|
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 candy 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 depressions about as wide as a vehicle. 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 stepped out onto the shoulder of the road and began our
treck to our resupply point in Elk Park, North Carolina. 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 told him, "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. 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 the next morning. 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.
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
|
