Springer Mtn, GA to Fontana Dam, NC

Day 3, Thursday, May 25

Hawk Mountain Shelter to Gooch Gap Shelter, 8.5 miles

The sounds of a shelter at night. With seven inside the shelter, not counting Penny, there are many sources of noise. I awake around 1 AM to a chorus of sounds. Breathing, snoring, farting, belching, coughing, and scurrying feet. So much for the "no mice" entry in the journal. At 5 AM the scurrying/gnawing wakes me up. I've laid out my tarp on the floor of the shelter and put my pad and sleeping bag on top of it. I can hear when tiny feet tap dance across the tarp. I shine my flashlight around. Doug lying next to me also wakes up and shines his light toward the hanging foodbags. Together, we spotlight a mouse doing a highwire act up the string of the foodbag. It's climbing hand over hand, and not like it's never done it before either. There is also a mouse inside the foodbag chowing down on something that's crunchy. Doug gets up and shakes the bag, but the mouse goes right on. Doug opens the bag to make it easier for the mouse to get in and out, so it won't chew a hole in the bag. For the next hour, they make regular trips up and down the string between the bag and their lair. Glad it's not my bag.

I wake up at 6:40 AM again. The breeze has picked up all night long, and it's blustery as the sun tries to come up. Again it's overcast. We're high enough that these are clouds. I hurt this morning. My feet, my shoulder, my head. I had trouble breathing last night. Got to get to the doctor when I get home.

Folks start rolling out of bed at 7 AM. Roger, Doug, and Mandy retrieve their food bags that are hanging in the trees outside. Penny seems to be the only one glad it's morning. Mandy lights a cigarette.

Pop-Tarts and cheese crackers for breakfast again for me. I moleskin my left heel and put on new clean socks this morning. On to Gooch Gap at 7:50 AM. I've been the first one out of the shelters the last two days. I enjoy the early morning alone on the trail. I reach Hightower Gap at 8:10 AM, and see my first snake of the trip as I cross the road. A baby black snake. I poke at the snake with the toe of my boot and move on. I spend most of the morning hiking by myself.

My pace is slower and more deliberate this morning. I'm trying to rest both heart and heel. The terrain is getting hillier as I climb the ridge beyond Hightower. I inch my way upward and rest near the top to enjoy the breeze. It's almost 9 AM. I see a steep mountain across the saddle below. One thing I've already learned about the Appalachian Trail. It generally tends to go over things instead of around them. I hope it goes around the one I'm looking at.

I reach Horse Gap at 9:15 AM. I've made 2.4 miles so far this morning. I take off my shirt and cool down a little. I drink some water. Looks like we are going over that mountain, Sassafras Mountain to be exact. At 9:55 AM I stop to rest. I've climbed almost 700 feet in less than a mile. The view from the top is great. I can look into the valley below. There's a hawk gliding over the trees below me. I take a picture, cool down, and take on water. Today must be the wildlife day. Already I've seen a snake, chipmunk, and a hawk. I've heard a number of squirrels playing in the trees over my head, but I've been too tired to look up.

I hear what sounds like thunder in the distance. I hope not. At 10:10 AM it starts to rain. I put the cover on my backpack and continue uphill. 10:15 AM, another crack of thunder. Louder. At 10:22 AM, the storm is on me. Loud thunder over my head and it begins to rain harder. I get off the top of the mountain in a hurry and duck under some beech and birch trees that form a canopy over me and keep me out of the rain. In a few minutes the rain slackens and I press on.

10:45 AM. At Cooper Gap I meet three Southbounders who started above Hot Springs, NC headed for Springer. I cross the road and head uphill again. The rain stops just after 11 AM. I've got two miles to go to reach water at Justus Creek. I'm just going to make it. I reach the creek at 12:10 PM, pump water, drink a quart, and pump water again. I usually carry two quarts with me, but this morning two quarts wasn't enough.

Doug, Roger, Ken, and Penny show up at 12:20 PM. I take the longest break I've taken. I eat lunch, wash up some, especially my hair, and rinse out my hiking shirt. Feels great.

A one-armed hiker barrels into our camp as I'm about to leave. He says hello and asks if the trail crosses here. We point him back toward the trail and he walks on. I shove off again at 1:20 PM. I immediately pass the one-armed hiker at the bridge. He's also partially deaf and pauses to put in his hearing aid and asks me where I'm headed. I tell him I headed to Fontana and he says he's heard about me. Must have been from the New Hampshire boys behind me. He's from Reading, Pennsylvania and trying to finish a section-hike to Dick's Creek Gap.

I stop at the next footbridge to talk with two Southbounders looking for a campsite and he passes back by me. I pass him back a half-mile later. He's stopped to check his map and look for blazes. There haven't been any lately. He overtakes me on the next long uphill stretch. He started at Stover Creek Shelter this morning and usually does 17-18 miles a day. He's already hiked more than 400 miles so far this year. I watch him disappear ahead of me.

At 2:30 PM I hear thunder again. I'm considering trying to make Woody Gap this evening and stay one full day ahead of my original schedule. My feet are killing me though and I'm not sure I can make it. I reach a spring and the path to Gooch Gap Shelter at 3:00 PM. After an awful climb above the trail, I reach the very unadorned shelter. No picnic table, no flat ground. More thunder and a few raindrops. I'll rest my feet for an hour and then decide whether to push on.

One-arm goes back down to the spring for water. I hear some whoops and hollering. I suspect Doug, Roger, Ken, and Penny have caught up. One-arm comes back. He didn't see anyone.

It's still 3.9 miles to Woody Gap. I would really be a push for me to go three more hours. Dark clouds are forming up to my left as I sit in the front of the shelter. Might be an easy decision.

One-arm's name is Tom. It turns out he is the hiker that is supposed to be at Goose Creek Cabins the night before me. He's going to hike through to Neels Gap tomorrow. More than I can do.

Tom fell out of tree when he was six years old and badly compound fractured his arm. Gangrene set in while he was in the hospital, and he lost his left arm. He's 45-46 years old and works in an electrical components plant in Pennsylvania. He started losing his hearing at age 30 and now has to wear a hearing aid to restore his hearing to eighty percent.

I take my boots off and my feet rejoice. My socks are soaking wet. I let them get used to freedom for a few minutes and then I peel my socks off. I have a nasty blister on the outside of my right foot big toe, a very rubbed spot on my left heel, and numerous smaller blisters and skin peels. It will do good to rest my feet the rest of the day so I'll stay put at this shelter. I'll cook an early supper and turn in early tonight for an early start tomorrow.

The dark clouds have passed and the sky is blue again, but I think it's smart for me to stay put. I cook soup and chicken and rice and Tom "Deputy" also cooks supper. We figure that there will be more room for others if we're finished cooking before they show up for the night.

Aaron and Billy show up at 4:30 PM. We make some room for them. Ann and Jerry from Tallahassee, Florida show up right behind them looking for a flat spot to pitch a tent. I've not met them yet, but apparently New Hampshire has. There isn't a flat spot, so they try to decide what to do. Jerry wants to go forward on the trail and look for a spot. Ann doesn't want to see any more hills, so they walk back down the trail to the last campsite.

Aaron is beginning to use the trailname of "Torn" and Billy is "Frogger". They cook supper and Billy and I go back down to the spring for water. We're going to risk drinking directly from the spring without treating the water since my filter is acting up. I hope this doesn't turn out to be a bad decision. It starts to thunder loudly before we reach the spring and rain lightly. As we reach the spring it begins to pour rain. We get drenched. We quickly fill our water bottles and hike back up to the shelter. I soap up and take my first rain shower of the trip. It's cold rain! But refreshing. We spend the next hour changing and hanging clothes and getting the shelter ready for the night. Unless someone else shows up it will be the four of us tonight. Tom "Deputy", Aaron "Torn", Billy "Frogger" and me. Roger, Doug, Ken and Penny must have pushed on. They didn't come through the shelter. I hope they made Woody Gap before the storm.

It's still raining at 7:30 PM. Billy heads for the privy out back. He grabs some leaves and then asks if they are poison ivy. We had a poison ivy, poison oak discussion yesterday. The New Hampshire boys aren't sure they know what it looks like.

Tom takes his hearing aid out and is asleep by 9:30 PM. I guess he has an advantage over us in that regard. The snoring won't bother him. Our conversation carries on till after 11 PM on every subject imaginable. Religion to energy production. When we finally quieten down, the mice have another playful night. They must be following us. Or at least calling their buddies on down the line. Again, they seem to relish the spotlight when I shine my light on them. I would have sworn one of them took a bow for me. They aren't bashful. Scampering all night. They chewed the edge off of my hanging towel and the end out of my gorp bag.