[at-l] Countdown to success

[Felix J]

12/29/98


After a night in Robbinsville with Pittsburgh, and a restaurant-cooked 
breakfast, he dropped me off at Stecoah Gap.
The day was drizzly, overcast, chilly and uneventful. It was Tuesday. I 
called my mom from NOC. It's always good
to talk to your mom. (Then again, I didn't call your mom...) I took a 
break at Rufus Morgan Shelter and it was dark
when I left there for Wesser Bald Shelter. Somewhere in between, it 
started to snow. Temps were dropping and it
was unpleasant. After I got to the shelter, I walked around in the 
wind-blown snow, looking for a non-existent privy.
No, I would not have looked had I known it didn't exist. It got very 
cold that night. Cold and windy. My sleeping
bag had snow on it in the morning.

12/30/98
I made good time to Cold Spring Shelter. Again, it was too cold to stop 
anywhere. It was 15 degrees at the shelter,
according to one of the college students that were taking up far more 
than their share of the room. I ate a quick snack
on the table next to the shelter, and was on my way. It didn't snow or 
rain any on this day, but it never did get above 20º. 
I ate lunch inside the restroom at Wayah Bald. There were lots of 
dayhikers out on this day. As I neared Winding Stair
Gap, I made a deal with myself that if somebody was at the parking lot 
and they offered me a ride, I'd take it. I was
thinking it was time for another series of showers. Before I even got to 
the road, a woman offered me a night at her house.
(Well, her husbandido was standing there, too). "Do you have a shower?"...

They took me to a town somewhere far from the trail. I think the place 
they lived was called 'The Highlands'.  I just know
it seemed like I was a long way from the Trail.  They were very pleasant 
folks. After we got to their house and I was carrying
my gear in, the woman had gotten some towels out (for the shower) and as 
she handed it to me she said "Do you have shampoo?"
That was one of the funniest questions I got asked on the whole hike. 

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