Just rehiked Approach Trail -- observations

**minnesotasmith** · 09-18-2004, 23:43

From what I've seen of your posts, you're an OK guy by me.

BTW, didn't you find my #35 post on this thread amusing? I thought my use of emoticons was novel and hilarious (look closely at the first four lines of it...)

I thought it illustrated a serious hiking issue in a way that wouldn't be easily forgotten, too.

**Hikerhead** · 09-19-2004, 00:16

Yes very amusing but I don't believe it's a big issue.

**minnesotasmith** · 09-19-2004, 00:21

I guess you don't hit buffets nearly as hard as I do. As far as that part of training for through-hiking, it looks like I'm ahead of you!

**Hikerhead** · 09-19-2004, 00:55

Trust me, I hit em real hard.

Here's a little hiking trick that might be good for you. It's worked like a charm for me in the past.

Instead of carrying food. Carry 4 rolls of toilet paper. When you get to a shelter, just barter your TP for food. TP weighs less, cost a lot less too. It's a win win. The reason this works so well is that everyone else is worried about carrying enough food and forget about the TP. You'll be the hero of the shelter.

**minnesotasmith** · 09-19-2004, 01:01

Even if that worked with other hikers, HH (and it might well work, I won't say it won't), if I get to the shelter and I'm the only one that shows up, I would be seriously SOL. Surely you meant to suggest I carry somewhat less food and somewhat more TP, with an eye to trading my surplus TP for extra chow? That, I could see.

BTW, this is a great subject for a thread all its own: "Stuff to bring to trade with other hikers for stuff that is more expensive or heavier than is the stuff you brought to trade".

**orangebug** · 09-19-2004, 07:31

If I recall correctly, the placement of the Lodge lends to reduce its view from the trail. It has great mountain scenery, but not much of a view of the falls or the approach trail. There are plenty of trees shielding the hiker as he passes the Lodge on his right before crossing the road and heading across to the stream and bridge.

I think you could miss that 5 story building.

**minnesotasmith** · 09-19-2004, 12:12

Someone here at WhiteBlaze showed me a link where this info is available. For anyone reading this thread who doesn't know about that site, this may be of interest to you:

<TABLE height=220 width="75%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width="41%" height=139>Distance: 8.1 miles

Difficulty: Strenuous
Elevation: 3190 feet
USGS Quad: Nimblewill, Noontoola <HR color=#003300 SIZE=1>Camping: 7.1 mi - Black Gap Shelter, 8.1 mi Springer Mtn Shelter

Water Availablity: 1.4 mi - Little Amacalola Creek, 4.6mi - wet weather spring, 7.1mi - near black gap shelter, 8.1 mi- spring near Springer Mtn Shelter
Blaze: Blue
Management: Toccoa Ranger District
</TD><TD width="9%" height=139></TD><TD vAlign=top width="50%" colSpan=3 height=139>Region: North Central

Subregion: Springer Mountain
County: Dawson
Nearest City: Dahlonega
Trail Type: Point to Point

</TD></TR><TR><TD width="65%" colSpan=3 height=19></TD><TD vAlign=top width="4%" height=228 rowSpan=15>

</TD><TD vAlign=top width="31%" height=21></TD></TR><TR><TD width="65%" background=ApproachTrailDescrip_files/bg_dk_greenstone.jpg bgColor=#003300 colSpan=3 height=19>Description</TD></TR><TR><TD width="57%" colSpan=3 height=16>In terms of distance calculation, the trail begins under the archway at the Amacalola Falls State Park visitor center. You can also pick up the trail from the top of the falls parking lot if you like. This cuts about a mile off the total distance.

From the top of the falls the trail shares foot path with the Len Foote Hike Inn trail for a short distance and then forks to the left. The trail to the Inn continues upward to the right. For the sake of completeness, this description will begin at the official trailhead behind the visitor center.

The trailhead is impossible to miss. It begins as a log-lined walkway leading away from the back of the visitor center at 1790 ft and wastes no time getting down to business. The first 0.5 miles begins the easy to moderate climb to East Ridge Spring. From there, the trail becomes steeper and begins a series of switchbacks and sharper grades before finally turning left onto an old road at 0.7 miles. The left side of the road is a good spot to catch your breath and take in the views of the ridges and valleys.

You'll pass through the top of the falls parking area where a short jaunt to the left allows you to take in the beauty of the falls. Restrooms are also available here. From the parking area, the Approach Trail skirts the former shoreline of Amacalola Lake. At 1.4 miles, the trail crosses Little Amacalola Creek and a dirt road which eventually becomes FS 46. The trail crosses the road and climbs a moderate grade for the next 0.3 miles. Red blazes indicate that you are leaving the State Park and entering the Chattahoochee National Forest.

The trail eventuall hits the ridgeline and levels out. It follows the ridge top contour, running level at first, then climbing easily to a crest at 2940 ft, then easily downward to a gap at 2.4 miles. From there it climbs up and over the next knob.

The trail leaves the ridge at mile 2.8 and begins a moderate to strenuous climb to High Shoals Rd at mile 3.1. After crossing the road, the trail continues to ascend to a flat headed knob at mile 3.3. The trail then breaks from the ridge at the next gap and begins to climb the western slope of Frosty Mountain to mile 4.0. From there, the trail follows th eeastern ridge to the mountain top. A moderate climb rewards the hiker with the summit at mile 4.4. At 4.6 miles the trail enters a clearing and crosses the highest point on Frosty Mountain (3382 ft). A trail to the right of the clearing leads to a fairly reliable spring.

From Frosty Mountain, the trail descends steadily to another crossing with FS 46 at 5.0 miles. The trail remains level briefly and then begins to climb again along an easy to moderate grade over the double humps of Woody Knob at 3390 ft. From the knob, it descends steeply to Nimblewill Gap at mile 5.9 (3049 ft). The Gap occurs where FS46 dead ends into FS 28.

The remaining 2.2 miles from Nimblewill Gap to Springer Mountain gradually climbs the west side of Black Mountain, then descends to Black Gap (3190 ft) at 7.1 miles. Black Gap Shelter can be found to the left of the trail adjacent to the gap. From Black Gap, the path follows a series of switchbacks up the western side of Springer Mountain. The trail terminates at a rock outcropping where the AT begins (3782 ft). Two plaques mark the beginning of the Appalachian Trail. The approach trail is also known as the East Ridge Trail while it is in Amacalola Falls State Park.
</TD><TD vAlign=top width="31%" height=305 rowSpan=13><META content="Microsoft FrontPage 4.0" name=GENERATOR><META content=FrontPage.Editor.Document name=ProgId><TABLE height=64 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=80 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=80 colSpan=3 height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD width=8 height=48></TD><TD width=64 height=48></TD><TD width=8 height=48></TD></TR><TR><TD width=80 colSpan=3 height=8></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

</TD></TR><TR><TD width="41%" height=19></TD><TD width="9%" height=19></TD><TD width="15%" height=19></TD></TR><TR><TD width="65%" background=ApproachTrailDescrip_files/bg_dk_greenstone.jpg bgColor=#003300 colSpan=3 height=19>Highlights</TD></TR><TR><TD width="65%" colSpan=3 height=1>1.1 mi - View of Amacalola Falls

8.1 mi - Southern Terminous of the Appalachian Trail
</TD></TR><TR><TD width="41%" height=19></TD><TD width="9%" height=19></TD><TD width="15%" height=19></TD></TR><TR><TD width="65%" background=ApproachTrailDescrip_files/bg_dk_greenstone.jpg bgColor=#003300 colSpan=3 height=19>Notes</TD><TR><TD width="65%" colSpan=3 height=1>You can also take the Len Foote Hike Inn Trail. It is more moderate and joins back with the approach trail after passing the Inn. The inn offers refreshments to through hikers in exchange for a small fee. <TR><TD width="29%" height=19></TD><TD width="21%" height=19></TD><TD width="15%" height=19></TD></TR><TR><TD width="65%" background=ApproachTrailDescrip_files/bg_dk_greenstone.jpg bgColor=#003300 colSpan=3 height=19>Directions</TD></TR><TR><TD width="65%" colSpan=3 height=1>To the southern trailhead at Amacalola Falls State Park - The park is located on the north side of GA 52 and is easily accessed from Ellijay, Dawsonville, and Dahlonega.

From the square in Ellijay, go 21 miles on GA52.

From the square in Dawsonville, take GA 53 West to GA 183 North. The turn on GA 52 East. Go 15 miles to the park entrance.

From the square in Dahlonega, go west on GA 52 for 18 miles.
</TD></TR><TR><TD width="41%" height=19></TD><TD width="9%" height=19></TD><TD width="15%" height=19></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

**MedicineMan** · 09-25-2004, 23:59

I've got 2 and they are slowly shredding my house, but wait, its really their house 'cause I'm hardly ever there-either on a trip or out hiking....I made my decision based on mice....see I hate mice, hate hanta even more and when I 'installed' the cats the mice problem dissapeared...so the wallpaper is shredded (my fault for putting up grass-cloth) and the sofa's stuffing is showing through...matters not in the grand scheme of things I believe, so the cats get their way and I'm hanta free.

**minnesotasmith** · 09-26-2004, 22:26

IMO would be for you to instead purchase enough mousetraps to always have 1-2 set up per room at any time until the problem subsides. (They're cheap, around 25 - 50 cents a trap or less.) If you put fresh bits of meat (bacon, sausage, fried chicken or hamburger right out of the pan while still very hot are ideal baits) to bait your traps, you will be amazed at your kill rate. Cheese is not that particularly effective as rodent bait; peanut butter works better, although not as well as meat does.

I've never tried fish as a bait, and likely never will use it inside an occupied dwelling. It might be worth using in an outbuilding.

Get the traditional killing wooden mousetraps/rattraps. The "make a liberal happy" nonlethal ones are much less effective and considerably more expensive. Wal-Mart carries the traps and may carry the poison; hardware stores, feed stores, and Home Depots all normally carry the poison.

Note that the little b*stards are cannibals, so check and empty the traps frequently, so your kills do not feed the others you haven't caught yet. Traps can often be reused many times; you may want to have a cheapo pair of pliers and widr flat screwdriver dedicated to changing out caught dead mice to rebait your traps. Only when a trap has had a caught mouse get seriously torn apart by other mice is it usually necessary to discard it.

You may also want to buy a 5-lb container of mouse poison pouches (you want the wafarin-containing ones) to drop here and there around your house. DON'T tear open the pouches; their teeth will do that well enough.

Remove as many entrance sites as options for the mice; stainless-steel steel wool is the idea material IMO to use to plug holes, as it does not rust and they cannot chew it. Normal cheapo steel wool works OK, if you don't manage to find any stainless SW. The cheap stuff is available at Wal-Mart (whether or not it has a grocery section) and any large grocery store.

Too, remove as many food sources as well as access routes for rodents on your property as you can manage. Roof rats readily will run along overhead beams, wall edges, roofs (of course), etc. Norway rats (the other main kind of rat here in America) do not climb so readily. If you live near woods, you are likely to get a number of shrews as well as mice (shorter tail easiest way to tell); they need to die due to also being damaging pests, too, so don't feel bad about the shrews you catch. I wouldn't waste time trying to figure out which exact kind of rodent pests you have, other than rats vs. mice, as you can always get the other types, too; just concentrate on killing them and driving them away.

Concrete without metal or glass embedded in it can be chewed through by rats over time; thick hard plastic (such as in 55-gallon blue plastic storage drums) very rarely is chewed by mice. It takes 1/4" x 1/4" mesh hardware cloth (or smaller) to be certain of excluding mice, if you have screening anywhere. Full-grown rats can squeeze through holes the size of quarters, and can swim for 48+ hours.

One effective-sounding outdoor anti-rat technique I have heard of (but never tried myself) for rat control is to cover the surface of a deep large tub filled with water with grain that will float. You then would lay a wide stable board with one end on the ground and one end leading to the surface of the container, ending as short a distance above the water as you can manage. Then, you drop individual grains on the ground near and along the board (not too many). The rodent climbs up the board following the food trail, sees and smells the grain atop the water, and jumps in to his doom.

One good technique for holes in outbuildings is to pour a considerable volume of cheap household ammonia in the holes, and then seal the holes. Rodents can't breathe these fumes when concentrated for long anymore than we can, and will leave or die. I have personally gassed a rat that ran into a small culvert by blocking both ends, getting the ammonia, opening one end just long enough to pour in about a quart of ammonia solution, then blocking that end right back up and leaving it for a few days. The rat was seriously dead when I reopened that culvert...

Ammonia is >100x as effective for rodent area denial in enclosed spaces as mothballs are IMO.

Sticky pads (manufactured for this purpose) work well on eliminating mice and rats that do not eat the poison you put out nor bite the bait on your traps. The ones with a plastic (rather than paper) base are preferred IMO for mice, because they can often be reused. When a mouse (I wouldn't try this with a rat) is stuck to one, take a pair of pliers, grab the glue trap sheet by a corner, and dunk the whole thing in a container of water. The mouse will drown and die almost instantly. You can then fold over several paper towels 4 times or so, wrench the corpse off to be discarded, shake the trap once to get the water off (the glue usually used has little or no water solubility), and it is ready for reuse. Those plastic mouse glue traps can be used 5 times or more.

Rat glue traps need to be nailed to floors or boards; don't just drop them on the floor.

Putting traps in squares of nine traps, with only the central one baited, all set, and with just enough room for a rodent to gingerly walk between the outer traps is another good technique to nail the more cunning rodents. When it sets off the baited trap, and jumps to the side, it will likely land upon a set unbaited trap, and then is nailed.

The Department of Agriculture has many good articles on controlling rodents, if you need more info. Go to www.usda.gov, and use their site search feature. I particularly like their procedures for estimating rodent numbers; if you have ANY signs of rodent activity, you likely have scores or hundreds (soon to be hundreds if only scores right now) of the little darlings.
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There, now you have enough info on how to kill off or drive away rodent pests that you no longer have any justification for having any "boxer rats" (cat-***** makers) in your perfectly good house. You can now take them either to your local pound for humane gassing, or to the house of a divorced/older woman who has given up on men (or that of a liberal, gay, or gay-wannabe man) who wants them for some reason, whatever your preference.

If you want a pet, get a dog (ideally one you can hike with, 25+ pounds and nonshort legs) or a handfed tame parrot such as a cockatiel or cockatoo.

If you want advice on keeping birds as pets in your soon-to-be post-cat life, feel free to message me.
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We now return to our regularly scheduled trail.

I got some money for doing some chores for a relative, and splurged on some hiking gear at Small-Mart. I bought a 19.99 large daypack and a 7.99 lightweight hiker's hammock (1.25 pounds and VERY compact). They even had the world's tiniest pocketknife with four parts (knife, scissors, can opener, and something else) for only $0.88. Overnighting north of Springer I will go... as soon as this latest &%#&ing hurricane passes by (third one in a month to be a pain here in N. GA) and the weather improves. I don't mind rain (it makes it cool), but there are supposed to be gusts over 40 mph, and I don't want to take an excessive risk of getting hurt by flying debris when it's a pretty sure bet there will be noone else on the trail to happen by and help me if I should need it.

**minnesotasmith** · 10-04-2004, 09:52

My trip was from about 2:30 P.M., Saturday, October 2, 2004, to Sunday, October 3. Here's how it went, and what I saw:

I hit the Trail fairly late in the day Saturday for a variety of reasons. While driving toward the trailhead, I saw an outfitter's store I had never been in before, and could not pass it by without stopping.

(It's about 1/3 of a mile south of the intersection of Hwy. 53 and Hwy. 400, about 200 yards south of and on the same side of 400 as Home Depot, if anyone cares. Well-chosen if pricy selection IMO.)

I had also misplaced my directions for how to drive to where USFS 42 nears Springer, and remembered that the Ranger station at Amicalola Falls had some detailed printed directions (kept up-to-date with changing road conditions) they gave out gratis. Too, I wanted to get my pack weighed on their scale that is to the left of the front door to the Station; it was my first overnight hiking trip in over ten years, and wanted to get a feel (from the scale weight) as to how I had packed. Lastly, I had a full-page article discussing the AT from the Atlanta newspaper I tore out back in May that I've kept forgetting to take with me when I go near Amicalola to give to the Rangers there. It mentioned that married couple with the 6-YO boy and 8-YO girl that successfully through-hiked the AT in 2002. The Rangers told me that they had not seen the article before, were very happy to have it, and would likely post it as part of a display they were then putting together. I have long figured that those two kids making it to Katahdin was the ultimate retort to any adult in good health who says "Oh, I could never do that!" about through-hiking the AT, so I think that I did something that may push some people into awareness that they can, in fact, do the AT, but I digress.

My packweight was 37 pounds according to the Amicalola Ranger station scale, with water and food making up an outsize percentage of it. Took 3 days worth of food, even though I was only planning on around a 24-hour outing (cautious me). I had just over 7 quarts of liquid (all water except for a frozen-solid big bottle of Wal-Mart grape juice). I learned from hiking out West (CO, W. TX, UT, NM) years ago that if you don't take entirely too d*mned much water, you don't have enough water. More on this later on...

My biggest changes in terms of types of gear I took compared with my recent day hikes were for sleeping. I had a nice, nearly-new green tarp (about 6' x 8') that I intended either to put underneath me at the shelter, or to make into a houseroof-shape with 6 rope guidelines to have over me for protection from rain if I slept outside a shelter. (Yes, I remembered nylon rope and 6 small aluminum tentstakes.) I had a new hammock from Wal-Mart; about seven buck, 1.25 pounds, smaller than a hot dog in circumference when rolled up. I took a 100%-synthetic (acrylic and nylon) thin fleece blanket I've had a while, but never used. As warm as the day was when I set out, I threw in a pair of sweatpants as well. Somewhere, I have an inflatable pillow that came with a (too heavy to backpack with) air mattress I own, and will take it with me when I find it. In the meantime, every store that has a camping section I go into, I ask if they have inflatable pillows for sale by themselves, with no luck so far. As soon as I can afford it, I'll get some sort of good-quality air mattress like a Thermarest; more on this, later on, too...

At the USFS 42 lot that intersects the AT 0.9 miles from Springer, there were two groups milling about, obviously just off the Trail for the day, of about 9 and 5 people, respectively. There was nothing (patches, uniforms, spoken lingo I overheard, etc.) to mark either group as being any highly-organized club or whatnot. They were all in their early 20s that I could see. The lot was nearly full, with easily a dozen vehicles, and several parked nearby outside it, pulled off to the side of the road. I chatted briefly with two people from the smaller group, who I quizzed a bit about Trail conditions (I had never been on this section of Trail before). They told me only about 4 people were still out there that they knew about, that that section of the AT had easier grade and was better-groomed than the Approach Trail, and wished me well on my hike.

Off I went...

**smokymtnsteve** · 10-04-2004, 09:56

Originally Posted by MedicineMan

I've got 2 and they are slowly shredding my house, but wait, its really their house 'cause I'm hardly ever there-either on a trip or out hiking....I made my decision based on mice....see I hate mice, hate hanta even more and when I 'installed' the cats the mice problem dissapeared...so the wallpaper is shredded (my fault for putting up grass-cloth) and the sofa's stuffing is showing through...matters not in the grand scheme of things I believe, so the cats get their way and I'm hanta free.

Snake....mice don't come around snakes..and snakes don't shred your furniture.

plus cats carry toxo...

snakes are pretty clean maybe jist a little samanella

**minnesotasmith** · 10-04-2004, 10:29

The first half-mile or so was both fairly easy and had reasonable elbow room. After that, there was close to a mile that was pretty narrow much of the time, with very tall (10'+) rhododendrons and the Trail simply being quite narrow (between steep slope up and steep, often near-vertical slope down). Then, I hit some campgrounds and stream crossings, along with crossing gravel roads (USFS 42 again, I think) a couple of times, and it widened out most of the time almost into a trail road often potentially usable by a narrow pickup truck, width-wise.

I only saw two sets of people actually hiking the Trail in the first several miles. One was an older (late 50s) couple, separated by about 100 yards in their hiking, with the man very happy to talk to me. They had small daypacks (under 10 pounds by visual estimate). Further on, at least 2 miles from the USFS 42 lot, was a couple around age 27, with a small girl about age 4, and no equipment whatsoever, not even water bottles. The girl was somewhat unhappy (pouting a bit), and seemed to be balking at hiking farther.

Note on water availability on most of my hike; it was like the availability of French fries at a McDonald's. I crossed over several large streams (6' or more water width) that had large, permanent, well-made (if not new) bridges that took the Trail crossing them. There were at least 4 streams of 2'+ width that took leaping or rock-stepping to get over, and about half a dozen very small ones (1' width or less, very shallow) that nevertheless could have easily served as convenient water sources, plus a number of springs. Much of the early-to-mid hike, the Trail paralled a couple of large streams (potentially large enough for bathing or fishing, 5' wide or more) In the 6.7 miles (USFS 42 by Springer to Hawk Mtn. shelter) of my hike in each direction, I don't think I ever went so much as 1.5 miles (definitely not 2 miles) without usable good clear water within 60 yards of the Trail, usually actually crossing it. This was after at least 4 days with no rain in N. Forsyth County (where I live). The next day, coming back after a rain, the small streams were all larger, and the springs were both more abundant and faster-flowing, as one might expect.

About 3 miles in, shortly after the multiple-large-streams area, I saw an unhappy-looking fellow in his 20s in uniform painfully and slowly jogging with a large pack and rifle that resembled an M-16 (but was not one). I figured he already had plans for all of his air, so did not ask him any questions.

The Benton McKaye Trail crossed the AT 3+ times, and ran concurrent with it for several stretches of easily over a mile and a half total. I looked down the BMT in both directions where ever it intersected the AT, and it seemed to vary considerably in how well-maintained it was, from comparable to the AT, to almost lost to the foliage. The couple I talked to way back at the USFS parking lot told me NOT to take the BMT; I suppose that it why.

The blazes on the AT section I hiked were all readable, but varied considerably in their age. I estimate that some were under a year old, while rather more were much older (5+ years?). There were several places where a wrong turn would have been easy to take, and no blazes were in sight for over 100 yards. One place, no more than a mile past the multiple-large-streams area, was a nearly symmetrical 3-way with one of those professional-quality bridges to the right, and a wide, practically-drivable trail to the left. (The Trail was to the right, I eventually figured out.)

After about 4 -4.5 miles or so, the Trail took on more of a deep wilderness feel. It seemed to have had less evidence of foot traffic than the sections behind me, and between tall slopes and trees was just a gloomier area (yes, I am taking time of day into account here.) There were a number of areas on the whole hike that were rock-abundant, but this section seemed to not have any large flat areas nearly free of them for a stretch as did the earlier part.

Then, about 45 minutes before dusk, I saw something move on the Trail...

**minnesotasmith** · 10-04-2004, 10:46

About 30 yards ahead of me, what I later found out was no more than 0.75 miles from the Hawk Mountain shelter, I saw a black bear race uphill from the Trail into the woods. It moved at a speed that I would compare to a human sprinter racing on the flat; this sucker hauled. I stood still for a few seconds, then slowly backed up about 40 yards, calling out and clapping at intervals as I went. (I had no firearm nor bear spray with me, and was alone.)

The foliage was such that the bear could have stopped less than 40' uphill of the Trail, and I would not have known it. There were multiple downed trees whose larger/bottom ends were very dark brown (virtually black), and difficult to discern from a crouched-down black bear. I made the decision to bushwack in a large circle downslope of the Trail to try to avoid the bear. It took something over 20 minutes to get back to the trail this way. I did not tell I was back to the Trail until I was within 6' of it, it was that hard to see from below.

Several hundred yards past where I got back onto the Trail, I encountered a young (age ~20) couple filtering water from another 3' wide shallow stream. They told me the Hawk Mountain shelter was about 300 yards farther on, and that they were going to camp in the clearing about 50 yards shelter-wards of this stream we were chatting by. I told them in detail about my encounter, and had their complete attention. I waved off their offer of water (I had more than enough, remember), and went on to the shelter.

An older couple (man 50s, woman late 40s) and a man in his late 30s were already at the shelter. The single man was section-hiking the whole AT in GA, using his annual vacation to do so.

I hadn't been seated at the picnic table by the shelter for 10 minutes when the young couple hiked up, with all their equipment. After my tale, they had decided that crowds were attractive...

The single man reported having a bear encounter that morning that was much closer than mine. He heard some noises early before leaving his tent, looked out the tent door, and saw a large black bear less than 15' away. He yelled and banged on his cooking pot, and it ran off. He was rather blase about the whole thing.

**minnesotasmith** · 10-04-2004, 11:36

Needless to say, after everyone heard both the single man's and my bear stories, no one had the slightest objection to my building a fire in the fire pit when I suggested doing so. Kindling was abundant (and dry) even in the camp area, presumably due to the many recent windstorms and no rain for 4+ days. Larger (over 1.5" diameter) dry nonrotted firewood was harder to find. I used a couple of paper towels and the driest leaves I could find for tinder; next time I overnight, I'll bring some bone-dry newspaper for tinder. The best tinder I've ever used was alternating layers of birch bark from a paper birch tree and newspaper; the bark ignites easier than the paper, and the paper burns longer than the bark, so the combo beats either alone IMO.

The man in his 50s had a folding wood saw (about 8" long (blade length) that he was rather proud of. It only weighed around 2 or 3 ounces, I'd say (he let me heft it), and might be nice to have along in the future.

Somehow, my walking stick ended up on the fire. I'd used that one for 4 previous Approach Trail outings, and really liked it. Oh, well; I'll get another one before my next time out.

There was a register with about 10 pages filled out at the shelter. Some middle school put it in, and there were several pens (unlike the Black Gap shelter register I saw about a month prior, which was penless). A SOBO through-hiker had commented in it that this was the very first trail register he had been the first hiker to write in.

I would have written down his name, not to mention my bear encounter, but never got around to it.

The shelter had good straw broom as well.

The shelter was not new, but was in good condition and was extremely sturdy and well-made. I would have felt safe in 90-mph mile winds in it. It did not have chainlink facing with a door to keep out bears, which would have been nice. It did have an upper story, I figure either for women skittish of male hikers they don't know, or for amorous couples with no tent.

The section hiker said there was a sign (nice and new sign, I think) indicating there was a privy. All he could find was a completely torn-up unusable very old one (the toilet seat was lying in the grass 20' or so from the privy). He thought that the sign was made and installed in anticipation of a new one being built that had not yet been put it. I did not go look, not having the need.

Everyone made dinner; I was the only one who had cold food only. (I'll make an alcohol stove of Sgt. Rock's design as described on his website before my next trip.) The young girl gave me a veggie burger unasked, and there was other offers of food all around. I offered her a small chocolate bar, and she turned it down, pointing to a 1-lb. one she had with her to make s'mores with. She made a s'more (graham cracker, expertly toasted marshmallow, and chocolate piece) for each person present, which no one turned down. Two people accepted my offer of an Oriental fruit cup (bits of lichee in lichee-flavored gelatin; about an ounce in size).

We all sacked out by 2130 or so.

Everyone pitched a tent around the sides or back of the shelter, and I was alone in it for the night -- or so I thought. I heard what had to be the ubiquitous shelter mice scrabbling around even before I lay down for the night. I'd read on Whiteblaze to keep my head towards the shelter entrance (unless there is rain combined with wind) to keep the mice from running over my face, so that's what I did. I felt a mouse run over my legs during the night at least twice that I am aware of. I'd hung my food on the overhead cables and had all my pack pockets zipped open so that the mice wouldn't chew new holes investigating it (pack was at my feet, 1' from the wall). I could not tell any evidence of mouse damage or interest in my pack the next day.

About 0400, it started to rain, and by 0600 everyone had joined me in the shelter, good-naturedly lamenting how their tents and/or sleeping bags were going to weigh a bit more today than they had yesterday. My stuff was all bone-dry though; my reward for putting up with shelter mice?

Rain was over before 0730, in time for a new day's hiking.

The next day, the older couple and the section hiker pushed on NC-ward, after I made sure they had heard about whiteblaze.net. Given my bear encounter not far from the shelter, I had no difficulty whatsoever in persuading the young couple (headed back to the USFS parking lot by Springer, where their vehicle was, as mine was) to hike with me. I felt honor-bound to hike at a fast pace so as not to slow them down, which I paid for later with sore everything and near-painful shortness of breath...

Jeez, those two were in good shape!

After about 2 miles, we started seeing people. A group had camped out on this large (>15 acres) meadow that was by the first road intersection coming back, and we talked to them as they were just getting back on the Trail. We saw more groups of uniformed types, one being two guys in full battle dress hiking with two girls around 19, one of whom was quite nicely (Ds, no sag) endowed and wearing a very low-cut shirt that generously allowed for pleasant visual partaking of her particularly high-quality assets. I of course stopped and asked them several questions, prolonging the encounter...

The guys were Nat'l Guard, as I had surmised. There were numerous people on the Trail the last 2 miles or so. Saw the first nonwhites of the whole trip in the last half-mile, 3 well-mannered tall males around age 19. They had no gear whatsoever.

There was no evidence of rainfall by the time we hit the multiple-large-streams area, nor at any point from there back to the USFS parking lot.
The lot was about 2/3 full of vehicles at this time (1230 hours). I did the 6.7 miles in almost exactly 3.5 hours, which was too fast a pace for me for that heavy a pack after a lousy night's sleep. Many lessons about gear and physical conditioning there...

Next hike, I think I'll start up by Suches, and head towards that shelter that's Hawk Mountain-ward of there.

**MisterSweetie** · 10-04-2004, 11:44