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June
15, 1983 Wednesday (1617.5 mtg) From
Gonzo!s Appalachian Trail journal
Set
the alarm to go off at 6 am allowing us to enjoy the comfort of
the real beds for an extra ten minutes this morning, and used the
snooze button when it went off to soak up that comfortable feeling
even more. We continued our short stay in luxury by deciding to
eat breakfast at the restaurant. I ordered three pancakes for $1.35,
and a glass of orange juice ($1.00). Good pancakes, but I could
have used a little bit more syrup. Apparently I was still hungry,
I scavenged a slice of toast off of an adjacent table when its'
occupants returned to their trucks. The draw of civilization
could keep us there no longer, and we finally managed to break away
at about 7:30 am. Hiking through the next section of trail proved
fairly easy and we traveled the following seven or so miles fairly
quickly. Some of the trail took us on roads and through farmers
yards and pastures. Sometimes I wondered what these people thought
about having the trail encroaching on their privacy. We passed up
a pair of female thru hikers known as the "Go Go Girls"
within a couple of miles. Once more we set foot upon part of Brushy
Mountain. We crossed interstate 81, which we would run into again
later in the trip. One of our longer road walks ended as the trail
took a turn into a picnic area complete with Pavilion situated on
the side of the road. It was named the Olistery Community Picnic
Area. A note posted on one of the uprights supporting the pavilion
indicated that the resident adjacent to the property was kind enough
to allow hikers to fill their water bottles at his hose outlet.
We took advantage of his offer. The shelter was a welcome sight
as the skies looked as if it were getting ready to rain. While at
the pavilion, a local man showed up and inquired if we had seen
some particular hiker that he was worried about. We had not seen
anyone other than the Go Go Girls, who arrived at the picnic area
shortly afterwards. We ate lunch at the pavilion after having traveled
twelve miles.
We pressed on after lunch and within a mile of leaving the safety
of the roof, the rain began to fall. Fortunately the rain only lasted
for about two miles and then the sun came out for the rest of the
day. Basically there were three climbs today, the last one taking
us past a spring fed pond, where we filled up our canteens and large
two gallon water bag for use tonight at the dry shelter on the top
of Chestnut Knob. We carried the 8 pounds per gallon 1.7 miles to
an old rock hut situated in a grassy field near the summit. The
hut was our palace for the night, but was not very inviting on the
inside. The openness of the field allowed viewing the hazy sunset
that evening. Today marked our one month anniversary on the trail.
With that in mind, I felt like a king as I sat on the thrown out
back and surveyed the surrounding countryside, as if I were the
ruler of the ever changing landscape. This shelter was not officially
listed anywhere in the guides yet, and perhaps that is why it was
not very appealing - the place was not ready for occupancy. Inside,
the hut had a rock floor as well, and a couple of picnic tables
that Jim and I decided would make better sleeping platforms than
lying directly on the uneven rock floor. Our hopes were that we
could avoid mouse activity as well. Totally enclosed shelters such
as this tend to be dark and dreary on the inside. Even though this
one had windows, there were not enough to light the whole inside
sufficiently.
Today we saw two wild turkeys along the roadwalk, and also some
pink Flame Azaleas.
Gonzo!
Appalachian Trail Journals ©1983
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