AppalachianTrail Adventure

Dave his halfway through his newest adventure.

Last Monday, March 21st, Dave took a red-eye to North Carolina to hike the Great Smoky Mountains with Zero, Tailgunner, and Butterfly.

The story actually begins prior to getting on that red-eye. We planned to leave for the airport around 9:00 pm pacific time. Dave had been packed since 2:00 that afternoon, and by 7:00 pm was pacing. It was around 8:00 when we heard the helicopter. We live near the 210 and 605 freeways, so we figured that there must have been an accident. The helicopters come out in droves when there is a freeway accident. We realized it was not an accident when our back yard lit up from the spot light of the helicopter.

Dave went out the front door to get a better look at where the helicopter was. Before he knew it, there were 4 police cars on the street. He jumped back inside, hoping that it was not him that the helicopter saw, directing the police to our street. We decided to go out together and had not even made it over our threshold, when one of the policemen told us to get back inside.

We live in a relatively quiet neighborhood, but this is LA. We shut the front door and looked out the windows, not wanting to interfere with the police. Around 8:30, 8:45, the police were sending messages over the loud speaker - basically saying, "residents, stay inside or you could get shot" and to the bad guys, "surrender and we will not use force, you will be safe, but if you choose to hide or run we have been given permission to shoot".

It was about this time that we realized that this neighborhood event was not going to end quickly and we needed to get to the airport. I called the Temple City Sheriff, who also handle our town, and told them who I was, where I lived, and that we needed to get to the airport. After a short discussion, I handed the phone to Dave. We had been told that we were stuck in the house and that we could not leave, but they did tell Dave to call back in 20 minutes. When he called back, the police had come up with an escape plan for us.

Dave gave a description of himself and what house we were at, and what car we were going to drive. We opened the door and Dave walked out with his hands up. I wish I had a video camera! The police officer was looking the other way and Dave didn't want to surprise/startle him. He said, "we are over here, over here". The officer had us get Dave's bag and lock up the house. He told us to roll the windows down in the car, turn on the dome light, and drive very slowly to the next officer up the street. We got to the next check point, and the officer explained that he didn't know when we'd be able to get back to the house. I told him that I would think about that later, but that we needed to get Dave to the airport. It was now 9:20, still with plenty of time to get him to LAX for his flight.

The trip to the airport was uneventful. We said goodbye and Dave wished me luck getting back home. As I approached home, I saw that the helicopter was still searching the neighborhood. There are two ways into our block. I want to the first entrance and there were so many cars already blocked out by a police car that I had no where to park. What can one do at 11:00 pm? I decided to fill up with gas and go through the car wash. Then I drove over to the second entrance where, sure enough, a police car was blocking our path. There is a parking lot that I pulled into. After sitting in my car for a bit, I decided to get out and began talking to neighbors. It was actually really nice meeting hands full of people who live nearby whom I had never met. We did a lot of laughing, wondering, hypothesizing. Then, one of the neighbors were able to fill us in on what was happening. He lives a block over with his mom. She had gotten word to him about the events of the night. Someone saw four men jump the fence of her neighbor who happened to be a police officer. We are not sure at this time why they picked that house, but the officer confronted the four guys and ended up shooting two of them. The other two were on the loose, being hunted by the helicopter, officers and police dogs. We are still trying to find out if these men were apprehended at the end of the evening.

Around 1:00 am, I decided I could stand in the cold no longer. With children living nearby, I figured I'll wake one of them up and sleep on their couch. I started with Katie who did not answer her phone. I decided to drive past the first entrance to see what was happening there, and was relieved to find that the police had moved the barricades to a new position. People were still waiting to get to their homes, but I had a clear shot to my driveway. I was thrilled at being home!

Dave called the next day on his way to Lane's house (where Zero has been staying) to let me know he arrived in Charlotte North Carolina. He was going to spend the day getting food, any other supplies he needed, and getting his new pack from Zero set for the trip. They planned on being on the road early Wednesday morning. They had a 4 hour trip to get to the trail head at Fontana Dam.

At Fontana Dam, Zero and Dave met up with Tailgunner. This is AT mile 163.7. I received Zero's spot that first night, and saw that they had made good progress. As it turns out, they had taken a wrong trail at one point and had to walk extra miles to get to the campground. They ended up doing about 8 miles the first day.

The second day they walked about 8 1/2 miles. They passed "Mollies shelter", and went on to Russell Field Shelter for the night, at AT mile 177.5. As they were hiking the third day, Tailgunner realized he had left his hat back at the shelter, so turned around to get it, saying he'd catch back up with Zero and Dave. That night, Zero and Dave stayed at Siler Bald Shelter, at AT mile 192.2.

Dave called Saturday afternoon to let me know that they got off the trail and into Gatlinburg, TN. Dave said that this is near Dollyworld. It had been raining, sleeting, snowing, and being really cold. It was nice to warm up, do laundry, and tray and get a good night's sleep. Although at that time they had not seen Tailgunner, they did meet up with Butterfly.

Their plan was to get back on the trail Sunday morning and get to the planned location Monday to meet up with the camera man who will be spending some time with them on the trail for the PBS show that is being done about Zero.

I don't plan on hearing from Dave until they get back to Lane's house. He had been trying to call me each night with no luck, but had been using his phone battery. He was unsure if he'd have enough power to call until he could charge his phone again.

Once I hear from him, I'll update the blog. In the mean time, check out the web sites below with some information on the Great Smoky Mountains and the Appalachian Trail.

Look at the Great Smoky Mountain clickable map. The AT is the green dotted line, which in the Great Smoky's lies on the border of Tennessee and North Carolina.

http://web.eecs.utk.edu/~dunigan/gsmnp/mrsid.php

Here are a list of the shelters, and the mileage on the AT.

http://web.eecs.utk.edu/~dunigan/at/

Trail Angel Jane