Lily-Livered, Caspar Milquetoasts

Dave blogs while Rolex mixes the sauce

Hot Springs to Spring Mountain Shelter 11 Miles

We hiked out of Hot Springs late. We didn’t get on the trail until about 3PM. Doug had fires to put out at work and I got on the phone with my assistant, Jeff while we were in the outfitter getting some last minute stuff. We kept dong stupid stuff like weighing our packs on the scale that didn’t work properly and looking at field books that we knew were too heavy to carry. I was eying the double concentrated tomato paste; but, it came in a metal tube which I thought was a real waste of materials and weight. Our procrastination was going to put us way behind to get to the next shelter; but, that burger was Worth It. It was going to be a tough climb and we might not get in until after dark.

The initial climbout after we loaf in these towns is always nasty. Today was particularly so. It just seemed like every step was a gargantuan effort with a relentless sun searing down. Just about every town is in a “gap” and by gap we mean, gap between two mountains. Here in the South, these gaps are usually pretty low because of the logistics of civilization. The gaps are where the river is or the town was established; because, it was easier to get there back when people were using horses and walking and didn’t wear shoes and stuff. After a day in town we get some rest and a fill up our packs with supplies. With all that extra weight, we have to get back up to the altitude we were before we went into town. Basically; what I’m saying is that it sucked, just like it always does after town. We get soft in just one day. One day of vegetarian meals and comfortable beds and suddenly we’re lily-livered, Caspar Milquetoasts.

On the trail, the flowers of blackberries and raspberries and other berries are blooming all over the place and soon there will be berries galore. I can’t wait to be hiking along and grabbing berries and juicy, stained fingers and all that stickiness. I hope there is this much berriocity up north when we get into the ripeness window. We passed several fields that had been left to fallow so that deer and grouse and other wildlife would have food to eat. Eventually, we got in to the shelter. It seemed longer than the purported 11 miles. The place was packed with other hikers and we set up camp together on the hill above the shelter. The sun went down while we re-supplied and purified the water from a nearby spring and we cooked our spaghetti in the dark. We picked up some Garlic Pepper stuff down in Hot Springs and I can’t wait to sprinkle it over everything. Ahhhhhh; the simple pleasures! It looks like it’s going to be a really nice night so I’m not putting my rain fly up so I can sit in my mosquito net hammock and watch the stars flitter by in the fresh mountain air. Cyclone and Rolex and I camped next to the NC boys and we had a big fire. Hanging the bear bag was an exercise in teamwork-gone-wrong that had just about arguing about physics and frustration. We finally got it up after breaking a few hundred branches. See you in the morning.

David AKA “Jukebox”



Website:
http://www.brotherproof.com
Blog:
http://brotherproof.blogspot.com
Pictures:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Film:
http://www.youtube.com/wbaf1
Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/brotherproof
David's Website:
http://www.davidpatrone.com

The Best Damn Burger in America

Dave talks while Rolex eyes the last bite of that burger



We were on our way out of town when we decided to drop in on this little place for lunch. We had wanted to eat there the day before but it was closed and we opted for the local pub. Today, as we were walking out of town, the Bridge Street Café was open! I was dubious about the prudence of patronizing this establishment, since these places usually have small portions and exotic fare at exorbitant prices. I ordered the Black and Blue burger; which is a blackened burger with Gorgonzola Cheese. I can’t stand Gorgonzola so I asked for the goat cheese that I noticed elsewhere on the menu. They also had an asparagus soup, and you know I had to try that. When the burger came I was distractedly uploading GPS tracks for our last leg and I absently bit into the sandwich. Holy Arugula! This was quite possibly the best burger I had sunk teeth into EVER; and I’ve bitten into a lot of burgers! I couldn’t believe it! Michael, the owner came over and was talking to us a little and I found out that the cheese is made locally by a woman who was widowed into a goat farm and decided to start making cheese. That cheese was DAMN GOOD! The whole burger was an exceptional marriage of flavors and I made sure they knew it. If you ever find yourself in Hot Springs at lunchtime; get your ass to the Bridge Street Café and get you a Black and Blue Burger with Goat Cheese instead of that Gorgonzola. That burger and Elmer’s Sunnybank Inn are the reason we’re staying here another week, just kidding, I’ll see you on the trail tonight.


David AKA "Jukebox"
Website:
http://www.brotherproof.com
Blog:
http://brotherproof.blogspot.com
Pictures:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Film:
http://www.youtube.com/wbaf1
Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/brotherproof
David's Website:
http://www.davidpatrone.com

Sunnybank Inn and Retreat

Who'd a thought I'd be Pickin' a guitar in the Music Room at the Sunnybank Inn?


Sunday, June 1, 2008
Sunnybank Inn and Retreat

I slept well but I couldn't stay asleep with the early birds chirping at 5:30AM. My watch kept going off and I couldn't figure out how to turn the damn thing off. The birds wake up earlier here than they do in the Smokies. Back in the real world, I don't like to wear a watch but since I never have my cell phone with me I decided to buy this crappy thing at a Rite-Aid in Hiawassee.

I couldn’t suffer the chaotic birdsong any longer. I jumped out of my hammock around 6AM. I wanted to get into town and have a real breakfast so I wouldn't have to choke down another oatmeal bar. It's rare that I'm the first one out so I made sure everyone knew it. I went over and bugged the fellas to get up. I was meeting fellow hikers when I made the acquaintance of a guy who is hiking the trail with not just one, but two leg prosthetics! I was absolutely floored! His name is Todd Murphy (Trial name “Murphy”) He hiked half of the AT last year and he would be finishing soon. He was going southbound and he only had a few hundred miles to go. I had a hard time justifying any complaints of fatigue or frustration after I saw that.

Eventually we got on the trail in a rush to get to Hot Springs. My legs are pretty sore; but, we made it in a short time. The Appalachian Trail runs straight through Hot Springs and they have these AT signs stamped right in the concrete of the sidewalk so you know where to go. We were behind the four guys from NC, we saw their packs on the wall over at the Breakfast joint so we got tactical; instead of going to eat, we rolled right up to the back door of Elmer's Hostel (The Sunnybank Inn), a famous stop on the AT.

Elmer has a hostel and he serves delicious vegetarian food. He lives in this old Victorian place that has a million knickknacks, books and musical instruments. This place has a very rich history; the building is 160 years old. They call it the Sunnybank Inn and Retreat. It has a culturally important musical heritage and there is a room dedicated to musical performance with instruments like an upright piano, two guitars, a banjo, clarinet, bongo, flute and about a hundred music books from Rogers and Hammerstein to popular Hymns to Don McLean. We showed up as the current tenants were having Breakfast. Elmer came out to greet us a little begrudgingly since meals here are a big deal. He let us know we could come back later to check in and we'd be at the top of the list. That’s all we wanted anyway; we knew there would be a lot of people coming in today from the crowd that was at the last shelter.

We dropped our packs and headed down to the Smoky Mountain Diner for a HUGE breakfast. We did all the usual things in town; resupply, Laundromat, outfitter etc... The Laundromat was in the same building as the “quick shop.” Not only was it a convenience store; it was a casino, billiard room, arcade and a seating area that looked like they might serve food as well. On the way we passed a bunch of old guys sitting on a wall who were chewin’ the fat and engaged us in a little discourse. We got a little of that on film. Eventually we checked in to Elmer's and he took us around the place. It had an extensive library of scholarly texts as well as a ton of liberal and protest type books and material. Let's just say that Elmer is not a big fan of President Bush. Anyway, Sean was another guys staying and working there and the two of them cooked up the most bad ass vegetarian dinner I ever had.

There were about 12 of us in the dining room and we all had to answer a question in the beginning of dinner. Tonight's question was, "If you had a superpower, what would it be?" There were some interesting answers and interesting conversation and delicious food. after dinner, we all adjourned ourselves tot he music room and had a long jam session where people took turns playing instruments and different songs. It was nice. There were a couple of really good musicians and it seemed like everyone had some talent. Eventually it died down and I went to go find Cyclone at the local pub. He was there and so was Dixie Dawg and Kansas. We BS’d for a while and it rained a little. We blogged and I spent a few hours fixing the website (adding the Pictures Links) and finally am going to bed at 1:40 AM. I bet I'm not going to want to get on the road tomorrow.

David AKA "Jukebox"


Website:
http://www.brotherproof.com
Blog:
http://brotherproof.blogspot.com
Pictures:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Film:
http://www.youtube.com/wbaf1
Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/brotherproof
David's Website:
http://www.davidpatrone.com

Running Downhill until Total Dark

Rolex demonstrating his technique


Running Downhill until Total Dark
Groundhog Creek Shelter to Deer Park Shelter: 24 miles

Last night the two cats who rolled in, turned out to be four cats; young fellas from North Carolina. There were no spots in the shelter and they had no tents. They spread out a big tarp and slept out in the open air on that thing. It drizzled a little in the night but they didn't seem to mind. I stayed in my hammock and it was a very comfortable night despite the rain. It was warm enough that I didn't even zip up my bag.

My socks smell so bad; every pair I have smells like wet dog and stale popcorn. I can't figure it out, that's just what they smell like. When I hang my wet socks on the pack to dry while I hike, I keep getting whiffs of wet-dog-popcorn and the hoagie-like smell of my armpits. My ex-wife used to say my BO smelled like a delicious, Italian hoagie and when I take an honest sniff with an objective olfactory, I have to agree with her. Such as it is, I find that it only makes me hungrier as I motor down the trail.

We started off pretty early for us and I quickly degraded from neutral to foul mood. I encouraged Cyclone and Rolex get up ahead of me. My legs were hurting and I was having an unusually tough time climbing. In reality, I'm probably climbing three times faster than I was two weeks ago; but, today it feels really slow. I knew my brothers were going to be running down hills again today and I'd be far behind if I didn't keep up. I reluctantly started jogging on a sore calf and a questionable knee.

I sometimes get grumpy and cranky while I hike for no particular reason. I don’t know where it comes from but I go through some wicked mood swings. This one was particularly violent. I was going through this aggressive fantasy anger thing and I was concocting all these plans that were really unhealthy and disturbing. I was livid at my brothers, the hill, my pack, the air, gnats, God, my sweat, you name it. I was getting very distracted while plotting the murders of hundreds of people. I'm not sure if it helped my hiking or not. The initial climb of the morning was tough; but then, once I summited, I started running the trails again and actually caught up with Cyclone and Rolex. Fortunately the ill conceived notions had passed, and I didn’t stab them with my trekking poles like I had planned earlier. I later found out that the only reason I caught them was because they had been filming an idea for a commercial for Leki that involved Rolex, flying down the hill, about 20 miles an hour, swinging his trekking poles in a marvelous demonstration of dynamic trekking pole application.

They keep taking off on the uphills. I'm just not as fast as them yet. With the extra weight in my pack and on my stocky body, I just don’t have the cardiovascular power to maintain the pace they set. Downhill is another story. I haul ass on the downhill sections; but, it’s pretty rough on my knees and feet.

We decided we were going to go all the way to the Deer Park Shelter because it was only three miles away from Hot Springs, a town right on the AT. The fact that here have been several instances of bears taking packs from hikers recently had nothing to do with it… Sure it didn’t… My right calf was really locking up and it hurt pretty badly before we got about 13 miles. We had to stop at the Walnut Creek Shelter to resupply our water. There was a sign that said, “Don’t leave your packs unattended at this shelter.” I guess the bears were getting smart here and waiting for people to drop their packs. We cooked some dinner because we knew we wouldn't get in to Deer Park until after dark and didn't want to have to cook and clean in the dark. We ate and rested and my leg felt much better so we moved on.

At about six more miles we stopped again. My calf was killing me again but the light was dying and we had to keep moving. I felt like the muscle was actually ripping off of my leg. I took the lead since I was going to be the slowest but everyone was tired and we started hauling up the hill. We were running the hills again and as the light fell, Rolex missed a root and went down hard. We were pretty sure he had hurt something but he expertly rolled onto his pack when he went down, so everything was cool. In fact, the only reason we knew he went down was because his pole hit Cyclone in the leg. We decided to slow it down and hike it in. The trail was hard to see even though the darkness came on surprisingly slow. We managed to get in to the shelter area just after total dark. We ran into the four guys from NC. They had passed us while we were eating dinner at the other shelter. We set up camp, hung the bear bags and went to sleep. Town is tomorrow; full of the promise of fresh, laundered clothing and proper meals. Maybe my socks won't smell like wetdogpopcorn; not at least until Monday night.

David AKA "Jukebox"

Website:
http://www.brotherproof.com
Blog:
http://brotherproof.blogspot.com
Pictures:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Film:
http://www.youtube.com/wbaf1
Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/brotherproof
David's Website:
http://www.davidpatrone.com