Part Two Three

Please note that these were written on March 6 as emails.  I won't do that again.  I promise!

3/6/2013

On the 9 mile approach trail up Springer Mountain,  we hiked into light rain,  then rain,  then mist,  then fog,  then hard rain..... with lots of lightning.  Earlier,  I had stopped to sit on a rock,  and call my sister.  I wanted to tell her that I was indeed hiking the trail,  and to thank her for helping me get through the airport and onto a plane. ( I will simplify....which is rare for me,  and just say that I have not been on an airplane for a long, long time).

 After a lengthy chat,  and rest;  I got back up to resume walking..... and both of my knees were crying.  Both of them were protesting in unison.  "Nope,  we are done.  Done, done, done. We are not going any farther....no more today.  You should have warned us about all of those stairs."
 This was not good.  Here I am,  on my very first day.....still a good mile, uphill,  to make the very first shelter..... and both of my knees are refusing to go any farther.  I struggled forward for 200 yards,  then rested....then did another 200.  It was a long, slow,  mile to that shelter.   And the whole time,  I was thinking about what I would do if my knees were still this bad,  on day two.  Jeez....am I done, already?  Are you kidding me?
I decided that I would have to hide out somewhere..... for awhile....quite a while.    I simply could not endure the embarrassment of flying back home.  No way.   It's easy for me to see the worst possibilities in all things.... really easy.   I told you that it was gonna be a bumpy ride.   I simply did not expect any bumps,  on my very first day.
 
 So of course,  as I said,  it began to really pour.  I beat most of the lightning,  by hobbling to Black Gap Shelter,  where I made my first new friend, "Griff".  (Later to become "Tennessee Mike").  I asked Griff , whether he had heard my scream,  when the lightning bolt hit the ground,  between me and the shelter.  Griff assured me,  that he had indeed heard it.  Seeing that I was gassed,  after those stairs,  7 uphill miles,  and the excitement of the first day;   he volunteered to fill my water bottles;  going down the steep hill to the water,  a second time.... in between the thunder.  We settled in for a cold night.  Then it started blowing.....peaking at 76 miles per hour!  Oh yeah,  then it snowed!   The howling wind blew the snow into the open side of the shelter...covering our sleeping bags in white.
The highlight of the first night was the mouse that scurried.....yes they do scurry.... right across my closed eyelids.....just as I was finally unwinding enough to be able to sleep.   Before first light,  I had another mouse on my hat,  which was still on my head.  Welcome to the AT!

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