3/17/14 Muskrat
Creek Shelter
I realize now that the shortened version of the 2 1/2 day
trek did no justice to what actually happened. Before I explain that, I have to
quickly say what I did today. After zeroing at the shelter I did a simple 8 mi
day. I felt well enough to continue an extra 4 to the next shelter, but figured
that shelter was full. 16 of us crammed into there and most were going the 12
miles. Seeing as it fits 9, 13+ some odd people seemed cramped to me. Also, it
didn't rain today but it was the equivalent of hiking through a cloud; foggy
wet and damp. Not to mention windy and cold. I'm hoping to get an early start
tom to quickly make those 4 mi disappear. Got some whiskey from someone to ward
off the cold naturally, as well as sing a bit cause someone brought a mini
guitar. Singing Beetles out here was kinda fun.
As for what happened with Craftsman, we made it to Bly Gap,
just north of the GA border. With about 1 1/2 hrs of daylight we decided to
take a shortcut down an old forest service road to go around a mtn.
(Editor: Sam at this point draws a picture of the actual
trail and the road they THOUGHT they were taking)
However, since it was no longer serviceable (for cars) it
was way overgrown with rhododendron bushes. The road ended abruptly, so what we
did was cut up a ridgeline to a diff. forest road going in the same direction.
Since about then it got dark, we camped along the edge of the disused road. Following
day same thing happened. The road ended abruptly and we cut up another ridge to
a diff road. Before we got to the end of that one we had run out of water and
were both getting dehydrated. So we went back down the mtn to a stream. Now we
were off all paths in the middle of a valley with mtns on 3 sides and the
stream cutting down the valley. We got water there and camped the night there.
Both nights were pefect as there were no clouds and was plenty warm enough. The
following morning we realized that we now were nowhere, 2 days behind the other
guys we were hiking with. Using maps we found the stream we camped by went down
and followed a road into a tiny 'town'. We got into town and hitched a lift to
the right road to get us back to the AT. As we were climbing the now correct
mtn. A bunch of Jeeps passed. We managed to hitch a lift halfway up in one and
learned that 40 some odd Jeeps were going through the mtns. It was the first GA
Jeepfest or something like that. We got back to the AT that afternoon, on the
3rd day we left the trail. Sadly, the gap the Jeep took us to was still in GA,
but hey, we were back on the trail. He pushed on to try to hitch to Franklin NC
and I took a zero day at the nearest shelter. It was certainly one awesome
adventure.
PS: Now
in NC and staying in NC.
(Editor: Will scan and add picture of shark that Sam drew)
<---- here's a shark
-Sam
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