[at-l] Canada

[Felix J]

Can we still do this?

.... 17 years ago yesterday....I left Erwin about noon and 
headed up to No Business Knob. It would be the last time I'd 
see Groovin' Moose on the hike. He ended up staying in Erwin 
another night. Next time I saw him was at the Providence 
Airport in June of '99. I was pretty much alone from this 
point on. That was alright, as it meant I didn't have to 
spend so much time explaining what I said.

It snowed pretty hard the last 4 or 5 miles. Very windy and 
cold. I stayed at the shelter about 17 miles south of Erwin. 
(NC Hilton? Condo? Something. Bald Mtn.) Seems like we got 
8-10 inches of snow. That is where I met Hooper and Toto. I 
had a blast with those guys that night. Even though I never 
saw either of them (they were in tents 'upstairs'.) I was 
once again surprised to be crossing paths with 
northbounders. It got very cold and snowy that night. I 
think the snow seemed worse than it was because of the wind, 
though.

So...17 years ago today was...December 19th, 1998. Miserable 
weather. It warmed up enough to rain, and the snow of the 
previous day had turned to slush. It may have rained, or 
snowed, or drizzled every step of this day. I remember when 
I got to Sam's Gap, it was pouring pouring. There was lots 
of traffic (I think it was a Saturday.). As the traffic 
whizzed by, the long tails of water that followed them 
would, of course, hit me. It didn't matter, I was already 
soaked and cold. I finally made it across the road, and up 
to Hogback Ridge Shelter. It was good to get out of the wind 
and rain for a snack. That is where the announcement "Vote 
to Impeach" came through my headset. I had been listening to 
the NPR broadcast of the stuffy impeachment procedings all 
morning. It definitely helped to take my mind off the 
ankle-deep slush I was trudging through.

I had a nice evening at Flint Mt. Shelter. I saw one of my 3 
mice of the entire trip here. I wrote a lot that night, for 
some reason. I wrote an article for the local paper 
"Photosynthesis: How to use it for good". (That may have 
been something else) Actually, I did write an "Update from 
the Trail" for the local rag. Flint Mt. is a nice shelter, 
I'd say.