Onto Winding Stair Gap

Woke up. Went outside the shelter, saw a surprising patch of blue sky and said "blue sky!" to all those stirring. Then Bandit or Wheeler, still not entirely sure on who, said that I should take that as a name...sooo I did. Kinda cheesy but it's my favorite Allman Brothers Song so I stuck with it. Cooked up some oatmeal and coffee and was maybe the 3rd person out or so behind Greenlite & Hustler. I think I found acorns in my pack too - good oooold shelter mice. I think I knocked out some serious miles pretty early on. Hiked with Brian for a bit. Climbed Mt Albert which is the most elevation gain in the shortest distance on the trail (600ft in 1/4mi or something?). I remember going by a few hikers on the climb who said the weather was supposed to get real nice for the foreseeable future and I very much enjoyed their info. Couldn't see a damn thing from the top of Mt Albert so didn't climb the fire tower.

Stopped for lunch at a shelter where I ran back into Greenlite, Hustler & Brian and I believe a guy named HOI (Hog On Ice) was there who once squealed like a pig when he slipped on ice in Shenandoah National Park back in the day and acquired a name. Greenlite invited us all to his friend's house in Franklin if we wanted to push it Winding Stair Gap making it 25mi day. The thought of another bed and real food in town made a 25mi day seem very feasible, though it was a push. So we all pushed on. That was a real odd weather day. Must've rained, then the sun came out, then rained, ad infinitum. We were going through a rain forest actually if I remember correctly. It was beautiful. We stopped at one last shelter before Winding Stair Gap where we met a former hiker named Nightstalker who was kind of a character albeit his name was kinda sketch. We got to Winding Stair Gap around 4-5? and finally managed to hitch a ride with a guy driving a small truck that delivers oxygen tanks to nursing homes. We all squeezed into the front somehow. Another rather ridiculous character. The ride down-mountain into Franklin was real pretty.

We got dropped off at the Shoney's, got blizzards at dairy queen, then a pan-normous pizza at pizza hut (the first of many) where we got picked up by two of the Woodwards, Autumn and Canyon. I rode with Canyon back to their place - I think he was in high school, funny kid. Greenlite knew them from trips he took to Cumberland Island, GA. The father, Doug Woodward, had been a pioneering whitewater kayaker in the '70s and the stunt double for Ned Beatty in Deliverance. They were really wonderful, real interesting people with a beautiful place on a mountain near the edge of Franklin.

We chatted with them until we couldn't stay awake any longer and crashed in the basement. Wonderful sleep.