3/30/2013
The Beast Awakens
The hike out of Wesser, North Carolina from the NOC, on the Nantahala River, had been difficult. I had resupplied there for the three days to Fontana Dam, and also pretty much for the planned first four days in the Smokies..... to Gatlinburg Tennessee. I thought that the seasonal store at Fontana Village was closed. Turns out it opened the day before I got there.
The result was that I hauled an extra 6-8 pounds up some serious hills.........Cheoah Bald was the first one. I got to the top of it after three hours......took some video with my phone.....a break and had snacks......started hiking again, and reached the actual top an hour and a half later.
Anyhow the result of all this is that when I got to Fontana, I decided not to add any supplies. Better to be a bit short that last day, than suffer extra weight again.
At Fontana, on Sunday, we got free printed weather reports for both Fontana, and up top at Clingmans Dome. The local residents.......(even the business people, who make their living off hiker dollars), are constantly helping us out......even when it costs them potential business. I am still shocked by this hospitality.........but I see it all the time.
It was gonna be real cold up top....... 17 degrees at night and windy as hell....... with highs in the upper 20s, then a gradual warm up starting Wednesday.
1-3 inches of snow was forecast. The locals were concerned. The Beast is stirring!.......they warned....... careful!......careful! What if the beast wakes up? It might be wise for all of you thru- hikers to hang out a couple a days at Fontana, and watch to see if the restless Beast remains sleeping.
A bunch of hikers had already stayed 2-3 days at Fontana to avoid the last three days of rain. Some to heal muscle strains.......knees....blisters, or just to reenergize. It was getting expensive, and boring, and the Smokies were just across the dam.
My hiking companion at the time........Airborne, said he was staying at least a day........maybe two. Airborne has common sense.
I said........ "I want to see those mountains! Now! Hell........ I'm from Minnesota! It's a crummy 1-3, that's nothing! Ok. It'll be windy.....it's already windy, all the time."
So all of us, who have half a brain or less, headed into the wind, and across that big dam..... planning to sneak in.......right past the nose of the restless Beast!
I stayed at the Fontana "Hilton" hiker shelter ......it's the largest shelter on the trail on Saturday night........(Sat afternoon had been very warm.....then a light rain started and the wind picked up.)
Sunday morning, I was second out of the shelter........."Sugar Knome" was long gone. People said she had left at 6:30 am.
Down at the dam, it was windy......40 mph, and light flurries.
Someone, or multiple someones, had stomped out the word "Dam" in the bit of snow, in letters 30-40 feet in size, on the steep slope of a dike, surrounded by water, East of the dam. I laughed and tried to figure out how the hell they got out there to do that, so early in the day. They were definitely determined Jokesters! I was gonna take a picture but found that my phone battery was dead.....again. This phone does not like cold! So I stopped on the dam and charged the batteries. Do you like the pics?
Okay.......okay. Lets get to it.
Five miles into the Smokies........still six miles away from the first shelter, it became abundantly clear to me that not only was the Beast awake.......he was seriously pissed off........ and was going to bite all of us fools, invading his mountains.......in the ass......really hard.
Just like that, my hike stopped being that......and became scary dangerous. It became a true struggle to survive. I knew that I had to make it to that shelter......I had to get to that shelter. "Grim" a younger man, passed me up, and a short while later, I saw by his tracks, that he had missed a turn in the trail, and was headed up a peak off trail. Anyhow it looked like it to me. I decided that the trail went left....trusted my judgement........ and went left. Jeez...... Grim was going the wrong way! It was blowing, and snowing, and freezing. He was faster than me.....I could not catch him.....I knew it. He seemed well equipped......better than me. If I went after him.....it would be me slowing him up, when he realized his mistake. I made the rational choice. I left Grim and his track behind....... and turned left. I had to make that shelter!
There were some hikers headed in the opposite direction......back toward the dam. They had been out the night before. They were all moving fast..... Some of 'em looked really scared.
I wondered if I looked scared to them......I knew that I was indeed, scared. One asked for water, and I gave him some of mine. Part of it was already frozen in my quart Gatorade Bottle. I filled my smaller bottle from it, put it in my pants pocket, so that it would not freeze, and dumped the rest, slush and all into his container. He was sweating like crazy.....not wearing a hat even......just a poncho hood. He was trying to catch up to his two buddies, that I had seen earlier. He was afraid...........panicked.
Yeah, I was scared too.......not panicked . I was traveling way faster than my normal pace, and never stopped once to take a break. It was a mad 11mile dash for that Mollies Ridge Shelter. Going fast meant sweating like crazy......getting soaked in sweat under my rain gear.....a serious no, no. But the other choice was bad too. Stop to rest, and freeze.
My shoes and socks were wet from the rain the day before. My gloves, bought as a last minute concession....(I was not going to bring any)......were just better than worthless. I was prepared for cold, but not for this brutal storm. This is International Falls,Mn., in January. It can not be North Carolina. It's just not possible! And the wind howled at 50 miles an hour!
I got to a sign that said 3.1 miles to the shelter. I knew I could make it another 3 miles, in this howling blizzard.......I had to make it! It was an endless 3 miles......just on and on.....forever. When I could not stand it any more, I promised myself that it was just one more mile. I could go one more mile.
Where the hell is that damn shelter? I couldn't have missed it, could I? I forced that possibility out of mind. The snow was really piling up..... and drifting. I was trapped in the midst of a snow hurricane! I had to get to Mollies Ridge, before it got dark. It took only about ten minutes for tracks on the trail to be covered over.
"Grim" had caught and passed me. And I was trying to follow his tracks. "Grim" had gone off the AT intentionally. He went up top, to the top of an observation tower, that I did not know about. He said the top of the tower was really rocking..... and swaying madly..... the metal seriously groaning. Grim had a big smile on his frozen face. ( Oh, to be young, and truly invincible..... and know not fear).
The snow and sleet was sticking to everything. It was hard to see any white blazes. The AT is heavily used. You can follow it in the dark without blazes. But this was different.......I wanted those blazes.....the security of blazes, to tell me that I had not gone wrong.
When the fear creeps in, you want to see those whites blazes; blazes to promise you, that in this swirling.....howling.....killer beast of a storm .........that you have not somehow missed a turn.....have not somehow..... while plodding blindly forward..... gotten off that path.
I pulled open the tarp hanging at the entrance to the shelter, and stepped out of the jaws of the Beast . "Sugar Knome" was there, trying to start a fire in the fireplace.....(Wow! The shelters in the Smokies have fireplaces.) with snow covered, frozen, wood. Those branches are green....... look at the buds. That stuff ain't gonna burn .......I noted to myself.
I did not care. I was safe. It was damn cold, and some snow was getting inside...... but I was safe. I had escaped the jaws of the terrible Beast.
Like every single person, who stumbled into Mollies Ridge that day.....the first words out of my mouth were,
"There is no fricking way that was 3.1 miles! That was the longest 3.1 miles of my life! That was 5 miles, or 6 miles. It was not 3.1."
No longer afraid .....I was really pissed at that damn, lying sign. I was not pissed at the Beast. This was far from over. It would continue howling, and snowing another full day. But I was silent on the subject of the Beast....I was bitten, but had escaped. I had learned ....as the locals had warned. Truly...... you do not want to draw the attention of the Beast!
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Friday, March 29, 2013
On the Trail
3/29/2013
On The Trail
I stopped at Fontana Village last Saturday to shower and do Laundry. There were no clean towels. I did not know where to get em......but I did find a used one in the shower, that worked just fine. Probably would know by now, if that was a mistake. Hahahaha.
This week, after the storm, I hear that "Dave Crockett", and "Bioterrorist", were at the same laundramat, and some women tourists came in to do laundry...... and discovered the two lads were washing All of their clothes! They were both buck naked, except for having their sleeping bags wrapped around them. "Dave Crockett", you may remember, is the lad who tried to save me from a fall off the mountain, a while back. Those boys are gonna go far........and maybe get arrested too!
I am at a motel in Gatlinburg Tennessee right now It is 12:16 AM. Sat 30 March. Am plumb tuckered. Will take a Zero......(no hiking) day, tomorrow , and will write a story whose title is "The Beast Awakens". Night. "Hawkeye."
On The Trail
I stopped at Fontana Village last Saturday to shower and do Laundry. There were no clean towels. I did not know where to get em......but I did find a used one in the shower, that worked just fine. Probably would know by now, if that was a mistake. Hahahaha.
This week, after the storm, I hear that "Dave Crockett", and "Bioterrorist", were at the same laundramat, and some women tourists came in to do laundry...... and discovered the two lads were washing All of their clothes! They were both buck naked, except for having their sleeping bags wrapped around them. "Dave Crockett", you may remember, is the lad who tried to save me from a fall off the mountain, a while back. Those boys are gonna go far........and maybe get arrested too!
I am at a motel in Gatlinburg Tennessee right now It is 12:16 AM. Sat 30 March. Am plumb tuckered. Will take a Zero......(no hiking) day, tomorrow , and will write a story whose title is "The Beast Awakens". Night. "Hawkeye."
Clingmans Dome
3/29/2013
Clingman's Dome
Observation Deck. I got frostbite on both cheeks..... 4 days before this, during the blizzard.
Clingman's Dome
Observation Deck. I got frostbite on both cheeks..... 4 days before this, during the blizzard.
March 29, 2013
3/29/2013
On the way up to Clingmans Dome
6643 ft. ? This is the highest point on the AT!
On the way up to Clingmans Dome
6643 ft. ? This is the highest point on the AT!
Wednesday March 27
3/29/2013
These pics are a day after the two day blizzard. 12 to 15 inches of snow .......maybe 18 inches.
These pics are a day after the two day blizzard. 12 to 15 inches of snow .......maybe 18 inches.
These are Fontana Dam at the very start of the blizzard
3/29/2013
What blizzard? Will tell you all about it tomorrow. I am surprised that we all survived!
Oh yeah Fontana Dam is the tallest 543 ft. ? dam in the Eastern United States. Part of the TVA Tennessee Valley Authority Project on the Little Tennessee River
What blizzard? Will tell you all about it tomorrow. I am surprised that we all survived!
Oh yeah Fontana Dam is the tallest 543 ft. ? dam in the Eastern United States. Part of the TVA Tennessee Valley Authority Project on the Little Tennessee River
Cheoah Bald
3/29/2013
This is the top of Cheoah Bald. Took me 4 1/2 hours to get up here. A woman 69 years old and her husband were up there. I kid you not.
This is the top of Cheoah Bald. Took me 4 1/2 hours to get up here. A woman 69 years old and her husband were up there. I kid you not.
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
3/21/2013
3/21/2013
3/21/2013
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
For the last three days, the only thing anyone is talking about is the Smoky Mountains. We are at NOC (Nantahala Outdoor Center) right now. I am in a nice warm bed.......ahahahaha. Last night we froze our butts again. It was 17 degrees down here. Probably 10 degrees, plus wind and snow......see picture......up on the mountain. I could not find any bear tracks.
He must have been farther away than I thought. That bear needs a bath.
The Smoky Mountains....The Smoky Mountains. As I said, it's all you hear. We are all excited..... and a little afraid too. We aren't real scared of the climbs; we are a bit cocky, having survived Georgia, and North Carolina, so far. What we fear is the weather.
We hope to slip in quietly, three days from now, and hike hard for a week. Then get out quick......before the beast knows we are there! If the beast wakes up, he can dump two or three feet of snow on you really fast, at this time of year...... and stop you in your tracks. It has happened to a lot of hikers before us.
Then you lie in your tent for 3 or 4 days waiting to get rescued.
I am told the weather report calls for rain Sun,Mon,Tues.
Does that mean snow up top? I hope not.
Please note that there is practically no cell phone service, except in town, so it may be awhile before I post again. How did you like the Spring Beauties? Trees and shrubs are going to sprout leaves in 2 or 3 days.
Poked a hole in my tent with my hiking pole......luckily in the vestibule not the sleeping area.....sewed it. Burned a hole in my glove....lost a water bottle......and yesterday snapped my ultra light hiking pole in half. Hiking is hard on gear. Great Smoky Mountains! Here we come!
3/21/2013
3/21/2013
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
For the last three days, the only thing anyone is talking about is the Smoky Mountains. We are at NOC (Nantahala Outdoor Center) right now. I am in a nice warm bed.......ahahahaha. Last night we froze our butts again. It was 17 degrees down here. Probably 10 degrees, plus wind and snow......see picture......up on the mountain. I could not find any bear tracks.
He must have been farther away than I thought. That bear needs a bath.
The Smoky Mountains....The Smoky Mountains. As I said, it's all you hear. We are all excited..... and a little afraid too. We aren't real scared of the climbs; we are a bit cocky, having survived Georgia, and North Carolina, so far. What we fear is the weather.
We hope to slip in quietly, three days from now, and hike hard for a week. Then get out quick......before the beast knows we are there! If the beast wakes up, he can dump two or three feet of snow on you really fast, at this time of year...... and stop you in your tracks. It has happened to a lot of hikers before us.
Then you lie in your tent for 3 or 4 days waiting to get rescued.
I am told the weather report calls for rain Sun,Mon,Tues.
Does that mean snow up top? I hope not.
Please note that there is practically no cell phone service, except in town, so it may be awhile before I post again. How did you like the Spring Beauties? Trees and shrubs are going to sprout leaves in 2 or 3 days.
Poked a hole in my tent with my hiking pole......luckily in the vestibule not the sleeping area.....sewed it. Burned a hole in my glove....lost a water bottle......and yesterday snapped my ultra light hiking pole in half. Hiking is hard on gear. Great Smoky Mountains! Here we come!
Crap he got away!
3/21/2013
Cell phone battery died had to find Charger. Can't find tracks. He must have been upwind a ways. Bummer. If he comes back I'll get him. Had earplugs in earlier. "Hawkeye".
Cell phone battery died had to find Charger. Can't find tracks. He must have been upwind a ways. Bummer. If he comes back I'll get him. Had earplugs in earlier. "Hawkeye".
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Bear action!
3/20/2013
Bear Action
Hey.....I just got up and out of tent to pee. It is snowing and blowing.
Am inside tent again. 11 pm. I can smell and hear a bear snuffling out there! Will try to get picture! "Hawkeye".
Bear Action
Hey.....I just got up and out of tent to pee. It is snowing and blowing.
Am inside tent again. 11 pm. I can smell and hear a bear snuffling out there! Will try to get picture! "Hawkeye".
Spring Beauties
The first flowers of Spring at 3:05 pm....... on the first day of Spring!
Just below the top of Wesser Bald near Wesser, NC.
Just below the top of Wesser Bald near Wesser, NC.
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Lessons Learned
3/19/2013
Lessons Learned
(I just wiped some snot onto my sleeve, and I have not even left town yet. Hahahaha.)
Everyone falls on the trail. Everyone. I have only fallen once so far......a nice easy slip on the mud, into the mud......tweaking my thumb just a bit........ a lucky non incident.
Yesterday, I was moving aside for one of those young speed demons, named "Dave Crockett", when the pole in my left hand punched through the turf, into space. And I was suddenly launching off the edge of the trail....... into space, myself. Time stopped. And I could see that "Dave Crockett" was reaching for me...... but that he would be too late. I could see it in his eyes. Without even thinking, I dropped the pole in my right hand, as I tumbled off the edge....... and latched onto a small tree with one hand, as I went by..... that happened to be right there where I needed it...... and stopped my fall off the edge.
Instantly, we both cracked up laughing. And Dave said that it wouldn't have been too bad, because the slope..... it was a very steep slope, not a cliff.....did not have any rocks. So when I stopped tumbling and sliding.... I would probably be okay.
Yah....after I tumbled and slid 500 yards down that slope!
The lesson learned, is to stay on the inside of the trail, and allow the speed demons to pass on the outside.....the cliff or steep slope side.
Whew!! Thank, you know who, for a tree.............. when you really need one.
"Hawkeye".
Lessons Learned
(I just wiped some snot onto my sleeve, and I have not even left town yet. Hahahaha.)
Everyone falls on the trail. Everyone. I have only fallen once so far......a nice easy slip on the mud, into the mud......tweaking my thumb just a bit........ a lucky non incident.
Yesterday, I was moving aside for one of those young speed demons, named "Dave Crockett", when the pole in my left hand punched through the turf, into space. And I was suddenly launching off the edge of the trail....... into space, myself. Time stopped. And I could see that "Dave Crockett" was reaching for me...... but that he would be too late. I could see it in his eyes. Without even thinking, I dropped the pole in my right hand, as I tumbled off the edge....... and latched onto a small tree with one hand, as I went by..... that happened to be right there where I needed it...... and stopped my fall off the edge.
Instantly, we both cracked up laughing. And Dave said that it wouldn't have been too bad, because the slope..... it was a very steep slope, not a cliff.....did not have any rocks. So when I stopped tumbling and sliding.... I would probably be okay.
Yah....after I tumbled and slid 500 yards down that slope!
The lesson learned, is to stay on the inside of the trail, and allow the speed demons to pass on the outside.....the cliff or steep slope side.
Whew!! Thank, you know who, for a tree.............. when you really need one.
"Hawkeye".
Little Old Ladies
3/19/2013
Little Old Ladies
It is Tuesday March 19........ I think. I have been told that there is a ton of snow in Minnesota. (Yes. I am still saying Minneeesoooota, and hikers are still laughing and quoting the movie "Fargo").
I can not Imagine the snow. It is interesting how quickly we adapt to the environment that we exist in.
I am in a motel room in Franklin, North Carolina........hesitant to get out of bed, and start getting my gear........which is tossed everywhere......... organized. It is good to be out of the rain.........the thunder, the lightning.....and the reliably constant wind. The wind just blows and blows........ all the time, on the mountain. Oh yeah...... and the hail too.
(Yesterday afternoon, several hikers accepted the offer of a ride into town, in Ron Haven's Van. It was not raining that hard at the time, and pretty early still, so I accepted a bunch of food from "Apple Butter", and hiked on....
Then it got pretty dark, and poured rain. Then the lightning and hail started. As you know, lightning scares me, really scares me. I draw the line at lightning. From a little way up on the hill, I saw an SUV pull into a trailhead lot, and a young couple scrambled in. I had to catch that ride! It was Ron's wife..... and she had room. What luck!
Of course, I have been hiding out here at the Sapphire Inn .....warm and dry, and full of restaurant food, paid for by another charitable soul. Hiding so that "Apple Butter" will not see me in the same motel....after getting all that free food, and assuring her of my intent to boldly venture on. I do not want her to know that I wussed out because of a little hail and lightning..... after all. Not after I went to all the trouble of building that macho man image.
Wow. It would be easy to hobble down to the office, and beg them to let me stay another night. No. I am not going to the free church breakfast at 7:15 am. No. I am not catching the 9 am shuttle back to Winding Stair Gap. Yes. I will drag my butt out of here in time to catch the 11 am shuttle. I have a couple of serious climbs ahead of me today. That's what we hikers call hauling our packs up a really, really big hill.....a climb. At night we look at our elevation, ie. topography maps.......kind of like watching the news before bed..... and see how big the hills will be tomorrow. We are always looking forward to a really big hill. Standing Indian Mountain has been the tallest so far at 5,498 ft. Today, I have two that are over 5000 feet, but I will already be way up there for the second one.
My "in town" routine is shower...... to avoid skin problems.....(I do not give a crap about smell any more)...... then do laundry at the coin operated laundry, which is always one washer and dryer in an unheated, open door, room. You stand around half naked, freezing your butt...... doing your one load of everything you own.
Little Old Ladies
It is Tuesday March 19........ I think. I have been told that there is a ton of snow in Minnesota. (Yes. I am still saying Minneeesoooota, and hikers are still laughing and quoting the movie "Fargo").
I can not Imagine the snow. It is interesting how quickly we adapt to the environment that we exist in.
I am in a motel room in Franklin, North Carolina........hesitant to get out of bed, and start getting my gear........which is tossed everywhere......... organized. It is good to be out of the rain.........the thunder, the lightning.....and the reliably constant wind. The wind just blows and blows........ all the time, on the mountain. Oh yeah...... and the hail too.
(Yesterday afternoon, several hikers accepted the offer of a ride into town, in Ron Haven's Van. It was not raining that hard at the time, and pretty early still, so I accepted a bunch of food from "Apple Butter", and hiked on....
Then it got pretty dark, and poured rain. Then the lightning and hail started. As you know, lightning scares me, really scares me. I draw the line at lightning. From a little way up on the hill, I saw an SUV pull into a trailhead lot, and a young couple scrambled in. I had to catch that ride! It was Ron's wife..... and she had room. What luck!
Of course, I have been hiding out here at the Sapphire Inn .....warm and dry, and full of restaurant food, paid for by another charitable soul. Hiding so that "Apple Butter" will not see me in the same motel....after getting all that free food, and assuring her of my intent to boldly venture on. I do not want her to know that I wussed out because of a little hail and lightning..... after all. Not after I went to all the trouble of building that macho man image.
Wow. It would be easy to hobble down to the office, and beg them to let me stay another night. No. I am not going to the free church breakfast at 7:15 am. No. I am not catching the 9 am shuttle back to Winding Stair Gap. Yes. I will drag my butt out of here in time to catch the 11 am shuttle. I have a couple of serious climbs ahead of me today. That's what we hikers call hauling our packs up a really, really big hill.....a climb. At night we look at our elevation, ie. topography maps.......kind of like watching the news before bed..... and see how big the hills will be tomorrow. We are always looking forward to a really big hill. Standing Indian Mountain has been the tallest so far at 5,498 ft. Today, I have two that are over 5000 feet, but I will already be way up there for the second one.
My "in town" routine is shower...... to avoid skin problems.....(I do not give a crap about smell any more)...... then do laundry at the coin operated laundry, which is always one washer and dryer in an unheated, open door, room. You stand around half naked, freezing your butt...... doing your one load of everything you own.
And then I find some food..... and go to bed.
Ok. I am finally getting to it, the one true hardship of this adventure so far. It is the damn little old ladies! I am slow like the tortouise ( ok turtle.....I can't spell tortious ......see). Anyhow the turtle, (me), does not worry about getting passed up on the trail, by all of the young, studly, dudes......... and since there are a surprisingly large number of women hikers, say one out of four..... I have forced myself to accept ..........grudgingly (how do you work Spell Check on these Phones?). Anyhow, I realize that some of these young women are going to fly on bye. But it is these damn little old ladies, that really piss me off!
Yes........ you heard correctly. I am being passed up by little old ladies! Yesterday, it happened twice. Oh the indignity! They always have something nice to say, as I step aside and let them blow by. Starting today...... I absolutely refuse to let another one, get bye me. I know that you are supposed to adapt to the trail....... not try to beat the trail .....but I simply cannot stand being passed by even one more sweet, smiling, little old lady! Hawkeye.
Ok. I am finally getting to it, the one true hardship of this adventure so far. It is the damn little old ladies! I am slow like the tortouise ( ok turtle.....I can't spell tortious ......see). Anyhow the turtle, (me), does not worry about getting passed up on the trail, by all of the young, studly, dudes......... and since there are a surprisingly large number of women hikers, say one out of four..... I have forced myself to accept ..........grudgingly (how do you work Spell Check on these Phones?). Anyhow, I realize that some of these young women are going to fly on bye. But it is these damn little old ladies, that really piss me off!
Yes........ you heard correctly. I am being passed up by little old ladies! Yesterday, it happened twice. Oh the indignity! They always have something nice to say, as I step aside and let them blow by. Starting today...... I absolutely refuse to let another one, get bye me. I know that you are supposed to adapt to the trail....... not try to beat the trail .....but I simply cannot stand being passed by even one more sweet, smiling, little old lady! Hawkeye.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Shelters
3/12/2013
Shelters
I am awake. I think I have to pee. Yup..... I definitely have to pee. Wonder what time it is ? Maybe I can wait until it gets light, or at least close to it. I reach to the side of my sleeping bag.......in the dark.... find it...... and then turn on my phone. While I wait for it to fire up, I hear "D.B. Cooper", who is plastered in next to me,turn in his bag. He is a tosser, and turner too....like me. Every time he moves, his air mattress sounds like ten clowns are twisting balloons into weiner dogs and elephants. D.B. stayed at the hostel, at Mountain Crossings, in Neel Gap . I don't recognize him, but I do know that air mattress. Two guys toward the other end of the shelter are snoring big time. one sounds really deep, like, I imagine, a grizz in its den in winter. That has got to be "Gar Bear", a 24 year old, 280 lb. giant. "Gar Bear" wrestled for Concordia up at Morehead, Mn, and played football......and he's a talker too..... so we had lots to talk about earlier, while his girlfriend, "Bear Snack" changed out of her wet clothes, behind the towel he was holding. She was shivering pretty badly, so hypothermia had already set in. Luckily, she was able to get dry clothes on, and into a bag right away. The rest of us had squeezed together, to make room for them.....to make room for one more than the shelter holds. Yah.....we are packed in tight.
The other snoring has a higher pitch, more similar to the whine of an outboard motor. I remove my ear plugs. Yup, he sounds like an outboard all right. I look at the phone...it is 1:00 AM. Crap. I can't wait that long.....I gotta get up. I turn on the amber beam of my headlamp, rather than the white, as a courtesy.....unzip my bag....... and feel the cold replace it's warmth instantly. While searching in my bag for my Smartwool top, I note that I truly reek. Wow do I stink! It's only been two days since I bathed, and did my laundry at Neel Gap. The advertisement said 'coin operated laundry'. It was a single washer and dryer, stuffed into a closet.......hahahaha. Last time, because I wore my hiking clothes on the plane, I went 6 days in the same clothes, and was not this ripe. Or maybe you just get desensitized? A little pay back to "D.B. Cooper" for that air mattress! Find my top and bottoms, put on both of my coats........crawl forward across the wood floor to my shoes.....put my bare feet in em..... and step off the edge of the shelter platform.
Of course as I am tying my shoes, it starts raining harder, than it had been....... My rain coat is hanging directly over DB, and since I have already fallen on him once, tonight...... and since he is a sourpus, I step out into the dark, the wind, and the increasing rain. I choose a big tree 35 yards out.........for protection. But big drops are falling off that big tree, and I am getting wet fast . I move closer to the shelter, and pee as fast as I can........ undress again......PEEEEEEUUUU! ..........and lay on my side..... breathing directly into DB's face, for awhile. Maybe my breath is bad too.
The Grizz, and the motorboat, are going strong...... and now a high pitched wheez-snore, combo has been added..... maybe the grizz's girlfriend is joining in. I lie here a long time listening
to the wind , the rain , the snoring. Gradually, I am warm again......It is peaceful here. I plug my earplugs back in, take a sip of water from my bottle..... and pray that I do not have to pee again before daylight comes.
I can feel myself nodding off.....finally......... I know that I'm going to join the chorus.
It is payback time. Hawkeye.
Shelters
I am awake. I think I have to pee. Yup..... I definitely have to pee. Wonder what time it is ? Maybe I can wait until it gets light, or at least close to it. I reach to the side of my sleeping bag.......in the dark.... find it...... and then turn on my phone. While I wait for it to fire up, I hear "D.B. Cooper", who is plastered in next to me,turn in his bag. He is a tosser, and turner too....like me. Every time he moves, his air mattress sounds like ten clowns are twisting balloons into weiner dogs and elephants. D.B. stayed at the hostel, at Mountain Crossings, in Neel Gap . I don't recognize him, but I do know that air mattress. Two guys toward the other end of the shelter are snoring big time. one sounds really deep, like, I imagine, a grizz in its den in winter. That has got to be "Gar Bear", a 24 year old, 280 lb. giant. "Gar Bear" wrestled for Concordia up at Morehead, Mn, and played football......and he's a talker too..... so we had lots to talk about earlier, while his girlfriend, "Bear Snack" changed out of her wet clothes, behind the towel he was holding. She was shivering pretty badly, so hypothermia had already set in. Luckily, she was able to get dry clothes on, and into a bag right away. The rest of us had squeezed together, to make room for them.....to make room for one more than the shelter holds. Yah.....we are packed in tight.
The other snoring has a higher pitch, more similar to the whine of an outboard motor. I remove my ear plugs. Yup, he sounds like an outboard all right. I look at the phone...it is 1:00 AM. Crap. I can't wait that long.....I gotta get up. I turn on the amber beam of my headlamp, rather than the white, as a courtesy.....unzip my bag....... and feel the cold replace it's warmth instantly. While searching in my bag for my Smartwool top, I note that I truly reek. Wow do I stink! It's only been two days since I bathed, and did my laundry at Neel Gap. The advertisement said 'coin operated laundry'. It was a single washer and dryer, stuffed into a closet.......hahahaha. Last time, because I wore my hiking clothes on the plane, I went 6 days in the same clothes, and was not this ripe. Or maybe you just get desensitized? A little pay back to "D.B. Cooper" for that air mattress! Find my top and bottoms, put on both of my coats........crawl forward across the wood floor to my shoes.....put my bare feet in em..... and step off the edge of the shelter platform.
Of course as I am tying my shoes, it starts raining harder, than it had been....... My rain coat is hanging directly over DB, and since I have already fallen on him once, tonight...... and since he is a sourpus, I step out into the dark, the wind, and the increasing rain. I choose a big tree 35 yards out.........for protection. But big drops are falling off that big tree, and I am getting wet fast . I move closer to the shelter, and pee as fast as I can........ undress again......PEEEEEEUUUU! ..........and lay on my side..... breathing directly into DB's face, for awhile. Maybe my breath is bad too.
The Grizz, and the motorboat, are going strong...... and now a high pitched wheez-snore, combo has been added..... maybe the grizz's girlfriend is joining in. I lie here a long time listening
to the wind , the rain , the snoring. Gradually, I am warm again......It is peaceful here. I plug my earplugs back in, take a sip of water from my bottle..... and pray that I do not have to pee again before daylight comes.
I can feel myself nodding off.....finally......... I know that I'm going to join the chorus.
It is payback time. Hawkeye.
Monday, March 11, 2013
Yes....I am wearing Earplugs!
3/11/2013
I can't sleep in these shelters! Too many people...... talking..... coughing..... farting....... and oh my goodness the snoring ! I am inside my bag writing this! At least it's dry! Somebody else just cracked up laughing at the snoring. Maybe I will get some sleep in my tent tomorrow night. Hawkeye.
I can't sleep in these shelters! Too many people...... talking..... coughing..... farting....... and oh my goodness the snoring ! I am inside my bag writing this! At least it's dry! Somebody else just cracked up laughing at the snoring. Maybe I will get some sleep in my tent tomorrow night. Hawkeye.
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