Dates ........ Sunday, April 28, 2002
Miles ........ 11.6 miles, Climb 3850' total
From ........ From Dicks Creek Gap US 76 (GA)
To ............. Muskrat Creek Shelter NC 4600'
Weather ... Rainy warm morning, upper 50's, warming to mid 70's and cloudy afternoon, 2 violent thunderstorms with hail. Thunder and rain all night

Sunday, April 28, 2002

GA/NC state line, Bly Gap NC 3880', Sassafras Gap NC

I've had better night's sleep - and I've had worse. The fire that Gary put in the bunkhouse woodstove, and Ed kept going long after it was needed, made the place way too warm. I am used to sleeping in a cool/cold room. Window open in January in Pennsylvania, and all that. And then there was the snoring. But Breakfast made up for it. Lennie Poteat cooked up a great pancake, sausage and egg breakfast, served family style. And we were all family. Right after breakfast I gave them a package to mail home, made a donation to their wonderful and God-sent mission and said good-bye. Gary took me to the trailhead. There, someone's coon or bear hound tried to latch on to me. He wanted to jump right into Gary's pickup truck. Gary kept him occupied while I made my getaway up the trail. .

Breakfast at Blueberry Patch Hostel. (L to R) Ed "Turtle", 1 of 2 section hikers, Lenny and Gary Poteat, 2nd section hiker.

I was hiking very strong this morning considering my lack of sleep. I was in very high spirits. I got real close to a pileated woodpecker at Cowart Gap, but I was not quick enough getting my camera out. By 9, it was raining. I put my pack cover on, but not my rain jacket. The rain felt cool, refreshing and good. It made me hike even stronger. I crossed from Georgia into North Carolina at 2 PM just before Bly Gap. I left a note at the state line for Dan (only to find out later another hiker took it so she would have the e-mail address.) I met a couple of hiker/campers and a southbound section hiker at Bly Gap.

I did a fair amount of climbing today, over 3850 feet total. Thankfully, there was a decent amount of downhill mixed in. Bly Gap and parts of Courthouse Bald were very steep. Muskrat Creek Shelter is at 4600 feet elevation and has a sizeable stream running right by it. Evlyn, a gutsy and very different female hiker I had met earlier, was there. Her stuff was hanging all over, drying out.

The family of four from Utah (They had no other trail name(s).) came by and decided to camp in the area, setting up a tent near the ridge. I had supper and hung my bear bag and was sitting by the fire ring talking to Evlyn when Ester of Utah came by. Ester felt a storm was brewing (So did I - and I thought very soon.) and wondered if there was room in the shelter for them. Of course there was room - "plenty of room, come on in, we'd love to have you" was my response. They sent the kids over with their little backpacks, then mom, and finally dad, lugging the lion's share of the gear. It started to rain and thunder just as he got to the shelter.

Then the wind blew fiercely, thunder and lightning shook and lit up the mountaintop and suddenly it was pouring down half-inch hailstones. The kids had not seen such a phenomenon before and were quite enthralled with it. Little Sage, the 6-year old boy learned quickly that one stays under a roof during a hailstorm - hail hurts! And loud - the shelter had a tin roof and it sounded like the inside of a drum. Autumn, the 8-year old girl could not even make herself heard above the din. They cooked their dinner and set up their sleeping gear. Conversation with Dennis, the dad, and Esther was wonderful. They were such a nice family. Dennis was a former forest service district crew chief and firefighter. He liked his job better when he was actively on the fire line. He had 20 years of service in. They were some of the nicest people I met on the trail. Their kids were amazingly well behaved.

Utah family of four: Sage, Dennis, Autumn, and Esther prepare supper at Muskrat Creek Shelter. Note melting hail on ground.

Strangely, I thought, Evlyn went straight to bed and said not one word to them the whole time they were there. Dennis told me about some old plane wreckage along the blue-blaze not far from the shelter.