door open to help warm up the place. At one point I think it may have been 80 in there but Jean was still wet and cold. When Ernie decided to do his laundry we found the washer full of very wet towels and sheets. We took the towels to the porch and but over the railings and put the sheets in the dryer as they were needed for the beds. Howard picked the bedroom off the kitchen and turned on the heater in there and shut the door. We were about ready to go wait for Marcia and James when they somehow found the cabin. No food nearby for us to go out to eat so they ate food from their packs. I think Howard and I went off to bed at 9; 30; it will be an early wake up tomorrow.Charma decided she would sleep in the big chair so that gave everyone a place to sleep. Monday –March 31st---Up at six; ate our breakfast in the cabin.Charma and Jean will go home today after they move our car to Wesser, NC and Marcia’s car to Dicks Creek Gap. We all put our five day food supply in Marcia’s car and at 7; 10 we left Neels Gap on the AT. We have on our rain gear because the fog is raining. We would wear it all day. We were doing good time wise until Hog pen Gap. Howards back started to hurt down his legs so we had to stop several times for him to sit a few minutes. Nothing we did to the pack seemed to help. At just after two we reached Low Gap shelter. Got the sleeping bags down as soon as I could. Marcia got our water for the next day and she heated the water for our meals since Howard is afraid to move much. Then into the sleeping bags to stay warm. Others would come by the shelter to fix their food at the table before going to their tent for the night. Tuesday-April 1st---The plan for the day was 14.9 miles to Tray Mt. shelter. Howard had a long night but is up early [too early for me] and making our breakfast while I stuff all the” stuff” in our packs. I have moved the tent to my pack so maybe Howard’s pain will ease. We are on the trail at 7; 20 and I am struggling just to keep pace with the extra five pounds. At 11 o’clock we are at Blue Mt. shelter and I decided this would be my lunch break as I need to sit down. I told Ernie and James to go on to the shelter as we were going to be slower and they could get there in time to get a place in the shelter and we would put up the tent. Howard is doing better today. At one I have nausea; maybe not drinking enough. Marcia is staying back with us and at least it is not raining. Walk a little; stop a little; on and on and the nausea is worse. We did a 1000ft elev. up and then a 1000ft down on Stone Mountain and will now go back up 1000 feet. We stopped and filtered water since we were out and had a little rest. I had written down that we crossed two roads and were then 1.1 miles to the shelter. Well after a lot more than 1.1 miles we came to a third road crossing. There were big rocks at the side of the road so we all sat down including a thru hiker who is having trouble with his knee. I am so slow on the climbing part that we can not judge how fast we are going. After that road we had a 1.1 mile climb to the trail to Tray Mt. shelter. There was room in the shelter again. It is nice; so people are putting up tents but I am too sick to help do that. I have enough to do to sweep out, put down the tent footprint, blow up the mattresses and get out the sleeping bags. Marcia said that she would get our water tonight since she wanted to sit awhile at the spring and no one said no. When she got back Howard heated water for their meal; I could not eat. We settled in by seven. There are two other hikers in the shelter; ones trail name is Mississippi mule. We would see him a few more nights. Howard and Ernie seem to have dozed off and it is just getting dark when I heard a mouse somewhere. We have all hung our food and cooking things. After a few more minutes I think it is in my bag hung over my head so I got up and tried to run him out. The man in the sleeping bag one down from me jumped up about then and screamed “MOUSE”. Well at least he is out of my bag for the moment but sure would not be fun to have one in your sleeping bag. It was ten minutes later when I heard him again; had I left something in my bag? I had left the zipper part open so one would not chew its way in; was that a mistake; it’s what I had been told. I sat up and hit the bag a few times and disturbed everyone again. Ten minutes later I could hear him again but refused to wake everyone. Marcia said the next morning she had worried all night because she had left a date pit in her rain jacket pocket and was afraid it would chew her coat. Wednesday –April2nd---First thing I did when I got up was look in my bag. I had left some trail mix and the little mouse found it. After stuffing his sleeping bag Howard fixed breakfast.. No breakfast for me still a little nausea. All this foggy mountain air is bothering my sinus I bet. Howard is doing much better this morning and by ten I am eating. As we near Dicks Creek Gap we would find blood root blooming and we have lots of sunshine. I was looking forward to the warm mt. dew that I had in Marcia’s car. We were in for a pleasant surprise; “trail magic” was going on at the gap. Cold drinks, fresh sweet buns, chips and sandwiches. We would hear later that in the morning they had an assortment of Hardees biscuits. It is 12:30 when we arrived; as I ate I was taking things out of our bags to go home in Marcia’s car. Anything that was not a” you can not live [and I do mean survive] without” went in the car. This included my tiny mirror, tiny hand cream. Howard’s camera and extra batteries. Ernie said his five days of food was eight pounds and I am sure ours is more. I hated to see Marcia go and joked that in 30 minutes I would want her back to take me home. Bless her good sweet heart she said she would wait an hour before leaving if I wanted. I told her to go home she had a long drive. We can not leave James and Ernie stranded we are the second car needed at the river. We had a four mile climb to the next shelter and in 30 minutes I did want to go home as my nausea came back with the hard climb. I think we got to the shelter at five. James and Ernie had not been there long and were at the spring getting water. I had assumed we would be putting up our tent but they said no one was at the shelter. We put out our wet rain gear to dry since it was put up wet. This is a very nice shelter dropped in by the army I think. It has two floors upstairs and windows. Not only did I have to set up the beds but Howard is treating his feet so I will also have to get the water. I ate a little but Howard had to finish it. By dark ten others had come to stay at the shelter with us. It took them until way after dark to stop talking and bed down. Thursday—April3th—I was so sick I could not eat again. The rain started as we left the shelter at 7:15. By the time we got to the trail I knew my day would have to be a short one. The sign said Muskrat shelter 7.5 miles. Ernie has gone ahead and when James comes up I told him that 7.5 would be as far as I could go. He went ahead to tell Ernie.Oh where, oh where is Marcia and that lovely car. For over five hours we hiked thru the cold, cold blowing rain and on one mountain top sleet. All the hikers passing us were headed to this shelter to have lunch. Just pass noon we got there and James and Ernie were waiting. Our plan for the day was five more miles. I told them to continue on and we would follow tomorrow; I could go no more. Lots of thru hikers were cooking a warm lunch. James wanted to make something warm to drink but had to let them thin out first.He, Ernie and Howard made a warm drink; I just want to get in my sleeping bag as I am starting to chill. Everyone was headed to the next shelter out of the rain so James and Ernie decided to stay here also. I got our things in place quickly and we got on dry clothes and in our sleeping bags to stay warm. We took one corner and they took the other. At two we were warm and just sitting and listing to the passing hikers. I do wish I had counted. Most of the thru guys cook at lunch and this shelter has an extended roof and a table to stand at to cook. It has had gravel put around the table and there are benches along the sides to sit. We hear lots of trail names and it seems lots of parties go on at every town. The “missississi mule” guy arrived and he was staying; so he moved in his bed and told two more to set up near him and then we would have one more: and then no more possible room left. Some who came later and wanted out of the bad weather had no choice but to set up a tent in the blowing rain. At four I made myself eat my breakfast oatmeal. I then covered my head and took some think for sinus and finally went to sleep with voices still talking. The wind and rain blew all night. Friday-April 4th ---Up at six and on the trail at seven. I have messed up our schedule and we are five miles behind. Today we will try for a12.5 mile day to Carter Gap Shelter. I could not eat breakfast so I put a power bar in my pocket. I gave James our car keys this morning and told them they if we could not keep up I would let them know where to pick us up or we would get out a side trail and try to get a ride to the river. Howard seems to have his pack adjusted better and is doing ok today; and of course it is raining. I have told our two hiking buddies to go on that it is not fair for them to wait for us when they can maybe get to the shelter and not have to set up a tent in the rain. After a long walk in the fog and rain, rain, and more rain we got to the Carter shelter at 1:30.It was full but James and Ernie had got a place. We walked back to take a look at the old shelter we had just passed. The floor was rotten on one end and there were leaks but we felt the good corner was better than a tent in this weather. Howard went off to get the water while I sat up house in our ‘Shack”. Boy are we having fun or what! Howard came by to say he was still looking for water. We could just set the bottles out and let the rain fill them. Boy are we having fun! A 62 year hiker in a green rain suit showed up to look over our home. I told him the rest of the place looked to be leaking. He shook his head and said he would look for a tent spot. We got on what dry clothes we had left and fixed our meal; I ate a little and told Howard to eat the rest. We quickly got in the sleeping bags because you get cold quick when you stand still in this weather. Early today we passed a sign saying a bear was in the area and seemed to have no fear of people. So I went out in the rain and found a big stick for Howard to hit the bear with; yes I am sleeping against the wall. Two more came by to look over our property but moved on .Then the man in the green and others starting setting up tents near us; so we sat up and watched the show. Next came a church youth group of young boys with their adult leaders. They had to come look our house over also. Then they set up tents in the rain. Two of the thru hikers came to ask if they could cook inside out of the rain. About then the youth group came to cook inside also. They had two propane stoves. They set the one down on the rotten floor and when he lit it flames went everywhere and a board started to burn. He threw it out right under Howards hanging rainpants; I just knew they were going up in smoke. The two hikers tried to get him to move it further from us for fear it would blow up but he just said it would be O.K.I was wondering how we would get off this mountain with our gear up in smoke. The two hikers left. It started to rain hard again so they came in with both stoves and put large coffee pots of water on to boil. [We just sat there waiting for the next show.] They had an assortment of mountain house meals for the kids. After they made their choices the water was added and they were told to wait 15 minutes to open and eat. Five maybe and they would open and taste and reseal and in two minutes do it again. After they ate they had prayer and at the first little break in the rain ran to their tents; well show over it is way passed our bedtime. Thirty minutes or so later the leaders had to help with something gone wrong at one of the younger boy’s tent. ENOUGH I put my head under the cover and must have went to sleep. We heard the next day that some of the boys were throwing up and they had to take them out a short trail. Bet I know why. Saturday—April5th—At five this mourning a call from “mother nature” got us up in the rain; so we fixed breakfast for Howard; packed our packs and at 6:30 in the rain and dark we were trying to find the AT. Finally a white blaze and a left turn and we are on our way to our goal for the day “Rock Gap Shelter “at 12.4 miles. About a mile up the trail we stopped and rearranged Howards pack and he was good for the rest of the day. At nine I started to nibble on snacks in my pocket; my legs are “jello.”The rain stopped for about an hour as we went over Big Butt Mtn. cliff. The fogs lifted and behold mountains. James and Ernie caught us as we started up “Albert.” It has started to rain again and James says he is going around so we do that also. Lots of slick rocks and steps up there and if Howard should fall and hurt his back we might not get out of this mountain and even worse he might wind up in surgery. So I will pick a nice sunny day and drive down with a nice lunch someday soon and climb “Albert.” Lots of trailing arbutus blooming. Today is a fairly easy 12 miles and we got to the nasty Rock Gap shelter at one. The cooking area has two inches of mud around the table and the inside floor is nasty. Four hikers still here from last night but say they are leaving; very slowly leaving. The rain has stopped and there is fruit brought in by a hiker who is off the trail for awhile I guess. I had some grapes and a big strawberry; they felt good to my sore throat. The guys had cookies and fruit. Wonder if that fruit had been washed; I bet not. A man who owns a hotel in town comes by to ask if any want a ride to his hotel .H e said he has 71 hikers there and we would later hear about a party. Are these hikers here to hike the AT or are some here to go from town to town and party? Has this hike the AT become a “spring break” kind of thing? I got the broom and some of my wet wipes and did some house cleaning while Howard got water. I was glad to have the tent footprint to put under our mattresses on this nasty floor. Lots of duck tape over head; leaks; hope the rain is gone. We got out of our nasty boots and into dry socks and shirts. James had hoped to walk the 1.4 miles to Standing Indian campground; get a shower and something to eat but was told that they were not open for the season yet. The guys with the fruit said they were going to town and then come back. So James asked if they would bring us burgers. They said they would be back in two hours. Two hours; three hours; four hours; is it time to cook from our packs; Ernie is thinking about it when the burgers arrive. Well part of the burgers arrived. James and Ernie had wanted two but got one. We ate the whoppers and settled in for the night. It is raining; I put my head under the cover and refused to look. Sunday—April 6th----We had raindrops on the tin roof last night so the rain gear went on this morning. Same old; same old except Howard is now getting up at 5:30 and we are on the trail before seven. My throat is so sore this morning; that is great on top of the nausea. By nine o’clock we have no rain and sunshine “what a beautiful Sunday the Lord has made.” The birds are singing and the arbutus is blooming and we can see the mountains we are walking thru. After we cross Winding Stair Gap at US64 we passed a beautiful waterfall with a wood bridge across it. The next shelter is to close to stop at and the next is too far; about 20 miles. So we will aim for 15 miles and set up the tent. Lots of climbing today but the sun is out. Just after passing the Wayah Crest picnic area we found a sunny spot to stop for lunch. We put our wet shirts on the shrubs to dry while we ate. At 5000 ft we stopped to get water at a spring by the road we were crossing. We reached the Wayah Bald Stone tower at 3oclock.We stopped for awhile to enjoy and make some phone calls. We should be a mile or so from a spring and some campsites. We found a spring but no tent sites and no James; so we kept going. Then we came to a wooden sign that said there was a shelter in one-quarter mile; not in my book. As we neared the shelter Ernie came to meet us saying hurry. So we are in a new shelter for the night. I have lost my voice and no one can understand me. Hikers would come to cook for the next four hours. Some would tent nearby and some would leave for the next shelter. Some would talk too loud for too long. Only five of us in the shelter; some would look at the two empty spots and then go on. Do we smell that bad; we would know way later. We all were trying to go to sleep at dark when the fifth guy went to bed. Some of us were asleep when this loud noisy woke us all. Howard shook me thinking since my sinuses were so bad it might be me; I had just got comfy and had I that bear stick!!!!!!!!!! This guy went on for what seemed hours then finally moved and silence. Boy are we having fun! Monday—April7th---Howard got us up at 5:30 and we left with flashlights. It will be a long day; we will hike 16 miles to Wesser NC.I feel awful: at least it is not raining. When we reached Tellico Gap there were two large red apples on the steps. We sat down and ate them. I do not think I can go another step but you know “if you walk into the mountains you have to walk out.” We will how climb to Wesser Bald. We were here several years ago on an old-timer hiking trip with Ed Schell and Glen Marshall. The view from the observation platform is breath taking. Lots of trailing arbutus on the climb up. I had forgotten about the awful rocky down called the “jumpoff.”This would be the best wildflower day of the trip with mountain sides of bloodroot, anemone and violets; with large may apple leaves coming up among them.[ I felt too bad to see what else was among them] Then as we neared the river some white trillium in bloom. James was waiting for us at the little Wesser store. He had taken the last cabin they had left when he got there. It had two double beds so we would be fine. After we all got cleaned up [I took three showers] we went to the only place open in this little spot to eat. We ate and I went to bed as soon as we got back to the room.. James had wanted to take a day off tomorrow but somehow it seems we are going to hike. We have decided that since we now have our cars we will day hike the other 28 or so miles. Tuesday—April8th----The hike today will be Stecoah Gap back to our cabin at Wesser; 13.6 miles. I want to stay in bed and Howard has a little problem this morning but off we go.We had to wait till the office opened at eight to pay for the room for one more night. We then drove to Bryson City for breakfast; no more oatmeal.At9; 30 we started up the trail; trail angels were setting up at the gap; the hikers coming across here this morning will be thrilled. Several hard climbs today. Howard is not felling well so is really slow today. Lou Thornberry called as we came off the mountain but could not understand a word I said. Not only can I not talk I fell like I have lost my hearing. A short time after this phone call we saw a beautiful clump of bird’s foot violet; had not seen any of that in a few years. We got to the cabin at 5; 30. After a quick shower James, Howard and I left to move the car for tomorrow. We stopped to eat and Howard started to feel sick and could not finish his meal. James took me by a drugstore so I could talk to a pharmacist to see what I could give him; with glaucoma certain things over the counter say do not take. I can not talk above a whisper so it is a slow conversation. At some point she asked how long I had been sick and after another question I said we had walked here from Georgia. She took two steps back and her mouth flew open; heaven knows what she was thinking; homeless person maybe. I quickly said we had been in the mountains hiking. She said you know you should be home in bed. As I checked out I got us all an ice-cream bar.YUMMMM that should cure whatever ails a hiker. At least it made my throat feel good for a minute or two. We left James car at the Fontana parking lot and got back to the cabin at a few minutes after nine. Way passed sick hikers bedtime; Ernie is asleep. Howard woke me around midnight for more Imodium. When I got up I had to use warm water to unglue my right eye. He was in the bathroom the rest of the night. I think he got some bad food Monday night; he ate something none of the rest ate. Howard managed to take James and Ernie to the trailhead and we stayed in the cabin until checkout time. Then he drove too fast on the way home with several stops along the way. Can not get in at the doctor and he will not go to the ER. We got something called in and after three days it worked. When I got to the doctor on Thursday my eyes were swollen almost shut and temperature of 101. Boy are we having fun haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Alice Faye Guinn April 13, 2008 |
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