Friday, April 28, 2006

Good-bye Smokies and Hello Hot Springs

Well, we've had quite the adventure these past few weeks. Officially Megan and I have passed our three week mark, encountered numerous thunderstorms, walked over the largest dam this side of the Mississippi River, out-paced many of our fellow hikers, and have plodded through over 250 miles of this blessed trail.

Update on the achilles: I entertained the thought of taking a week off to let it heal when the zero day in Franklin, N.C. didn't really do the trick. But somehow from Franklin to the N.O.C. (3 day journey) the achilles healed midstride. I've been babying it a bit, but for the most part I don't have to worry about it at all. So thanks to all who have prayed for my recovery, it has been doing great as of late.

I knew the 16 days of sunshine would come to an end abruptly, and of course it did, as soon as we set foot in the Smoky Mountain National Park. We combatted two thunderstorms from atop the highest peaks around. Very scary indeed. And trudged through mud and slop pretty much the entire 70 miles of the park. Needless to say, we were ecstatic to leave the park and continue north toward Hot Springs, N.C., our next resupply point.

Just leaving the park didn't really guarantee that we wouldn't get blasted by rain, and let me tell you, we did. It had been days since we had seen the sun, annoyance and depression were overcoming us ever so swiftly. The shelter that we had planned to stay in on Wednesday was full. No room in the "inn", so to speak. We trudged on, trying to locate a campsite. The rain set in. We found a campsite, not optimal, it was on a slight slope, which proved to be a huge mistake. I should know better, but when you are tired, hungry, and wet, sometimes the "grey matter" up yonder, doesn't really function very well. We set up the tarptent in the pouring rain (mind you the tarptent has no floor), we put down our plastic sheeting that we use as the floor of the tent and within minutes the runoff from the slope was washing into our tent. Megan says, "What are we going to do?" Good question. I remember my mom telling me how you can sometimes trench around a tent to direct the flow of water away from it. Bright idea for groggy mind, eh? I step out into the downpour, which has now become a festival of lightning and thunder. I take our tiny little, bright orange trowel and begin to dig a trench from the slope toward the side of the mountain, directly in front of our tent. I build up a little dam along the front of our tent and direct the runoff toward the steep cliff to our side. It seemed to work much better than I thought. I'd like to say we stayed dry that night, but though my trench worked wonders, we managed to get about everything we were carrying wet and muddy. Fell asleep around 4 a.m. when it stopped raining, didn't want to get up the next morning, knowing all was wet and nasty. But alas, the sun shone the next day and we had time to dry most everything out.

And here I am in Hot Springs, N.C. staying at a cool little thru-hiker inn, enjoying the sunshine and loving my life once again. Thanks to all who have sent notes of encouragement and goodies along the way. They are greatly appreciated, there are really no words to describe the elation, honestly.

A note to all who are following Megan and I on our itinerary. We are about 4 days ahead of schedule. We will be getting to Erwin, T.N. by May 3/4 probably. So if you are sending things, keep that in mind.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Girl,
I'm so gald to heat your doing alright right. Garrett and I have been thinking alot about you and Megan, hoping all was ok. Sorry to hear you had such a wet time in the Smokies. Good luck with the rest of you trip.
Patti, Garrett & Joey

Anonymous said...

Oooooooooohhhhh Ooooooooooohhhh child, things are gonna get easier, oooooooohhhh ooooooohhhhh things will be fine!

Anonymous said...

Hey Ladies! Ya'll walkin barefoot?

Anonymous said...

Hey Leslie,
This is the first time I've been to your blog since you left and I've really enjoyed reading about everything. It still boggles my mind to think that you and Megan are walking from Georgia to Maine. I can only imagine the sense of accomplishment that will be yours when you finish. Hang in there and enjoy every step of the way.

-Garrett

Anonymous said...

hey ms g!!! our new teacher is ok but we need u back!!!! any way i hope that you are havingfun so far....good luck and everyone is thinking about you at fries


-Tyler Shepardson

Anonymous said...

Wow Leslie- What a story so far. I can imagine how day after day of no sunshine can begin to work on you a bit. But you know they'll be days like this and that is what makes you tougher and stronger than the day before. I'm still hoping Tommy and I can meet up with you two before much longer. I really need to get past the month of May at work. Then maybe you can give me a call and we can find a time that suits you both. I really would like come up to see you and treat you both to some good eats and just spend time catching up and listening. I really can't think of anything I'd rather do. You know I love those mountains. I hope you were able to get our package. I'm sorry if it was late. Take care Leslie- Keep your chin up high on those cloudy days. We love you girl!
Tommy and Tracy