July, 5 1997 - We got going around 8:30 and chowed down at Huddle House. After making a drop at Neel's Gap we were on the trail at 3:00. Pat Reid, a friend of ours from North Carolina and our shuttle, left us in the Springer Mountain parking lot on USFS 42. We hiked up to the Southern terminus, just to make it official. A plaque at the top read:

The trail was nice and wide, more like a road in most places. We passed a beautiful camp site at Three Forks. There were lots of rhododendron and at one point we passed though a virgin Hemlock grove. We did eight miles today in to Hawk Mountain. The shelter was large and had a loft but, we opted for tents to avoid little visitors crawling into our sleeping bags.

So far our hiking group consists of eight women: Gweneeth (MINC and trail leader), Casey (trail canine), Pam (Pixie), Lucinda (Swish), Glenna (Moxy), Alisa (Robin) were all from Michigan. Maggie (Lady Hawk) and Alison (Belladonna) were the mother/daughter team from Alabama.

A lady came in after we had finished supper and set up camp. Her name was Tammy and she was going from Springer to Cooper's Gap. She was the first Backpacker we've seen (and as a matter of fact, the only other female backpacker we saw the whole trip).

July 6,1997 - This is supposed to be the Southern summer, right? We froze last night! We had each packed a flannel sheet to sleep with thinking that we would probably burn up at night in a sleeping bag. We thought wrong.

We came through Horse Gap and Cooper's Gap today and had a tough little up on Sassafras Mt. We ate lunch at Justus Creek, a beautiful cool clear stream that invited us to take a dip. We were there with two guys that had been camping at the water source near Hawk Mt. Their trail names are Fidget and Relatively Rob and they were from Mississippi.

After lunch, we only had two more miles left to Gooch Gap to make it a nine mile day. We camped down hill from the shelter because the water source is so far away from it. We had lots of macaroni and cheese for supper, Casey even got some!

July 7 1997 - Last night wasn't as cold but it was still chilly enough to be uncomfortable. We started off at 9:30am and our first 6 or 7 miles went very fast. Gweneeth had to wrap Casey's little feet in Ace bandage today. They were sore and blistered.

There was a gorgeous view just before Woody Gap, mountains as far as you could see and the only sign of civilization was a little farm a long way away. Alisa and I found an excellent spring just past Woody Gap where the water was coming out of the hillside like a bathtub faucet. We also picked some wild blueberries. These were deliciously sweet and lifted our spirits.

After that the miles started stretching out and the day seemed to go by slower. While some of us were waiting on Gweneeth and Pam, we met a man on a day hike coming down from Blood Mt. He gave us a Diet Pepsi, a bag of Dorritos and a bag of Fritos. It was decided that he was a little bit of Trail Magic. The eight of us ate lunch at Miller's Gap before continuing on to Slaughter Gap.

Just before Slaughter there was a spring that crossed the trail. This would be our last water for the day because there is none on top of Blood. Everyone filled water bottles and the two water bags. Glenna, Lucinda, Alisa and I all stopped to bath off.

Blood Mt. Shelter was a two room stone building that smelled musty and had an especially bad reputation for rats (which they all did). There was a great boulder and if you climbed up on top of it the view was awesome. We set up camp just past the shelter where there was a rock face we used as our kitchen. Supper was bean chili and of course English Muffins. Some of us discovered that English muffins toasted with butter and then sprinkled with cinnamon/sugar mixture makes a delicious desert! As we were heading to bed a cloud was coming in. Some people said they heard it sprinkle but I went right to sleep.

July 8, 1997 - Only two and a half miles to civilization!!! There are some beautiful views coming down Blood Mt. One place was a huge rock face with a one hundred eighty degree view. It made everything seem better to know that at the bottom of the mountain there was a Dr. Pepper waiting for me!

Milt from the AT-L hiked up from Neel's Gap to meet us and we walked into the Gap together. He's a very interesting man and will look good in his Univ of MI tee shirt.

Neel's Gap was fun. As Relatively Rob said "It's like Christmas!" Dorothy, a nice lady that worked there, let us have showers even though they closed after the thru hiker season. We stayed at the Walasi-Ya Center for two hours. I bought a new pair of boots. The ones I had been wearing were my mothers (a size smaller than me) and had rubbed blisters on the first day! I had lost mine before this trip (and guess what I found a few days after returning home!) The Salomon's I bought were wonderful. They did fine right out of the box. Maybe it was because they actually fit!

Today, after Neel's Gap could have been called a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. All day was slow and long hard ups and tough downs. Coming out of Neel's was a long up but the worst was coming out of Tesnestee (our version is Taste nasty) Gap. Alisa had a wonderful idea... bridges spanning from summit to summit therefore eliminating the ups and downs!

The Mississippi Boys caught up with me coming down the back side of Raven Cliffs, when I "stopped to smell the roses". Late Start was with them. He's a thru hiker that just picked up and decided to do the trail. Glenna gave him the name Late Start because most thru hikers start in March, April or May. We all came to enjoy having him around, since he was staying at the same shelters that we did for the rest of the trip. The poor Mississippi Boys got to Hogpen Gap to find the drivers window on their car broken out and one of their wallets stolen with all his ID in it. Such a shame for a beautiful outdoor experience to end in such a way.

The rest of the day's trail was up and down. I was beginning to think we would never make it! The Low Gap shelter, where we stopped for the night, is in a lovely location. Two streams converge here. One man, a teacher from Pennsylvania who was hiking until time for school to start, was already at the shelter. He went to sleep early despite our campfire and chatter. We ate a delicious rice meal and sat around the fire and talked until after 11:00pm. Late Start was here too.

July 9, 1997 - This is Pam's (Pixie) birthday! Gweneeth picked up Hostess cupcakes at Neels and carried them in to surprise Pam this morning. We put them in a circle on the picnic table at Low Gap and put our emergency candle in the middle. A real special birthday, I'm sure.

We planned to do about 10.5 miles today stopping at Rocky Mtn. The miles before lunch were very easy and fast, mostly on an old road bed, it appeared. While Maggie/Mom was hiking today, a tiny young fawn approached her on the trail. It just walked out of the woods and right up to her. She did not pet it for fear of mother deer misunderstanding from a distance. Later we saw a young adolescent bear in the woods, too.

After lunch it began to pour down rain. The climb down into Unicoi Gap was interesting in the rain. As we arrived at Unicoi, Late Start had set up a little surprise "aid station" for us at the covered sign near the highway. He was heating water and made all of us a hot cup of coffee. We waited for a break in the rain and began the climb out of Unicoi. The rain did not break for long. When we reached Rocky Mtn. it was still a downpour and we all wanted a shelter. The next shelter was at Tray Mt., so the decision was made to continue on until Tray Mt. and the Montray shelter stretching our 10 mile day into more than 15 miles.

I was first to the shelter and dumped nearly a pint of water from my new boots. Dry clothes are such a luxury! I began to worry about Pam and Gweneeth, so I dried off, put on a poncho and headed back up the Trail to find them. They were not far behind, but my habit of doing this earned me the new Trail Name of Trail Angel from Pam.

This made several names I had acquired... Belladonna (my pick), Jennifer (from Glenna), Firestarter, 18-Year-Old-Legs, and now Trail Angel! Gweneeth also acquired several names... MINC, Lone Wolverine, and Curly the Trail Boss!

Pam's birthday dinner was couscous. Delicious! While Lucinda prepared supper, Glenna and I made a wall of rain flies and space blankets to keep the wind out of the shelter. We all, except Late Start, decided to kick out the mice for the night and stay in the shelter. Late Start, true wilderness/military man that he is, slept under his lean-to out in the weather. At dusk, a little brown bat came out of hiding and sent Lucinda running out of the shelter! The night was windy and wet, but most slept fairly well. We have named ourselves the SOLE SISTERS!

July 10, 1997 - This morning was beautiful. The clouds had cleared away with the wind and Maggie/Mom and I climbed back up to the top of Tray to take pictures and see the views. The views were gorgeous on both sides. The ridge is very narrow, perhaps about 15 feet wide.

We all have plenty of gnat and bug bites. They seem to especially like the sock line. I'm itching like crazy.

We had a nice hike today with only two tough ups. It was a short day of about 7 miles, since we had done so much yesterday. The last uphill was called Kelly's Knob. Glenna decided that Kelly, male or female, must have been a bitch! It was certainly not named appropriately calling that climb a knob.

We stayed at Deep Gap Shelter, a very nice shelter with 2 rope hammocks, a loft and a big wide porch. It even had a shelter bunny who came to visit. This was the nicest shelter so far. Again we had a big campfire and sat around it until late talking and singing old favorite camp songs.

July 11, 1997 - Only 3 1/2 miles to Dick's Creek Gap (a.k.a. the pathway to civilization). Late Start hit the trail first. These last few miles were fast ones, mostly downhill. We rolled into Dick's Creek Gap about 11:00am and sat on the steps waiting for Philip/Dad to arrive to pick us up. He was to be there about noon and sure enough he appeared about 12:10. We were happy to see him and get our ride back to town, showers and real food! Late Start decided to catch a ride in with us and get his laundry done and eat, then we could drop him off back at the trail head the next day.

We checked into the Old Clayton Inn, a very nice old hotel with hospitable folks and hot showers! We then went to the Dillard House and pigged out! They serve family style and begin to bring food to the table as soon as you get seated. We ate chicken, fried and baked, smothered steak, country ham, green beans, carrots, diced potatoes, lima beans, tomatoes, corn-on-the-cob, acorn squash, corn bread, hush puppies and rolls.

May your pack be light May your boots have wings When you are back in the "real" world Crave not Material things. -- MOXY (Glenna Redmond)

Back at the Old Clayton Inn with our bodies washed and our stomachs full, we sat on the wide front porch in big rocking chairs and talked of "poems and prayers and promises and things that we believe in." Actually we did begin discussing plans for future hikes and visits to see each other. We all seven really knit together into a family on the Trail, with each individual hiking her own hike, but working together to set up camp, get water, cook meals, and get fires going. This week will forever be etched in our memories as a golden one.

Happy Trails ;-)
Margaret "Maggie" Wade and The Sole Sisters