[at-l] He's doing it again....

[Felix J]

"I should not have got on this flight tonight..." 

12/24/98 Mt. Moma's-Davenport Gap, NC

So, ten years ago this morning, a morning a lot like the same morning ten
years ago only warmer, I got up and went in to Mt. Moma's to tell her
thanks for dinner and Merry Christmas. She said, "Well, ya better sit
down and have a cup of coffee." I did. I also had a cup of cake, with a
little Santa on top. We talked for a while. It was very nice. I went
outside, to the payphone, and called Pokey. I hadn't talked to her in
six weeks. Since the day she left the Trail in Linden. It was good to
hear the old girl's voice. I cried. She cried. She said "You're breakin'
my heart here." I suppose. I hung up, turned and walked across the
parking lot in another heavy rain. Emotions were leaking out of my very
existence (I don't even know what that means other than it was an
emotional little walk). Everything was wet and muddy. 

I got my Smokys permit at the ranger station and Ranger George gave me a
ride to the Trail. We had a nice chat. His two-way radio kept talking
about roads being closed and how bad the weather was. Kinda exciting. He
let me out and said something like "I'm supposed to tell you you 
shouldn't go,
or something. But, I know you won't listen. So, good luck." He smiled. I 
headed
into the Smokys. The Trail was covered with chunks of ice the size of 
golf balls.
I cranked the Walkman and hiked on. My thoughts were swimming in the 
conversation
I had had with Pokey. I wasn't paying attention to much around me other 
than the
Rhododendrons that were hanging down on the Trail, covered with ice.

I hiked the .9 miles to Davenport Gap Shelter and stopped for a quick 
snack and to
check the register. As I sat there, I heard a God-awful sound. A tree 
had come
crashing down just behind the shelter. Actually, it was just the top 
half. But, with
the extra weight of the ice, the sound was incredible and intense. I 
thought "Wow!!!"
I went back inside the shelter. Another crash. I went back outside and 
did a little
closer inspection. It was just then that I realized that I was in the 
middle of a full-force ice
storm Every tree was bent, or sagging, because of the extra weight of 
the rain and ice.
Trees were popping, exploding. A tree would groan a few times, and then, 
at a point nature
chose to be the weakest, it would explode and the top would plummet to 
the ground,
ice flying off the branches at impact. It was so cool, and scary.

I decided I wanted out of the shelter. I figured I'd have a better 
chance seeing a tree
coming at me from outside. I signed the register and headed up the hill. 
The next few
hours were some of the most incredible hours I've ever spent. Watching 
nature do her
thing, from the inside, was amazing. Climbing through treetops with 
branches covered in
ice as think as your wrist, listening as the next top falls 30 feet in 
front, or behind you,
is an indescribable experience. (That's why I'm doing such a poor job of 
describing it.)

This went on for nearly two hours. As I climbed higher on the ridge, the 
air got warmer,
and the rain remained rain. I could still hear trees falling below me. I 
was glad it was over,
but glad that I'd been part of it, too. It rained every step this day. I 
took a break at Cosby
Knob and not again until Tricorner Knob Shelter (8 miles later). The 
shelter was a mud pit.
It usually is.

Some months after this night, I was sent copies of my register entry 
from Tricorner Knob
Shelter. If I can find them, I'll re:upload them so they are bigger 
(which won't really help the
readability of them because that'll just mean my poor penmanship is 
bigger). Until then, the
pages of that night's entry can be found here (you may have to cut and 
paste or type the address
in manually)

http://felixhikes.tripod.com/AT/register1.jpg
http://felixhikes.tripod.com/AT/register2.jpg
http://felixhikes.tripod.com/AT/register3.jpg


-- 
Felix J. McGillicuddy
ME-->GA '98
"Your Move"
ALT '03 KT '03
http://Felixhikes.tripod.com/