Dicks Creek Gap to Winding Stair Gap 2/27/2009-3/1/2009

Pictures: http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2559336470104728652lYWYhD

2/27/2009 7:30 PM - Muskrat Creek Shelter - 11.8 mi today - 79.3 mi total

Spent a great night in the bunks. Woke up around 7:30 and organized my stuff. At 8:30 we were invited into the house for our cooked breakfast. It was amazing! They had cheese biscuits, sausage, pancakes, and homemade blueberrysyrup. Everything was delicious. I especially appreciated the orange juice. I really miss that on the trail. The guys suggested I take the name Juice as my Trailname. We'll see if it sticks. After breakfast, we loaded 6 people and 5 packs into the Jeep and drove to the trailhead. When we got there, I saw Tater again, the guy I met on top of Springer. Everyone had their rain gear on as we started out. It wasn't really raining at the beginning, so I shed my jacket after 5 minutes of climbing. Of course that meant that 5 minutes later it started raining pretty hard and I got soaked before I could put it back on. The rainy hike was misurable. I definitely had a tough time with it. I was walking solo and just had to keep thinking positive thoughts as I plodded through the mud. I caught up with everone at Plumorchard Gap Shelter for lunch after 4.5 miles. I was tempted to stop there for the night as I didn't really want to go back out into the rain again. Luckily, it eased up in the afternoon and made for some good hiking. We passed a stuffed bear the held a good luck sign. It read "Boo Boo wishes y'all good luck thru hike." Not the best grammar, but appreciated all the same. I got a picture. At 2:45, we hit a major milestone as we crossed from Georgia to North Carolina. I got my picture taken with the sign. The rest of the hike was pretty steep as North Carolina gave us quite the welcome. We pulled into camp and got set up to make dinner. I had alfredo pasta with some summer sausage mixed in. The major adventure of the day was hanging the bear bags. "Grumpy got to the shelter before us an hung his "PCT style" as we were cleaning up. Of course this led to us trying to do the same and failing miserably. Mike and I both had trouble even getting our ropes over tall enough branches. It was a pretty hilarious time. Eventually we got it all figured out with some assistance from Grumpy. I have hung s many bear bags and I still manage to screw it up most of the time. It was a great way to end a tough day. Hope the rain isn't too bad tomorrow.

2/28/2009 7:05 PM - Carter Gap Shelter - 12.5 mi today - 91.8 mi total

Woke up to rain. It had rained all night and didn't look like stopping. Jeff had spent the night in his tent and aparently got soaked through. He left camp at 7AM as we were just waking up. Grumpy followed him out around 8AM. Dan was next. Mike, Wes, and I took it really slow. It was tough getting out of a wam dry sleeping bag to plod through the wet cold mud all day. I eventually departed camp at 9:30. Mike and Wes soon followed. I took it really easy in the morning. There wasn't much elevation change, so it was a pretty smooth walk. I stopped at noon for lunch at Standing Indian Shelter. Wes and Mike came in about 10 minutes after me. I departed quickly, but still got cold. After lunch was the only real hill of the day, which enabled me to warm up. The rest of the afternoon was pretty slow. At one point, I thought I felt my first hot spot developing on my big toe. Not wanting to drop my pack, I was somehow able to balance on my right foot as I took off my left boot, outer sock, and liner sock, apply duct tape, and reverse the process without getting my foot wet. I earned a JOlly Rancher for that little trick. I use Jolly Ranchers as a reward for different accomplishments on the trail. It goes back to my days hiking with Troop 8 in California. This morning, I had to give myself one just for getting out of bed. There were some cool parts to the trail today. I crossed a couple streams balancing on a log. I pulled into camp at 4 and cooked some Spring Onion noodles with summer sausage. Yum. I also had much better luck with the bear bag today. Got it on my first try and nailed the PCT method. Its supposed to get really cold tonight. I might hit Franklin tomorrow. That would be a 16 mile day. Will break 100 miles easily.

3/1/2009 8:30 PM - Winding Stair Gap - 15.9 mi today - 107.7 mi total

Woke up around 7 today and got moving. Had a quick breakfast of Nature Valley bar and honey. No cleanup required. It had rained most of the night but didn't turn to snow. Hit the trail at 8:15 with Mike. Cruised for the first couple miles and knocked off 5 miles in under 2 hours. Major hill of the day was Mt Albert just before lunch. As we were about to start the accent, it began to snow. Steepest climb yet. Had to drop the poles at one point so I could use my hands to climb. Got to the top and snow was falling thick and fast. Stopped at Big Spring Shelter for lunch. Ate quickly but still got cold. Snow had layered everything by the time we left the shelter. Kicked it into gear after lunch. Really muddy for a while. Slipping and sliding a lot. Got to "old ROute 64 but decided to hike the extra 3.1 miles to "New Route 64." Those were tough miles. I was beyond tired by the end. As we reached the parking lot, a van pulled up and it was the motel shuttle with Tatonka and Dan inside. Perfect timing! By 3:00 we were heading into Franklin, NC. Van driver said that over 150 people left Springer Mountain this weekend! Glad to be ahead of the pack. Staying at the Budget Inn tonight. Split a room with Mike for $20 each. Took a nice long shower and got the laundry done. After walked a half mile in my flip flops to find out that the AYCE Mexican was only a lunch deal. Went to Cody's Roadhouse instead. Had a mushroom cheeseburger and a cold beer. Tasted great after a long day! Weather Channel is predictinf tomorrow's overnight low at 13 degrees. Grumpy, Jeff, Dan and Tatonka are taking a zero tomorrow to avoid the cold. Mike and I are thinking about it. We'll se what the morning weather report says. Hopefully the SPOT will work better over the next couple of days. The fog has been blocking the signal.