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June
6, 1983 Monday (1771.7 mtg) From
Gonzo!s Appalachian Trail journal
Today
was a very strange day for culinary delights along the trail. Once
again, we started the day off with a freeze dried dinner. This time
the entre was chicken-a-la-king along with some gorp. Gorp is the
hikers best friend and supplies many of the calories that the hiker
needs for the grueling day after day of hiking. It is made of good
wholesome foods starting off with Granola, Raisins, and Peanuts,
and finishes with as much M&Ms, and other candy and nuts as
you can stand. After a while my gorp became just M&M's (plain
and peanut), and Reese's Pieces. Who needs all that healthy stuff?
It was a beautiful day as we continued on over the bald country.
A shroud of clouds hung in the valleys as we marched over the open
grassy terrain up one mountain and then descending, and then up
to the summit of Little Hump Mountain. After Little Hump came Hump
Mountain, one of the nicest balds in the area - one big grass covered
mountain. In this particular area of the trail the footway occasionally
follows what appear to be jeep tracks, or at least the leftovers
of old roads mostly grown over by grass, but still evident with
the remnants of two parallel depressions about as far apart from
one another as a set of vehicle tires. Upon reaching Doll Flats,
a major relocation began that would prove to be difficult to travel
on due to its fresh installation, and recent rain. The guidebook
indicated a grocery store at the next road crossing where US 19
crosses the trail. The one good thing about the relocation seemed
to be that it brought us closer to the store than if we had taken
the previous route. We had only to walk about a mile to the store
rather than the 2.4 miles before the relocation had gone into effect.
We thanked the trail crews in our imginations for the shortcut and
soon stepped out onto the shoulder of the road and began our treck
to our resupply point in Elk Park, North Carolina. Most new relocations
are not welcome. We of course stuck our thumbs out at every potential
ride that happened to be going in our direction, but had no luck
until just as we caught sight of the store. At that time someone
pulled over to offer us a ride, but we declined since the store
was just a few yards away. We bought $45.00 worth of groceries between
us (my portion coming to $21.00) Along with the groceries we discovered
that the store also carried A & W Rootbeer in cans. Well, that
was all the tempting we needed to convince us to buy three cans,
and a half gallon of vanilla ice cream for rootbeer floats! We opened
up the cook kit got out the pots and mixed up mammoth floats the
likes of which have probably never been seen there since - one quart
of ice cream and 18 ounces (three cans) of rootbeer each!
It began to rain as we were enjoying our folly at the store, and
just as it quit we were offered a ride back to the trailhead by
someone going that way. Jim had been on the phone talking to his
parents, so I interupted him with a quick, "let's go, we got
a ride" and off we went. Still part of the relocation, the
next few miles of the trail were some of the nastiest trail I have
ever been on. This part was not welcome. Initially as we entered
onto the trail just past the road, I lost my footing perhaps due
to the extra weight that we were now carrying. The trailside conditions
were also responsible since the rain had softened and lubricated
the earth. I took a tumble and came out of it with a scraped right
knee. Having survived that fall, we continued on the relocation
that took us through muck and mire that at times could be as deep
as eight inches! There was a time when I thought we had gotten lost
and somehow were on our way back toward US 19, but continuing on,
we eventually made it to Don Nelan shelter sometime before four
pm. Dennis, Ron, and Cathy were there before us and had successfully
kept other hikers from occupying the shelter so we would have a
place for the night. Good thing too, since the weather seemed threatening.
I washed up my knee in the ice cold stream nearby, and then relaxed
for a while before beginning with the evenings ritual of supper
preparation. With only five miles between the road and its grocery
store, it is my feeling that this should be taken advantage of,
so tonight Jim and I fried up the pound of bacon and one dozen eggs
that we carried with us to the shelter - and we still had a pound
of pork sausage for the morning! Life can be good on the trail at
times.
The shelter was crowded that evening as even more hikers showed
up. A man named Bill Wiggins stayed there also. I don't recall how
many actually stayed in the shelter, but most shelters hold from
eight to ten people, but larger numbers have been known to sandwich
themselves in, especially on a cold rainy evening. We had arrived
at the shelter mostly dry except for the swamp muck that covered
our lower legs. Soon after we arrived we experienced a nice little
shower. The whole night was kind of damp, the kind of weather where
nothing dries, and you have to get up the next morning and put those
wet, filthy wool socks back on and slip your feet into those cold
clammy hiking boots. Sometimes, particularly in the Smokies, we
used to try to dry our socks out by setting them next to the fire,
if someone had built one. I don't think this was the best thing
for the socks, but at least your feet felt a little dry for the
first few minutes of the hike that day. It does not have to be raining
the day after to totally soak your feet once again. A heavy dew
does just as good a job, sometimes better.
Combined with what Jim spent, for the twenty one dollars I spent
at the store I also came back with Mac & Cheese, two Lipton's
Noodles and Sauce dinners, peanut butter and jelly, four candy bars,
cookies, a box of pop tarts, peaches, M& M's, two instant puddings,
milk, oatmeal cakes, instant oatmeal, bread, pancakes and syrup,
along with the ice cream and sodas, bacon and eggs, and pork sausage.
Nice temperature, Not too cool.
Gonzo!
Appalachian Trail Journals ©1983
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