With the help of a family roofin' man and a coffee connoisseur
.Up at the crack of dawn to be sure to be down at the road for the hitch at 7 a.m. I'm hoping to get a lift from some kind soul going to work this morning. A few minutes with my thumb out and a white pickup passes me by. A minute later I see it coming back up the road in the opposite direction and I knew I had my ride. The driver was part of a family roofing business (Dad was the owner) and since he was going through Franklin anyhow, he reckoned he ought to take me there too. Right kindly of you, mister. Because of all the severe weather recently, business was hopping. Everybody was out on calls and working OT to try and answer them all. Get while the getting's good.
With door to door service, he dropped me off right in front of the entrance to Shoney's. Wolfing down platefuls of breakfast food by 7:30, library at 9, outfitters at 10, supermarket resupply at 10:30, out on the highway at the edge of town by 11, just like clockwork. Ten minutes of trying my luck and a young man in a four door sedan pulls over. He works as an associate in a coffee co-op. Now I'm not a coffee drinker at all, but he was able to teach me a thing or two about the enterprise on our short trip to the trailhead. I especially liked the information about how the co-op works with local growers in third world countries so that both parties benefit from the endeavor. Good beans!
Back at Winding Stair Gap I stuck my head under a pipe that was shooting out spring water by the gallon and as the cold water ran over my hair and down my back I reflected on how lucky/blessed I'd been with a perfect resupply and turnaround. Elated, I gulped down a couple of liters of the liquid refreshment, topped off my bottle and returned to the trail.
I met a Swedish guy on the last part of the paved walk that led to Wayah Lookout and he had the same opinion as me about the two obese people walking past us to their car in the parking area. With the obesity problem at epidemic proportions in the U.S. and growing ever larger in other nations, why not move that parking lot a little further down the hill. Heck, at least they were out getting a (very) little excercise. Better that than sitting in the recliner at home. Felt sorry for the Swede when he told me he probably wouldn't be able to finish the entire trail before he had to go home. I asked him why and he told me he was hiking with his American friends who were averaging only 12 miles per day. He needed to average 20 to complete a thru-hike before his return flight. I wondered aloud if his friends were aware of this and he said they were, but were unwilling to push further, hike faster or stay on the trail longer. He really wanted to finish but if he were to do it, it would mean abandoning his friends and striking out on his own. I think he felt a little trapped and he'd have to make a tough decision in the very near future.
One thing I learned about my own hiking ability today is that I'm a strong climber compared to most others. I passed a good portion of hikers on the ascents today. To have legs shaped by the longer climbs of the Pacific Crest Trail last summer is a huge advantage. Yes, it's true that the Appalchian Trail has more ups and downs, but I know they are of much shorter duration than the 7,000 feet in elevation gain coming out of Saied Valley in Northern California. With that in mind I try to reach the tops without stopping.
I considered stopping at Cold Spring Shelter, but it was buzzing with flies so it wasn't a difficult decision to continue. Another evening of racing the sun. Would it set before I reached Wesser Bald Observation Tower or would I be standing on top taking pictures as it dipped below mountains on the horizon? An extremely close race and one that ended in a photo finish! I won, I won, I won and I've got the picture to prove it. Rolling ridgelines stretching out before me, the last rising to meet the orange sky. As the night closed in, I set up my tent on a small grassy patch at the tower's base. A cold wind began to blow and a nearly full moon rose slowly bathing the ground and trees in soft pale light.
Swinging Lick (Carved by some joker to look like Dick) Gap
Wayah Bald Lookout
Fire Ring at Trailside Camp
Rolling Ridgelines at Sunset
Moonlight and Branches
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