022110, 6:00AM, Day 2: Sun up @6ish. Oatmeal and Via are the morning’s priorities. I strike my tent and fill up the water–not sure how long the creek will follow us up the mountain. By 7, Coop and 14 wake up and join me at the pit. Photo ops take up a few minutes after breakfast. 14 tries out my poles. @9AM it’s time to gear up. Coop and I part ways with 14 and cont. up the trail. Nice to be back on an actual trail. For the first hundred yards it’s hard-packed snow. After that, we’re off trail and following 14′s tracks from the previous day. We’re going up. Each step is painful. Legs are getting pretty tired. Time for a break. Beef jerky and pine nuts go well with a compass and a map. Walkies share the NOAA forecast. Rain is set to move in on Monday. Good news. Today is all clear. 30 min and we’re back on the trail. Voices. Four dudes come down the mountain. First guy has pants and a tee. Second is wearing shorts and long socks. Third and fourth are better equipped, but struggling to keep up with the pack.
DUDE: You’re about an hour, hour and a half from the top. Don’t worry, we left the campsite nice and clean for you. Gotch yourself a fire pit too.
COOP: Thanks man. You guys take it easy.
A quick exchange of nods and Coop and I move on. 500 miles and a million steps later we reach the top ~1PM. Look left, Flower Knob. Look right, Shining Rock Gap.
COOP: You wanna head to Flower Knob, or set up camp?
CHRIS: Whaddya think?
COOP: I’ve been to Flower Knob before. Lots of boulders. Given the conditions on the climb up here, Flower Knob’s gotta be pretty bad.
CHRIS: Camp it is.
We turn towards the gap…
DAHMER: Howdy boys.
Dude in jeans, denim shirt, pair of Roos and his daughter’s backpack approaches.
DAHMER: Where’s the good place to get the good photo pictures?
Not wanting to make Dahmer’s menu, we direct him down the ridgeline and away from us. Thirty yards later we survey the campsite. It’s a big clearing with two stomped out tent pads and a fire pit. Neither of us is ready to set up shop so we push on to Shining Rock Peak (35.3682°, -82.8624°). Dahmer is coming back at us. Appears to be lost.
DAHMER: There’s black bugs everywhere! It’s winter! What are these bugs doin’ here? Where’s the top? Ehh.
Coop and I exchange glances. OOOOKKKKK. Dahmer continues on and breaks right before the SR Peak trail. More rhododendrons. 3’ snow trails. The final climb to the peak leads us to a good lunch spot and a picturesque view of everything to the South of SRP. Even in all its beauty, the sight is a wee bit unsettling. Off in the distance we can see the patch of trees where I was held captive. Will had to be nearby. But so might the Yeti. Sure am hungry. Sorry, Will. A few more photos and we break out the stoves. Time for some mac-n-cheese with apple cobbler and a snow melt Via chaser! Delicious.
Back at camp we set up tents, and build another BPS. Those effers we passed on the hike up left a pile of brown right in the middle of the campsite. Seriously, there’s tree cover in every direction and those bungholes drop the bomb in the middle of town. Nasty.
Great, another douche with a Dora pack is coming out of the woods. Looks like he’s headed towards the Dog Loser Knob trail. Scary dude. Looks looks more like the BTK Killer than a Scout leader. A quick wave and a nod should keep him moving. Sweet! It worked. Happy hiking douchebag! Another close one. Nightfall comes, coyotes howl, and the stars came out in full force.
COOP: There’s Orion’s Belt. What’s that red one?
CHRIS: Mars?
COOP: Mars.
CHRIS Mars?
COOP: Mars!
CHRIS: Mars?
COOP: I don’t know, maybe Mars.
CHRIS: There’s a satellite. @Adam10 says you can’t see ‘em, but there it is.
COOP: Pff, @Adam10.
Dinner, stogies, and a quick plot of tomorrow’s route: up, over, back, car, Mickey Ds here we come. Check the iPhone for the hourly forecast. Ah, screw you AT&T. Reception is hard to come by in the city, let alone the mountains. Walking around I get a bar. Climb a tree and I get four on 3G. Let’s see. First, Google latitude. Next, share some pics on Twitter and Facebook. Now the weather. Yes Weather Channel, use my current location. Argh, 37 degrees with rain showers all day Monday. Well, better than snow. Dinner ain’t all that fancy. I have stroganoff and Coop goes Mexican. Dessert is another fine cigar. Couple hours later we ready ourselves for the morning hike back down the mountain. Given the two douchebags that preceded us, we should be able to follow their tracks across the ridgeline and down to Big East Fork trailhead. We’re just hours from Big Macs.
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