Date: 2004-04-30
From: Helen, GA

To: Deep Gap Shelter
Miles today: 10.9
Weather: light rain

Hitchin' a Ride on the Horse Drawn BuggyStart: Unicoi Gap @ 1200Finish: Deep Gap Shelter @ 1915Miles: 12.6Weather: Drizzle and Clouds over the mountains. Visibility 20-100 Feet.Breakfast: "The Big House" at Huddle House - 3 eggs, 4 bacon strips, Hash Browns, Biscuit w/ Sausage Gravy, OJ, Milk, WaterLunch: Starcrunch, Trailmix, Chocolate Frosted PoptartsDinner: Mountain House Beef Stew, Fudgeround, 4 Swissmiss Packets, Oat n' HoneyTrail Conditions: Steep. Rocky at times, easy going in other placesAnimals: Snail, Horse, Bird, Slug, MothPeople: Nightmare & Clueless, Sticks, Stephen, Butterfinger, many other hikers at Deep Gap Shelter, Sam, all the people at Huddle House who stared at us as we tinkered with out gear outside the building.Today was a fine morning, which appropriately followed a stellar night of drunkenness. I stayed with Sticks and we woke around 0730. Sticks ran to the post office, but his maildrop hadn't come. We prepped our stuff and met N&C at Huddle House at 1015. After bombing a huge breakfast we decided to try and hitch back to Unicoi Gap. Apparently standing in the rain (4 people) with packs and cute rainslickers isn't enough to get people to pick you up. But alas, as we stared at the oncoming traffic whizzing by us we saw in the distance a horse drawn buggy! About 15 minutes later it made it to us. After bribing the driver with Hamburger Helper and Fudge Rounds she cordially offered to take us to the end of town. The driver, whose name I cannot recall (so I will hereby refer to her as Kim), was super nice and told us all about the excitment of the horse drawn buggy business. Not much to it unfortunately. Kim advised she was a massage therapist for two days in Helen, however, bribes for sexual improprities from scuzzy mountain men was too much for her. I can totally empathize with her after meeting the folks at the Southside. Anyways, we made it to the other side of town, and we had success in getting a ride. The four of us piled into the back of a ford ranger and we were off. Aside from some motion sickness, a leg that fell asleep, and a wrong turn by the driver, we made it to Unicoi in one piece. Thanks so much Sam, you're a good man! Climb up Tray MountainWe hit the trail. The climb up Unicoi was tough, especially with a full stomach of Huddle House. Next we tackled Tray Mountain which was horribly steep. These two climbs were like 1500 elevation gains in less than a mile. We reached Tray Mountain Shelter and chilled for about 45 minutes. There were about six hikers bumming there because they didn't want to hike in the rain. We originally were going to stay there, however, after I saw all the campers with cell phones, and playing a portable radio, I decided I had to push on. So all four of us did. It was an easy walk, relative to earlier, however the climb out of Addis Gap was a real chore. Imagine your staircase, make it five degrees steeper, add rocks and roots and make it 1.5 miles long, after already hiking 10 miles...and you have the climb from Addis Gap. Needless to say, we made it to Deep Gap Shelter in one piece. Deep Gap ShelterWe have a full shelter tonight (9 inside) and several tents. It is raining out now. Sticks, Butterfinger, and Stephen are talking so I am going to go join them and read a bit of the good book. Ta ta until tommorrow.One Year ReflectionI wish I hadn't felt hung-over in the morning. That was the last time I drank excessively out on the trail. It was a cool rainy morning, and we all met over at the Huddle House for breakfast. The "Big House" was one of the more memorable breakfasts of the trip, and I would highly recommned their biscuits and gravy. As we ate, we admired the bushes we "rescuplted" the night before.We attempted to hitch out of town, but to no avail. The 4 of us stood in the rain, getting wet as cars passed on by. But glancing down street came a horse drawn buggy. It trotted on up to us, and offered us a ride out of town. So it was, that four wet hikers got a ride the old fashion way. It was absolutely hilarious. After another 20 minutes of thumbing we finally got a ride, in the back of a truck, and were dropped off at Unicoi Gap.I regretted eating my hearty breakfast as the days hike began with a steep climb out of the Gap. Actually the entire day was full of steep climbs. After getting out of Unicoi Gap, it then became a long-haul up Tray Mountain. Tray Mountain is supposed to have great views, but I saw nothing but damp cold clouds and rain. It was not much fun. I rested at Tray Mountain Shelter and decided I would press on as there were a group of people listening to radios and talking on their cellphones. One hiker actually had his cellphone on the waistband to his pack. There was no way I was going to stay there.Tray Mountain was the first shelter where I was able to read a register entry from Ben (Officer Taco). It was hysterically funny, and I can remember a goofy line he wrote in there "Today was the tommorrow I worried about yesterday, but all was well." I thought I had a tough go of it up Tray Mountain, he trudged up it in sleet and freezing rain. It was uplifting to read.So I continued on and began the climb out of Addis Gap. Considering my newness to the trail, it was incredibly difficult, especially after the other climbs I had already done. I was physically very tired and I took it upon myself to initiate a yelling match with mountain to express my disdain with it, and motivate myself to not stop. I really just wanted to collapse, but the ground was muddy.When I finally made it to Deep Gap Shelter I was beaming with pride. I had conquered three of the hardest climbs yet on my trip, and all in one day. There was a slew of people at the shelter, but space to sleep inside, and that was fine with me.Looking back on things, the Georgia climbs were very difficult and seemed exceptionally severe, largely because I was so new to the trail and had never seen such mountains before. When I think of what I climbed over from Vermont to Katahdin, the hills of Georgia are nothing but easy. Its interesting how perspective changes.