|
June
15, 1983 Wednesday (1617.5 mtg) From
Gonzo!s Appalachian Trail journal
Set
the alarm to go off at 6 am allowing us to enjoy the comfort of
the real beds for an extra ten minutes this morning, and used the
snooze button when it went off to soak up that comfortable feeling
even more. We continued our short stay in luxury by deciding to
eat breakfast at the restaurant. I ordered three pancakes for $1.35,
and a glass of orange juice ($1.00). Good pancakes, but I could
have used a little bit more syrup. Apparently I was still hungry,
I scavenged a slice of toast off of an adjacent table when its'
occupants returned to their trucks. The draw of civilization could
keep us there no longer, and we finally managed to break away at
about 7:30 am. Hiking through the next section of trail proved fairly
easy and we traveled the following seven or so miles fairly quickly.
Some of the trail took us on roads and through farmers yards and
pastures. Sometimes I wondered what these people thought about having
the trail encroaching on their privacy. We passed up a pair of female
thru hikers known as the "Go Go Girls" within a couple
of miles. Once more we set foot upon part of Brushy Mountain. We
crossed interstate 81, which we would run into again later in the
trip. One of our longer road walks ended as the trail took a turn
into a picnic area complete with Pavilion situated on the side of
the road. It was named the Olistery Community Picnic Area. A note
posted on one of the uprights supporting the pavilion indicated
that the resident adjacent to the property was kind enough to allow
hikers to fill their water bottles at his hose outlet. We took advantage
of his offer. The shelter was a welcome sight as the skies looked
as if it were getting ready to rain. While at the pavilion, a local
man showed up and inquired if we had seen some particular hiker
that he was worried about. We had not seen anyone other than the
Go Go Girls, who arrived at the picnic area shortly afterwards.
We ate lunch at the pavilion after having traveled twelve miles.
We pressed on after lunch and within a mile of leaving the safety
of the roof, the rain began to fall. Fortunately the rain only lasted
for about two miles and then the sun came out for the rest of the
day. Basically there were three climbs today, the last one taking
us past a spring fed pond, where we filled up our canteens and large
two gallon water bag for tonights' dry shelter on the top of Chestnut
Knob. We carried the 8 pounds per gallon 1.7 miles to an old rock
hut situated in a grassy field near the summit. The hut was our
palace for the night, but was not very inviting on the inside. The
openness of the field allowed viewing the hazy sunset that evening.
Today marked our one month anniversary on the trail. With that in
mind, I felt like a king as I sat on the thrown out back and surveyed
the surrounding countryside, as if I were the ruler of the ever
changing landscape. This shelter was not officially listed anywhere
in the guides yet, and perhaps that is why it was not very appealing
- the place was not ready for occupancy. Inside, the hut had a rock
floor as well, and a couple of picnic tables that Jim and I decided
would make better sleeping platforms than lying directly on the
uneven rock floor. Our hopes were that we could avoid mouse activity
as well. Totally enclosed shelters such as this tend to be dark
and dreary on the inside. Even though this one had windows, there
were not enough to light the whole inside sufficiently.
Today we saw two wild turkeys along the roadwalk, and also some
pink Flame Azaleas.
Gonzo!
Appalachian Trail Journals ©1983
|
