The daylight streams into the tent and tells me I must rise?
I think a mouse is following me, but each time I look back
I don't see or hear a thing except the squeeking of my pack.
Someone walked by my tent at six o'clock this morning, which is rather early to be out on the trail. And I thought I was an early riser! Checking the register at Iron Mountain Shelter, I found out who it was. Snorkel had signed in! Turns out that she had spent the night at Vandeventer Shelter. I had actually passed her yesterday evening without knowing it. I'd started hiking before seven so she was less than an hour ahead and I was determined to close the remaining distance. The first time I caught a glimpse of her, far in the distance, was after Tennessee 91 when she was climbing over a stile and entering the woods at the edge of a large grassy field. I thought I'd catch her quickly, but after some time without running into anybody on the trail ahead of me, I began to doubt what I'd seen. I mean I had kicked it into a pretty high gear and to see nobody on the woody trail ahead of me was discouraging. As time continued to pass I rounded a small bend in the trail and there ahead of me was the person I'd been chasing for the past two weeks.
At first I really couldn't believe it, but I was so happy to achieve my goal. Little did this stranger realize that she had provided a good deal of motivation for me at the beginning of this long trail and truth be told I was glad to meet somebody who was putting such an effort in everyday. It was inspiring. Snorkel must have been a little wary when I introduced myself and told her about my experience at Tray Gap in Georgia, where I'd initially heard about her and her attempt at the record. I was fervently hoping that she would understand my reasons for trying to catch her and not think I was some crazy stalker. Ha. Thankfully, she gave me the benefit of the doubt and we continued on our journey together.
We spent the remainder of the day talking about our time on trails. Though we've both hiked thousands of miles, we certainly had different hiking experiences. Snorkel had done the Appalachian Trail, the Continental Divide Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail, northbound. I'd done the Pacific Crest Trail, southbound, and the Florida Trail. From a hiking perspective, we certainly had a lot to talk about. I appreciated her interest in my adventures and was very keen to learn about hers.
Being a Triple Crowner, Snorkel was one of a very few people I'd meet on the trail that had logged more miles than me. I was really curious as to why she was going after the record. As she explained, it was simple really. In her first thru-hike of the A.T.in 2008, it had taken her around 100 days to finish. With subsequent thru-hikes on the Pacific Crest Trail and the Continental Divide Trail over the past couple of years she had gained a lot of experience and honed her abilities. Looking for a challenge she had turned her attention back to the trail she'd started with. Though no official records are kept, she was able to determine as far as she could that the women's unsupported record was (I believe) 86 days set by the wife of Ray Jardine. Being a stronger and savvier hiker in 2011, Snorkel felt that setting a new record was reasonably achievable.
With the good conversation and another hiker to push the pace we breezed past the Tennessee/Virginia border and arrived in Damascus far earlier than either of us would have thought. I was actually going to camp a bit short of the town, but Snorkel told me about "The Place" hostel run by the Methodist Church, so that's where we both wound up staying. However, before we crashed at the hostel, we made a run to Food King to pick up some sustenance. I'm a sucker for the little pies---blueberry, apple, lemon and cherry. The remainder of the day was spent doing all the little things that hikers do when the opportunity presents itself---shower, shave, laundry, catching up on journal entries, eating a better meal than is typically had out in the woods, etc. When I finally lay down to sleep on an upper bunk I realized it was the first bed I'd been in since my stay at the Hiker Hostel in Dahlonega, two weeks and three states ago.
Cliff Camp
Tennessee/Virginia Border
Red Flowers and Green Grass
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