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        What follows is a brief description of the "kick butt-astic" trip recently concluded.  The names have not been changed in order that my estate may properly sue those involved should I come down with beriberi or sleeping sickness or jungle rot.
 

July 15: The adventure begins.  A short 1 mile hike to the Davenport Gap Shelter.  No problemo, save the log cutting of Roy-Boy in his sleep.  Your truly does NOT snore... to my knowledge, anyway.

July 16: 6.5 mile hike to Cosby Knob Shelter (1800' up to ~4,000').  No problemo, right?  Not so fast, Pedro! Most of it (about 4 miles) was a continuous, steep, uphill, rocky climb.  The major ascent to Cammerer Mountain was affectionately and appropriately named "T.F.H." by Roy-Boy. This was the first time, too, that the mantra "Must Kill Steve" popped into my brain. The view from the observation deck at Cammerer made it worthwhile, though, and proved for a more than adequate place to have lunch (and a brief catnap).
        At Cosby Knob Shelter, we spend the night with a family of 4, a pair of hikers, and a lone hiker-- 12 people in all, making the conditions, er, cozy.  Steve and I defied the odds (and reason) by having pizza for dinner.  It was fantastic, and we only had to fend off the kids in the family of four by using our knives and large pointed sticks. The first Yahtzee match was held that evening as well.  Frank "the Wolfman" won the first match, destroying a significant amount of hearing in my left ear in the process.

July 17: 7.5 mile hike to Tricorner Knob Shelter (~4,000' up to ~5,300). A pleasant hike for the most part.  About a mile from the shelter, though, it began to rain (thunderstorm, actually).  Invigorated by the cool water and an overwhelming desire not to get struck my lightning, I did my best imitation of Olympic champion Carl Lewis and sprinted down the trail with 40+ pounds of crap on my back.
        At the shelter we bunked up with Jeff, a Ridge Runner and former through hiker on the A.T., and Glenn, a section hiker who had started up in Harper's Ferry, Virginia.  Jeff mentioned that he and a fellow Ridge Runner planned to complete all 70 miles of the park's A.T. ... in a mere 24 hours.  This sounded impressive until he pointed out that the record was 13 hours.  Humbled by this, I quietly eat my jumbalaya and proceed to kick butt in Yahtzee.

July 18: 14+ mile hike to Icewater Spring Shelter (~5,300' up and down and up to 6,000+').  Truly 2 hikes in one day.  This first was just fantastic.  The views from Eagle Mountain were superior to any previous day: 6,000+ feet and some sheer drops.  At times, the trail was only about 2 feet wide with awesome views (and drops) off of each side.  We made great time in the first half, taking on 6+ miles in about 4 hours.  We stopped at Peck's Corner Shelter for lunch, which turned out to be the end of the "good" hike that day.
The shelter was down hill ".2 miles" according to the signs ... but actually it was .4 miles.  This meant after lunch we had to hike UPhill almost 1/2 mile just to get back to the trail, and then go another 7 1/2 miles to Icewater Spring Shelter for the night.
        Lunch concluded and we hit the trail just in time (3pm) to be nearly struck by lightning  while on the ridge line (and only making it about 1/4 miles down the trail).  After ditching our packs and waiting it out for 20 minutes, we cautiously resumed, carefully eyeing the approaching rain from the north.  As the rain hit, we were prepared to get wet (though I lacked rain pants), but we were not prepared to get more lightning a few hundred yards away. This time we ditched our packs, carefully made our way down the ridge line some 50 feet, and sat in the cold, pounding rain for about 45 minutes.  When it seemed the lighting passed, we hit the trail again (rain still whaling upon us).  For the next hour-and-a-half we trudged along, feet soaking and slippery along the ridge line (at nearly 6,000 feet, no less).
        Now well over an hour behind we were still miles from shelter from the night, so as tenting on the trail is illegal (and impossible in all but a handful of areas) we were forced to continue unabated.  Things proceeded well enough for us, until the last 2 miles when the body of yours truly began to revolt.  The last two miles took us (well, me) over 2 hours due to exhaustion, dehydration, and ascending about 800 feet in 3/4 of a mile.  We hit the shelter WELL after dark, and much to the relief of the others waiting on us.  I faded off into sleep very easily singing the "Must Kill Steve" theme song....

July 19: 3 mile hike to Newfound Gap (6,000+' down to ~5,500').  Time to get on home.  Steve and Frank headed out of the shelter ahead of us to fetch the vehicles and meet up at Newfound Gap.  The hike was pretty cool, mostly downhill.   RoyBoy, Travis, and I ended up waiting for Steve and Frank about 3 hours, which yielded the first sunburn of the weekend.  The trip culminated in the town of Cherokee, N.C., eating a hamburger at Cindy's Diner and listening to "authentic" Indian music blaring over a Peavey Amp.

        Despite impressions given above, it was truly one of the better experiences of my life.  If you've never hiked into the AT (further than a dashiki away) and have the ability to do so, do it before the chance disappears.  The people you will meet will be good, interesting people who are passionate about nature and its preservation.
        And the sights aren't too bad, either.
 

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