Monday June 18, miles today 9.6, miles from Springer 248.3

We had a late start in the morning due to difficulty catching a shuttle

 Before we left, Maniac and Snail Whisperer came in, they finished their trek through the Smokies and were catching a shuttle to Atlanta to fly back to Maine.  We said our goodbyes and wished them luck.  Finally, at about 10 am the owner of Standing Bear gave us a ride to Davenport Gap.  We quickly crossed the Pigeon River and then started our 2700 foot climb.  A couple miles up we stopped for lunch.  As Obi Wan and Hellcat started cooking ramen, Major Tom announced we had a visitor, a bear snuck up to within 30 feet of us and was sniffing the air.  Major Tom and I yelled at him and he began to pace back and forth.  He then stood up and clawed a nearby tree trying to scare us.  When that did not work he tried to sneak through some bushes to our right and come in at a different angle.  We yelled again, Major Tom blew his whistle and finally the bear sat down between two trees to wait for us to leave.  We finished lunch, cleaned up and started back up the trail.  After we left, the bear came down to our lunch site but was disappointed to find nothing to eat.  We were a little concerned the bear might stalk us so we decided to hike together for a while with me in the lead since I am the slowest.

Uninvited Lunch guest, June 18, 2018 Click to zoom

On the way up the hill I started thinking about group dynamics and how we were such a good team.  We certainly are diverse.  Major Tom is very structured and and organized, he is constantly trying to improve the processes by putting routine around them.  Obi Wan is a complete opposite, he is very bright, somewhat impulsive and generally a real happy guy.  He gets us sidetracked and turns us into tourists.  Hellcat is quietly competent and a master technician.  I try to emulate his hiking foot placement.   His habit of pulling out a large chocolate bar and sharing has rubbed off on the rest of us.  I am kind of a mix of all three.  Even though Obi Wan and Major Tom are opposite they get along great.  Obi Wan has adopted much of Major Tom's structure while Major Tom is no longer nose to the grindstone hiking and open to Obi Wan's ideas on getting sidetracked for the tourist experience.

We finally arrived at our high point for the day at Snowbird Mtn and walked around the FAA tower appreciating the views.  The almost daily thunder storm rolled in and we started for the next shelter.  The race cars Obi Wan and Hellcat sped down while I stayed with Major Tom who was having even worse foot problems.  In compensating for the blisters I think he pulled a tendon.  I admire his drive and ability to work through the pain, but I worry about him.

We arrived at Groundhog shelter in early evening and shared it with a guy called Lumberjack, he said he got the name the previous year when he brought a four pound ax but the way he snored that night I will bet it was because he sounded like a chainsaw.  I am adding ear plugs to my shopping list.

A little later eight women and three dogs trickle in and camped below us.  Three college age guys left their packs on the trail and went down 1/4 of a mile for water.  We showed them our lunch bear pictures and movies and warned them never to leave their packs unattended.  They camped nearby.