 |
 |
 |
| June
5, 1981 Friday From Gonzo!s Appalachian
Trail journal Everyone got up at 6:00 am so we could be taken to Cosby by Danny in his truck before he went to work. We loaded up at seven and were on the road. Took highway 73 to the intersection of/with 32. The clock showed around seven thirty when we arrived, and since Chuck had just gotten up ten minutes before we left, he wanted to eat and also get a cup of coffee. Cosby Restaurant just happened to be right there where we were left off, so we trucked in, left our packs outside, and sat down at a table. Chuck was dumbfounded when he looked at the menu and saw “biscuits and gravy”. He didn’t know what it was. Was it one big biscuit? The waitress thought it was funny. Everyone ordered something except me. I had too much to eat yesterday, and didn’t want to buy breakfast due to dwindling funds anyway. Like Chuck, not knowing what biscuits and gravy were, I also learned a new word from Chuck today. He referred to “hummin” once and I did not catch the meaning. Apparently, when someone smells, or has BO such as most thru-hikers, they are what people from Connecticut call hummin’. I found out exactly which road to take from a man who runs a shuttle service for hikers who just happened to be in the area, packed up and hit the road. Chuck lagged back to hitch-hike. Supposedly we had about 11 or 12 miles of road walking to Davenport Gap. Chuck got picked up, but about a mile down the road - there he was again. The driver asked if we wanted to take some trail, I think it was Cosby trail, but we decided to take the road anyway. We had probably walked three or more miles when we ran into a group of road workers. We got some water from them and talked for a while about what we were doing and where we were headed. We started walking again when they suddenly pulled around us in their two ton trucks and told us to load up; they would take us to the state line. Had a nice ride high on top of the truck for almost an hour it seemed, and the state line just happened to be Davenport Gap. They let us off, took a picture, and hit the trail South to Davenport Gap shelter. Reached there quickly and met two boy scouts that we had seen on Clingman’s Dome. There were new bunks installed in Davenport shelter, the place seemed fairly nice. We all miss Mike and his humour, who left the trail as he had said he would. He supposedly is sending or bringing a gun to Bruce at Erwin, Tennessee in response to the news about the thru hikers who were murdered just six days earlier. We had heard rumours that the killer was still not caught and that they were on the trail heading south – right toward us! We arrived at the shelter at about 11:15 am, so now we have a lot of time to spend. Amazing – it hasn’t even rained yet! Sunny mostly, but overcast also. The weather seems to change very rapidly. Well now it is pouring once again! (around 4:50pm it started). Someone just began walking toward the shelter about 4:25pm and we could tell that John and Joel were here flabbergasted at our sudden appearance ahead of them once again. They had just left for the store at Davenport when it started raining. (I must have gone to the store as well as I) Had five hot dogs, lemon pudding & gorp for dinner. My thru-hiker appetite has set in and I can’t stop nibbling! But I must! And I will, even if it means I have to stop buying it. Thunder and lightening! I believe the tincture of benzoin recommended will work just great – it seems to help the bandaids stick very good. Bruce & Chuck playing fish. Bruce & Mike’s favorite game. Talked about crime and punishment this afternoon, I guess brought on by the recent slayings. |
