Neels Gap to Dick's Creek Gap

Trail magic!!

Day 5

Today I met King Tut with some next-level trail magic. He and his church ministry have been helping hikers for 19 years. In addition to snacks, chairs, water, hot chocolate and coffee, pastries, fresh fruits and veggies, first aid supplies, and a panini press for grilled cheese sandwiches, they gave away hand crocheted hats. Plus King Tut had lots of useful advice and local knowledge.

What a fine day. Too bad I got sunburned.

Then 1 trail mile later I met Sauce, who was a 2022 thru hiker doing trail magic to return the favor for all the help he received. It was a sunny day, I was super well fed, and I hiked into the next shelter with a fun group. Sadly, my burgeoning collection of blisters are not doing well.

It's been a lot of fun hanging out at shelters and having campfires - for the moment, I'm embracing the social side of the AT. I've met retired firefighters, Army vets, traveling nurses; English, Australian, Israeli, and Canadian citizens; and heard MANY regional accents. My habit of spouting fun facts has led to standing invitations to join pub trivia in no less than 3 cities.

Mike, Adjunct, Firebug, Sling, High Speed, Peanut

Day 6

No rain, no Maine. Luckily it wasn't as cold today, though I chose to go into town to dry out overnight. And shower.

Shoes day 6 after the first big rain

Even while waiting for my shuttle into town, I was offered rides and given a free donut. Ingles supermarket in Hiawassee surprised me with a robust bulk bin section, including a whole section of chocolate covered things (I got the chocolate covered peanut butter pretzels) and no less than 6 varieties of trail mix.

Day 7

A decent day of uphills. The real test is whether my gear can reasonably handle the upcoming cold night.

Rhododendron tunnels are the only foliage at this time of year.

Day 8

Well, camping on a high ridge line on an exceptionally cold and windy night was not ideal. While I wasn't always comfortable, I think I handled it okay. Actually, it felt like more heat was lost to the ground (blame the sleeping pad) than around me on top. 

When I wasn't sleeping, I was thinking about the review I would leave for my sleeping quilt. General consensus: I could tolerate about the listed temperature of 15F, but as a cold sleeper and a woman, I would need to take more precautions to be comfortable. I even used the reflective space blanket this week and crinkled loudly with every movement. Lest you think me unprepared, I was wearing 2 pants, 2 socks, 2 hats, neck gaiter, and 4 top layers.

Sunset is currently around 7:30 pm, and hikers tend to be in bed by the time it's fully dark, or even earlier if tired or it's too cold to hang around camp. Then, sunrise is around 7:30 am. Head on pillow time is therefore as much as 13 hours, which means waking up during the night for a while is very reasonable.

Thawed and a little windblown.

I know I'll be missing cold weather soon enough. My current wish is to not have to dive into my sleeping quilt when the sun goes down and the temperature drops, and to be warm enough to take comfortable mid day breaks. Even when adding jackets, I quickly cool down once I'm not walking.

Day 9

Quick town half-day to eat a lot of calories and resupply a few days of food. This year, the town of Hiawassee started running a shuttle bus from the trail, which makes logistics much simpler. Yes, hitchhiking is part of long distance hiking culture, but these are early days.

It's too early to label it a tramily, but more often than not I've been sharing camp with the same 6 or so people. It seems we are a particular pyromaniac group and have a campfire most nights, which is nice in the cold.

Flicker of the campfire, warm and bright.

Happy hiking!