We started out at the parking lot on 816 off the parkway and hiked to Ivestor Gap via the Art Loeb trail. Set up camp at Ivestor Gap which is a grassy meadow/gap right at the Shining Rock entrance sign. The gap is between Grassy Cove Top and Tennent Mountain and you can see quite a view in either direction. No fires beyond this point, so we decided to go no farther with our base camp because there WOULD be a fire at this 5600' elevation.
Right off the bat Eric (missionary and naturalist from Kenya) decides he wants to go trout fishing. Gary (diesel mechanic from Maryland),Paul and I think we are going to hike down into the cove below to a trout stream via a trail. Eric had other ideas. Gary throws on his Crocs (thinking it is a short easy hike...keep this in mind as you read) and a bathing suit so he can wade in the stream. We all followed Eric to the trail. He immediately turns off the trail and walks straight down the side of the mountain bushwhacking through mountain laurel, thorny blackberry bushes, moss covered undergrowth, following a trickle of water down the hillside. We stay on this course for what seems like an hour and let me tell you...I don't think more than ten people have been where we were. It was steep, remote, difficult travel. We did stumble upon a rusty tuna can so we know at least one other person was here...and the last thing he ate was Tuna. What a beautiful and different way to hike. I guess in Kenya a trail is for wimps. Eric took us on quite a tour of the forest. The trickle of water has now turned into a stream with pools that you can stand in about knee deep. It is Greasy Cove Prong and I think we descended about 800 feet of thick forest, bushwhacking the whole way to get to where we are. All of us have lashes on our shins and everyone has some visible blood somewhere on their body. OHHAHHH - as they say in the army.
He assembles his trout rod and on his first cast, he hooks a native brook trout and would catch several more. But none of them are big enough to take back with us. After a while, we abandon the fishing for fear of darkness setting in.
Eric says he wants to go back back to camp by a different route and starts the bushwhacking in reverse. We climb straight back up the mountain trying to intercept grassy cove ridge trail to the north. It is evident we are on a wildlife trail because there is fresh bear scat and broken limbs all the way up the mountain. Something large bulldozed up this hill and we are benefiting from its freshly blazed path. Consequently, we make quick work of this climb but along the way I notice something really cool. Instead of the mountain laurel being tightly packed into impassable thickets, they are spaced almost perfectly at 10'-0" centers so you can meander through this grassy forest environment with laurel canopy overhead. The floor of the forest was what seemed like Kentucky bluegrass freshly mowed. About the time I was marvelling at this micro environment, we stumble into a yellow jacket nest and all of us gets stung at least once. Boy these things can pack a punch!
Back at camp, we eat a nice pasta meal and after warming up by the fire, we crawl in our tents for a nights rest.
Around midnight I wake up from a dead sleep and start having what I think is another anxiety attack. Can't explain this sensation very well, but it is the second time this has ever happened to me and both times on a back country hike and both times it is late in the night and occurs when I am in the tent. It is a combination of claustrophobia and an overwhelming feeling of helplessness. (I know its stupid but I am baffled by it).
Paul wakes up and asks me if I am OK because I am breathing heavy, shivering and sweating and my heart is racing. Like the true friend that he is, he encourages us to go out to the edge of the mountain and talk about life for about an hour. It is cold and quiet. This ends up being a high point for me for the trip because with our busy schedules, it has been a long time since I was able to reconnect with my old college buddy. After some bonding time we go back to the tent and sleep like babies.
No comments:
Post a Comment