A Little More Exhaustion

A little less conversation and a little more exaustation. All this aggravation is making me sore. I awoke to a nice sunrise, and there was no effort involved in witnessing it. The best kind of sunrise. Hal and I hit trail around 8:15AM. We took a break atop of Cheoah Bald, there was a nice view up there, and the bald made a good short-nap spot. Hal seems to have a fetish for trees. It felt like we were stopping every 15 minutes to examine a tree. I have dubbed him "Tarzan". This was the second tiome I have given out a trail name on this trip. The climb out of Stecoah Gap starts at a gentle grade, and then sends you straight up and down two to three bumps. I counted one switchback in this section. Trail maintainers have a cruel sense of humor. The rest of the hike was gentle ridge walking. Hal and I have a strike system in place. We get a strike everytime we fall down. I currently have six strikes, Hal has three. Just before Brown Fork Gap shelter, I put my radio in "on" mode. Just as I turned it on, "We Will Rock You" was starting. I felt so good listening to that song, I decided to start running. I ran a solid 100 yards at sprint speed with my pack. Towards the end I launched off of a log step, and had my legs pulled from underneath me on the landing. I fel pure amazing after that fall. Some thru's are already pulling 20 mile days, which is idiotic this early in the trip. Tomorrow I will descend into Fontana Dam. I will stay at the Hike Inn tomorrow night and resupply in Robbinsville. If the weather holds, I will begin my assauly on the Smokies. The forcast is sketchy, so we shall see how things shake down. Here is some advice. When your body says stop, you better stop, you will be happy later on that you did. Hot chocolate is waiting for me. Good night, and good luck. Kirby

Ga>ME 2008