I can remember Albert Mtn-we'd heard about a blueblaze but decided to go for the mountain. Steepest thing I'd seen in a while and Silver just scrambled up the thing. I tried not to glare at him. Branch and Appleseed had been just behind us, but they'd slowed earlier. We figured we'd see them again at the shelter.
Met a man called Red ranger. Nice guy, older, and a little odd. We pulled into the shelter after Albert mtn-it was difficult to figure out where the trail went from the top, but eventually I figured it out. Silver had, as usual, pulled ahead. i came up to the shelter just as he was opening his pack, getting something to eat out. Red Ranger was there as well. I offered to share some of my food with silver, but he shrugged. I took some of the jerky he'd gotten at hiawassee. Good stuff.
We continued on and ran into a section of trail that truly felt like a marble ramp. We'd go smoothly down the trail on the side of the hill, do a uturn and go smoothly down in the opposite direction, take a 90 degree turn keep going down at the same angle, do a uturn* and repeat from the *
I thought it was hilarious. Funniest part of the trail i'd seen so far. (Its running about 2nd now. After the flamingo)
When i got to the shelter just after Silver, it was 2pm. Red ranger had already said he was heading for franklin today and Silver and i just had to decide if we wanted to go as well. silver said he was zeroing no matter. Something about his knees. I was undecided, but the shelter looked like shit. Lots of plywood and old and near a road-liable for partying. I had saved for this trip, might as well spend some of it on a nice (well-adequate) hotel room. And for whatever reason, it seemed like a good idea to go today. So off we went.
We crossed Rock Gap and continued on, up the hill. Red Ranger and Silver pull ahead naturally since I'm still very much crap on the uphills (and really always will be). But I catch the both of them as Silver finds a giant white stick. He's trying to break it, make a walking stick out of it. Red Ranger and i watch even though he tells us to go on. This is more entertaining. Eventually, we keep hiking. I somehow pull ahead of Red Ranger and Silver disappears farther on. i enjoy the hike, looking forward to eating pizza and watching crappy tv.
At some point, due to my hurrying, my knee starts twinging. I start worrying that i've done myself in. No more hike done. goodbye.
I limp into the parking lot at winding stair gap (I still think that's the prettiest sounding gap name on the trail) and Silver looks concerned when i whine about my knee. He says he wants his own room-not a surprise and I'm not too worried about it. I know I'm zeroing now-no choice!
When red ranger arrives, I'm already sitting in the snow, trying to ice my knee, having talked to my mom about it.
Red Ranger calls Ron haven of Haven's Budget Inn-in hiker season, he runs scheduled shuttles in the morning, but it's late afternoon and a little early for hiker season. Ron says he'll pick us up when he can-but to call back. We sit there a while and call back just as pulls into the parking lot in his huge blue van (I'm reminded of my family's van that we called Big Blue..only it's bigger). We shove our packs in the back and Ron says we have to pick up some others along the way back at the outfitters. He's brought along a guy whose name I can no longer remember-but he's a nice guy and Silver and I get along quite well with him.
The other three he's picking up are Lucky, Gadget and Lumbar, three older hikers who I've heard of as the triple crowners. Or I will have eventually. In any case, Lumbar's hiked all three trails, i'm not sure what Lucky hiked before, but I think both he and gadget have done the PCT previously. They're pretty intense. Nice guys.
Oh, and I also got my trail name, Crash Course in Winding Stair gap. they were the ones to suggest shortening it to Crash, but Silver came up with it.
We get to the motel and sign in. Red Ranger gets the last non-smoking room, they offer to move us to a different motel, but we'd rather stay close to the other hikers, and have a brief, silent standoff over who gets the room that smells less like smoke. Silver eventually concedes and I feel bad.. briefly. I get my package, sign all the paperwork, pay and lug my stuff over to my room, next to Silver's.
Its rather lonely, having my own motel room, but I spread out all my stuff and turn the shower on. I wait for it to get warm. And I wait. Finally, I turn it off, trundle back to the office and complain. Silver's already out of the shower, the lucky bastard and looks at me funny when I say I can't get any hot water. They suggest waiting longer. So I do. And eventually, the hot water comes, thank god. I shower, scrubbing myself and actually enjoying the fact that i don't have to worry about anyone else needing to shower as well. It is definitely a nice luxury after the Blueberry Patch in Hiawassee-which was wonderful, but a hostel all the same.
I go back to take the other computer in the office reserved for internet checking and check my email, twitter. Silver and i both decide pizza in our respective motel rooms is on the menu for the night. He offers to order and i give him money for it. I go back to my room, lie on the bed and watch bad tv, enjoying it fully. The pizza arrives and I eat half of it right away and another piece later on. I can't finish it all, but that's ok. Its nice to be lying on a bed in a warm motel room and watching tv.
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