AT Section: Devil's Fork Gap to Hot Springs NC, Oct 24-26, 2008

Well after many long years of pining to hit the AT, I finally had a chance to do a section hike with 2 guys from work who do a section or 2 every year. As I was getting my gear to leave Thursday, DW handed me a going away present. She had made me a Sil-nylon pack cover, just like this one, http://www.tothewoods.net/HomemadeGearPackCoverGearHammock.html . AWESOME!! We left Huntsville, AL about 2:30 Thursday afternoon and drove up to Newport TN and stayed at the Day's Inn by I-40. Friday morning we met next door at the Waffle House for a hearty breakfast before driving over to the Bluff Mountain Outfitters in Hot Springs where we parked by the Police Station and caught a shuttle from Bluff Mountain Outfitters to the Devil's Fork Gap. The driver should have been less opinionated w/ his politics and more factual about the trail conditions (water availability in particular). His words were, "Get it, where you can."  The weather forecast was for rain in the afternoon thru the night, cloudy then clearing on Saturday and a sunny Sunday. Lows were expected in the mid-40s Friday and high-30s Saturday night.

After we were dropped at Devil's Fork Gap it was a quick hike up to the Flint Mtn. Shelter where 5 folks were busy cooking breakfast and packing up. 3 were NOBO and 2 were SOBO all sectioners. The 2 Sobo's were a fit father and son who were going to bang out a 20-miler that day so they could meet Mom in HS on Saturday. We then left the shelter and started the long trek up Flint Mtn (?) which was a butt-kicker. As we climbed higher the winds got stronger and the weather colder and wetter (misty). All the overlooks were being obscured by fog, clouds and mist. So we quickly made our way down to Jerry Cabin around noon and had lunch. After checking the spring and finding no water, we decided we needed to press on for Little Laurel Shelter, 6.8 miles down the trail. About a mile down the trail we came upon a blue blaze trail that said "Water". We all went down and filled up our bottles. When we returned, the rain was beginning, so we donned our rain gear and pack covers (thanks DW) and pressed on. We took a bypass trail to avoid the ridge line and made it into the shelter around 4:30.  We were all beat from our 15 mile trek, so we basically just put on dry clothes, ate, then crashed before 7pm. It stormed on and off through the night.

The next day it was sprinkling and each breeze brought a shower from the branches, so we were less than enthusiastic to get back in our damp hiking clothes to complete our next 8.6 to the Spring Mtn Shelter. We finally trudged on around 10am and we were each low on water so that was our first priority. This morning was very quiet and foggy, almost ethereal, we each settled into our own paces and spread out, and I had some time to just enjoy the beautiful creation that God had made and silently thanked Him for it. This time of year is bear hunting season and NC, so after a while the silence was broken by hunting dogs on the hunt and then a gunshot. About 10 min later I arrived and met the others at Log Cabin Rd. We were all out of water, so I walked to the nearby cabins w/ our bottles to see if I could buy/beg some. No one was there but I found about 2 dozen 2-liter bottles full of water in the outdoor shower stall in the back. I quickly filled our Nalgenes and slinked away before I could be discovered in the act. (hence my new trail name, Nalgene Ninja). We then continued on to Allen Gap and had lunch next to Painted Creek as the sun was starting to peek out of the clouds. We then began the steep climb out of the gap to Spring Mountain Shelter.

The Spring Mtn Shelter was empty when we arrived, so we once again changed, I then heated some water for a quick sponge bath (The spring here was flowing so I could replenish my supply). After cleaning up I made another dinner of Knorr Sides Plus with a pack of meat (this time tuna). We then turned on the radio and listened to the Bama-TN football game. As the sun was setting a married couple of SOBO thru hikers (Cracker was the woman's name, I didn't catch the guy's) showed up and decided to hang out for a bit, eat and tent camped uphill. Then as it was getting dark and we got in our sleeping bags to stay warmer, Carrot, another SOBO thruhiker showed up. He was pretty rank, as we could smell him as he got to the shelter entrance. Hey that's hiker life, though. I finally warmed up and returned to the picnic table and hung out w/ The Starches (the married couple) and Carrot and enjoyed the starry night sky after they went in. As I filled my water bottles at the spring earlier I had noticed mice jumping and chasing among the logs and bushes nearby. As I sat, leaned back against the picnic table looking up at the stars as we listened to the ball game, I felt something on my shoulder. As I started to flick it off, "it" jumped off to my leg and ran behind the shelter. Now I was skeeved out, by the thought of rodents on me and so I went to bed. I had a fitful night trying to sleep as the temperature plunge and I alternated between hot and cold in my sleeping bag. And as I laid there trying to doze off again, I felt another mouse crawling on my butt! I jumped up, yelling and waking all my shelter mates. "What, what!?" they yelled, startled. "There's a mouse crawling on my ^##!", I told them. So they chuckled and went back to sleep. I finally got my adrenaline down and slept soundly the rest of the night myself.

The next day, Sunday, we awoke at 8:30 as the sun peeked up. The other 2 guys were eager to eat their Power Bars and get moving. Myself, I wanted to leisurely enjoy my oatmeal and hot coffee, to shake off the cold. So they quickly got done and took off, saying they'd meet me at the Rich Mtn tower. They also couldn't get any water from the spring down the hill. As I investigated later to try to fill my own bottles, I found the pipe had been pushed in deeper (by the Starches?) and there no longer was flow out of it. So I packed my stuff and left about 45 minutes after my partners. It was another steep climb to get to Rich Mtn after another gap. And as I arrived at the Fire Tower, my partners were nowhere to be found. So I lingered for a bit and enjoyed the gorgeous 360 deg view of fall's splendor on the most gorgeous day I had ever witnessed in the Appalachians. As I got to around to miles from Tanyard Gap an approaching day-hiker named Andy, told me that my partners, Timekeeper and Damn Fool had decided to press on for Hot Springs and that they'd meet me at the Paddler's Pub. I stopped at Tanyard Gap and ate lunch in the soft grass before hiking on to the magnificent views of the French Broad River by Lover Leap Rock and stopping once to dip water from an old dammed cow pond.

I finally got down to the river level and walked downstream about a half mile to the highway bridge into town where I met my partners and then devoured a large Buffalo Burger and had some tasty brews.  I then crossed the street to BMO and bought a t-shirt to commemorate my completed hike.We then were ready to get home so we jumped into the SUV and returned to Huntsville.

Pics to come later.