Dates ........ Friday May 10, 2002
Miles ........ 7.7 miles Climb 1201' total
From ........ Tri-Corner Knob Shelter
To ............. Cosby Knob Shelter
Weather ... 54 degF, in the clouds, heavy fog then clouds lifting, becoming warm, sunny, hazy, humid

Friday May 10, 2002

Mt Guyot 6621', Mt. Sequoyah 6000'

This will probably be my last shelter on the trail and my last real day of hiking. I could easily hike the 9.6 miles from here right out to my pickup point, but no one will be there to pick me up until Sunday evening. Easily, I could have done all of the AT in the Smokies in five days, instead of the seven I took, without compromising the time I took to enjoy the magnificent surroundings and nice people and without pushing myself beyond my physical limits.

At Tri-corner Knob, in the morning, Jeff was determined to build a fire. Shelters are notoriously stripped of firewood due to overuse. Besides, it rained last night, so what wood there is, is wet. I was very skeptical. Frank put together a trash bag of food and candy wrappers, assisted by a tiny amount of alcohol, and that became the tinder. Jeff, with his folding camp saw, methodically and neatly to the point of being anal about it, collected and piled wood and burnable weeds in tidy piles. Then, just as methodically, he laid the fire in the shelter's inside fireplace. He lit the tinder and a good size, hot fire ensued. Yay Jeff! Way to go! He commenced to dry his socks - the whole purpose of the fire - but they started to singe. Jokingly, I suggested he take advantage of all the heat escaping up the chimney. The photo of Jeff on the shelter roof roasting his socks over the chimney tells the rest. He was successful in getting his socks dry quickly.

Jeff dries his socks over chimney at Tri-Corner Knob Shelter, Resourcefulness at its best!

At 9:50 Frank and I hit the wet trail. It was wet, but comfortable. We were determined to take our time and enjoy the day and surroundings. Frank was having trouble with blisters and swelling in his ankles, but that did not dampen his spirits. He is a gutsy guy, great fun to be with.

I'm really enjoying my hike. So much, I cannot really describe the euphoric feelings. These Smoky Mountains are fantastic. I'm a little ahead of schedule so I have time to linger and enjoy. I still have to get myself to my Interstate 40 Pigeon River pickup point by Sunday. No matter how wonderful the hike, I am also looking forward to getting home. Probably the good feelings created by the raw beauty of the Smokies combined with the knowledge that I'll soon be home in the beautiful Endless Mountains of Pennsylvania have ganged up on me to create a sense of euphoria. Add to that the wonderfully refreshing clean and Balsam scented air, I'm on an Appalachian Mountain high. That is OK. Unless, of course you are my hiking partner and have to listen to my terrible off-key rendition of Oh what a beautiful morning sung loudly as I hike.

Our trek up Mt. Guyot was intimidating but shouldn't have been. Except for a few feet near the summit where it was steep, rocky and tangled in roots, it was a gentle, smooth slightly uphill walk. Unfortunately, it was mostly in the clouds. Occasionally a bright spot of blue sky would appear overhead and allow the sun to momentarily show itself, but that did us no good as far as seeing what must have been spectacular scenery. The scenery around us was spectacular, though. Cloaked in clouds of mist, trees appeared only to disappear seconds later. Visibility was curtailed but what was right in front of us was so pretty. We went through tunnels of pine and meadows of grass. We were accompanied everywhere by birds singing and the sound of wind blowing through the trees.

While walking sharp, high ridges at certain times of the day and under just the right weather conditions, you can feel differences in weather on either side of the ridge. I have experienced this several times on the AT. It is a mountain phenomenon. Literally, one arm can feel warm air rising on one side while another feels cooler air on the other side of the ridge. Also, you can be in the cool, shady side of a mountain, hike around it to the warm southern side and experience a 15 degree temperature change almost instantly.

Later, what a beautiful day it turned into. We were crossing Hell Ridge, a sharp, narrow ridge so named because of a devastating forest fire in the past, when the clouds blew up the Tennessee side of the mountain, across the ridge and then downdrafted into the North Carolina side. Watching this phenomenon was a real experience. The colder air forced the clouds that had just risen to nestle in the lower part of the hillside while the clouds there warmed up and began to rise. It was inspirational, soothing and pretty.

Clouds swirling over Hell Ridge and settling on hillside below.

Just as quickly as the day cleared, the clouds closed in on us again. We got to the Cosby Knob shelter and just started to get settled in, got water and unpacked when we heard thunder in the distance. Soon, it was pouring rain. Then other hikers joined us. First, VQ, then the father and son team of Steve and Mike, then AT ridgerunner Rafferty, then 5 hikers from the Detroit area (1 guy and four young women). We started out having the place to ourselves and wound up with a nearly full shelter.

Steve and Mike planned and packed for four but the other two did not show up. Lucky for me - they were passing out their excess food to lighten their pack. I was running very low on food. Interesting stories were told, gear was discussed, and the process of getting to know each other made the rainy evening a delight. In front of the shelter, leaning on the bear cage, was part of a military aircraft wing. Rafferty told us it was from a 70's plane wreck not too far from the shelter and from time to time pieces of the aircraft would show up at the shelter.

The shelter register has some interesting entries - as many do - one of them was interesting enough to put in my appendix of quoteworthy shelter register entries.

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