4/22/01
With a borrowed set of wheels from Jim (Dad), I took Hip this morning to find a real breakfast before taking him up to the trailhead to resume his northward journey. We couldn't find an open diner in Erwin and ended up at Jerry's restaurant in Unicoi 3 miles north. After treating me to the Hungry man's Big Breakfast, I shuttled him to Indian Grove Gap then headed back to the hotel to resume packing for the coming week on the trail. Paula slept in late (good for her!) as I caught up on trail plans, food prep, bump box shufflings of gear, and later miscellaneous financial matters (they don't go away folks, just because you spend your time in the woods!). A lunch at Jerry's for the four of us, then it was off to Beauty Spot on the AT which I had crossed Friday. The dirt and gravel road to the top was a real off road challenge, but Jim passed the test and we made it to the open grassy summit. The views were great and we ran into Tea Tree, Brooklyn and Green Light while up there. I hustled back to the car and retrieved some quick trail magic in the form of leftover muffins and birthday cake which the always hungry thru-hikers managed to choke down. A couple of photos were taken for the family Christmas card? and we drove back down the washboard road to Erwin.
Fifteen miles later we were at the Iron Mtn. Gap where it was my turn to hop back onto the trail and resume the journey northward. It was sad to say goodbye to the family, especially Paula, but we'll see each other again soon as the wave of AT thru-hikers continues north. Now for the big adventure of the day! I had covered barely a mile when I caught up to PopPop and Kay who were sitting in a field relaxing with their feet propped up. We talked for a few minutes then they decided to get up and I moved on down the trail ahead of them. After another mile of mostly up I was ascending to the top of a small climb when I saw smoke up ahead. As I got closer I first recognized Hip, then saw flames all around him as he was frantically attempting to control the spread of the blaze around him. Holy smokes, a forest fire. Off came my pack and I rushed to his aid to try and contain the fire. The fire was right on and beside the trail at the top of the ridge where some rocks jutted out. Hip had hiked into the situation about 5 minutes before I arrived. Apparently some idiot had smoked a cigarette at those rocks earlier today and failed to put it out. It was obvious after examining the area that the fire had been burning for awhile around these rocks because a very large decayed downed tree already had burnt quite a bit and there were actually some coals built up. The fire must have just reached that critical stage where massive spreading was just taking place when Hip arrived.
Somehow between the two of us we were able to contain the blaze to a 20x20 square foot area after 30 minutes of digging and moving of leaves and other organic matter despite a steady breeze fanning the flames. Though contained, I had a real concern for additional spread due to coals and hot ashes so I called 911. I lost the connection several times due to the poor cell phone reception and ended up talking to 6 different counties as the roaming feature was unable to discern which county we were located in. Actually, the fire was on the trail so it was technically in both NC and TN since the trail is the state line in this area. Finally I reached Carter County, TN and they said they would send out a plane for a fly-by to view the fire. I tried to tell them that the fire was small AND contained and that my only concern was the wind kicking up hot ashes to get it to spread, but I don't think they heard me very clearly. PopPop and Kay arrived and we shared our fire brigade story with them. Kay and I pulled larger limbs and sticks out of the burning area to reduce the amount of remaining fuel and the four of us waited an hour as the burn area settled down. After another call to 911, I decided that we had done all we could do and the chance of fire spreading was practically gone. We all resumed our hike and had 3.7 miles left to Clyde Smith shelter. We didn't get there until 6:45 and by the time I had pumped water and eaten dinner it was dark. Hip and I tented and Cliff, Buck, PopPop and Kay were in the shelter. It ws a quiet evening after the excitement of playing fire brigade. Todays stats: low 45 degrees, high 80. Sunny. Mileage today: 6.0; cumulative mileage 363.8.
