TRAIL DAYS 25-26

Wed, Mar 16, 2016 Breakfast at the lodge!  The reputation of this meal had made its way to the trail and I was not disappointed.  Eggs and French toast.  I went back for seconds and thirds.  I did not leave hungry for my day at The Coop.

I had hoped for a good WiFi connection down there but had to go back to the lodge where I went out on the deck behind the fireplace looking out over the buildings below and into the barren woods and hills beyond.  I don’t recall getting any tablet tasks done then but I do recall that sometime on that day, I had a wonderful conversation with grandson, John Paul, each appreciating in the other love of philosophical thought and expression via prose or poetry.  Perhaps at nearly 160 miles in, enjoying a lovely day and lovely setting, I was feeling the accomplishment thus far and the adventure ahead.  I sensed the blessing and the magnitude of what I had undertaken and felt a gentle flood of emotion that I could not contain.  Tears in my eyes and voice could not be held back or hidden as I spoke with this fine grandson of mine.  We got each other – we understood – and the blessing overflowed.

Although I tried to work on writing and blogging, the deck in sunlight wasn’t the place and the poor WiFi signal at The Coop prevented me from crossing that cyber summit just then.  The view from the peak would have to wait if, indeed, I’d ever be able to make the climb.

I made myself a lunch in The Coop kitchen and tended to multiple logistic issues that afternoon, planning the next stop, how many days food to carry from the box I’d picked up at The Hike Inn, where to send it next and what items I was going to have to get via mail or otherwise down the way.  I checked with Amazon on returns and with Comcast about phone; considered getting stove to replace my homemade, coke-can alcohol burner; considered a magazine article; checked emails; got meds for me and Theo; worked on SPOT pins; got out another plastic apple bag for water.

Another fine supper and I’d turn in for another good night.  Tomorrow would be Saint Patty’s Day – another popular AT start day which meant nothing to me then.  Would I take another zero or head back out?

Day #25   Cabin in Woods 0 miles

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Thu, Mar 17, 2016 Another super breakfast!  Another relaxed day about which memory alone must suffice.  I have no AWOL notes or pictures to help with recall.

Nonetheless, it was Saint Patty’s Day and Donna was invited to a neighbor’s house to celebrate.  Since Phil probably declined, Donna asked me along.  I said sure!

The Cabin is located in Graham County, North Carolina, the only dry county in the state.  But!  The good neighbors went to a neighboring county to stock several coolers with cold beer!

The gathering was a sedate matter hosted and attended by very nice people.  No one felt sneaky or naughty.  It was just a good, wholesome time with mighty fine food.  Corn beef, cabbage, boiled potatoes and soda bread.  Super fare!

Although I ate in the kitchen, I can picture the side yard and the tables Donna and I passed as we returned to the car for the short ride back to The Cabin.  In the spirit of the day, I left the party with a necklace of shiny, dark-green plastic beads around my neck.

Back at The Coop, there was enough daylight left that I decided I would pack up and and get back to the trail.

A fellow in his 20s was helping Donna around the place.  He did light maintenance and ran errands for her.  He helped me with something at The Coop and left his phone on the kitchen table.  It was just like mine and, on departure, I mindlessly carried it off.  It was only after I was dropped off at Fontana Lake that I realized my phone was being repaired and I had the helper’s.  I tried calling on the phone by the restrooms without success.

It was late in the afternoon and the trail and phone issue would have to wait for morning.  There was an open, grassy area at the west end of the parking lot where other hikers were settling in for the night.  We all agreed that we probably were not supposed to camp there but who was going to bother checking?  I pitched my tent a little distance from “Mariposa” (Spanish for moth), “Lomax” and “Quick” and settled in for the night.  “OD,” “Baby Chick,” “Weatherman,” “Magic-Man,” “Greyhound,” and “Northstar” who are noted in AWOL must have decided to hike on.

Lomax or Quick offered me a nip of some Bourbon – my first on the trail and it sure was nice.  Someone also talked of a guy known as “Spaceman” and suggested we keep our eye out for him because he apparently stole someone’s sleeping bag and was not to be trusted.  Happy to say I never ran into him or his like, although I did hear of missing gear a few times.

Mariposa hung her bear bag over a large branch not too far from where I set up my tent.  She used the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) method.  This involved using some weight to hurl a line over a branch high enough that the bag would hang at least 10 feet off the ground.  For weight I eventually settled on a water bottle over tent-stake bag with a rock in it that could get more easily hung up.  The weight would drop on the far side of the branch.  You’d remove the weight from the line and fasten the bear bag to that end with a carabiner or other method.  I clipped the bag through a tied loop.  You’d run the other end of the line through the carabiner or loop and pull the bag all the way up to the branch.  You’d then reach high on the line you were holding and tie a stick in it perpendicular to its length, then drop the bag until the carabiner or loop encountered the stick and the bag was thus suspended.

Then you’d ball up the rest of the rope so you could reach it in the morning and retrieve your food by reversing the process.

I don’t think I hung my food that night, it still being fairly cold with barren trees and little probability of invasion.  I do remember thinking, however, that the hanging ball of rope seemed to obviate the efficacy of hanging.  Wasn’t the food supply vulnerable?  Couldn’t a bear reach that rope?  I let the common belief that this was a sophisticated and favored method hold sway until precisely 166.5 miles later.

Theo and I cozied up in our tent for the night and slept well.

Day #26   Fontana Lake 0 miles