Mountains Under Foot

I just received three new entries from Hazard and Spoon! No new photos yet…

From Hazard’s notes:
Day 8: May 17, 2009
Travel:
From: Big Spring Shelter, NC
To: Wayah Shelter, NC
Beginning: 9am
Ending: 5:45
Number of miles hiked:
a) Trail – 20ish
b) other – 8.5 + 1 (wrong way on Bertram Trail)
c) cumulative – 118
Weather:
AM: Rained the whole &@$” day; non-stop and no sun.
PM: Cold and wet. Temperature dropping into freezing levels tonight.
People: Bombadillo and 15. Shared cookies with us and shelter.
Money: $0 , cumulative $266
Notes of the day:
AM: Got a late start and as soon as we started out it began to rain. We did not stop until lunch.
PM: Lunch consisted of crackers and peanut butter. Completely soaked through at this point. Walking in the rain is the worst and we are miserable. Got to top of Wayah Mountian where there was a lookout tower and you couldn’t see anything. Dinner was our only reprieve from the awful day, we threw together beef flavored Lipton pasta side noodles, a whole package of pepperoni, beef raman noodles, and a cheese stick. Bombadillo shared his cremepie cookies and our tummies smiled as we went to bed. Temperature is supposed to drop near freezing tonight. Cannot wait to get to NOC (Nantahala Outdoor Center) for a hot shower and clean clothes.
Main concern of the day: Soooo cold and wet. Need town for recharge and refresh.

From Hazard’s notes:

Day 7: May 16, 2009
Travel:
From: Muskrat Creek Shelter, NC
To: Big Spring Shelter, NC
Beginning: 7:30
Ending: 4:30pm
Number of miles hiked:
a) Trail: 19.3
b) other 8.5
c) cumulative 98.6 + 8.5
Weather:
AM: Overcast and cloudy. Misty from thunderstorm last night.
PM: Started raining off and on after lunch. Then the sun came out.
People: Arthur, we think, went ahead to the next shelter. The couple could be a shelter behind us with Bill. There are two old guys in the shelter with us going to Harpers Ferry and they know nothing about backpacking. Doubt they’ll make it on 10-14 miles a day.
Animals: Rabbit on Albert Mountain. Tons of Flies.
Money: $0, cumulative- $266
Notes of the day:
AM: My ankle seemed ok this morning but I wrapped it up just in case. Misty this morning but made good time. Stopped at Carter Gap for lunch of tuna and pita and cheese. Arthur passed us when we went for water and he got back on the trail.
PM: Rain started and forced us to put pack covers on. The biggest ascent (Standing Indian) was a nice gradual uphill. The rest of the day was about the easiest strech of trail so far except for the climb up Albert Mountain. We could have made it to the next shelter but Madison’s knee pain reared its ugly head so we stopped early as a precaution.
Main concern of the day:
Now Madison has 12 hours to heal and another thunderstorm is brewing as we head to bed. Hoping the injury plagued week does slow us down or kill moral.

From Hazard’s notes:
Day 6: May 15, 2009
Travel:
From: Dick’s Creek Gap/Hiawassee, GA
To: Muskrat Creek Shelter, NC
Beginning: 9:30am
Ending: 3:30pm
Number of miles hiked:
a) Trail: 11.8
b) Other: 8.5
c) Cumulative: 79.3 + 8.5
Weather:
AM: Sunny and nice with some big clouds looming
PM: After dinner a thunderstorm rolled through
People: Linda and Curtis, Just Billy and one other guy shared the shelter with us.
Animals:
Money: $33.75 for night in Hiawassee Inn + laundry. Cumulative- $266
Notes of the day:
AM: Had breakfast at the Inn and got a ride up to the trailhead and we started out and I realized the pain I felt in my ankle was worse. Kept hiking through it hoping it would go away.
PM: Stopped early because I couldn’t go farther. Thunder could be felt shaking the shelter.
Main concern of the day: Got 12 hours to heal. Hope this thunderstorm quits before we start hiking tomorrow.