Date: 2014-04-29
From: Hawk Mountain Shelter

To: Gooch Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 7.7
Weather: moderate rain

Day 2: Hawk Mtn to Gooch Mtn Shelter Sometimes you can¢t help but be shortsighted on the trail, there¢s just too much damn fog! Last night was filled with strange dreams, was it the Naproxen before bed? Was it the racket from the storms and the tarps incessant rattling? Perhaps a bit of undigested meat? Whatever it was I awoke with a generally unsettled feeling and not much rest. Thank goodness for the tarps because the shelter would have been very wet last night. The wind was strong last night and early this morning; the rain pelted the shelter, and but for the occasional lightning which popped like an old flashbulb leaving the after image of shadows against the tarps, it was pitch black in the shelter. I could not even see my hand in front of my face which was a little disturbing because it¢s what I imagine blindness to be like- a kind of void. Today is a short day to stage another short hike tomorrow and that will set me up to get through the bear canister required area on Thursday. The canister area is a 5+-mile stretch passing two shelters and climbing Blood Mountain before descending to Neel Gap. It is the only area (currently) where a bear canister is required for overnight camping. Needless to say few people want to make the investment/carry the weight for 5 miles. I took a lazy and late departure at 9 a.m.. It was raining and still foggy, Sweet and Sour and the new graduate couple had already departed. I started with a rain jacket on, then took it off, then put it back on, then off for good¢¦ there¢s no point sweating to death in a rain jacket; it kind of defeats the purpose of ¢staying dry¢. The wind was pretty constant, and this causes an interesting phenomenon which I discovered last year climbing Shuckstack out of Fontana Dam; although it is raining, the wind is strong enough to keep my nylon pants relatively dry. It¢s strange but wonderful because I don¢t get soaked and as long as I keep moving, I¢m not cold either.I mentally prepared to tackle Sassafras Mountain; Sour had quoted it as ¢a mountain more difficult than Blood Mountain¢ because it goes straight up for 650+ feet. From Hawk Mtn you descend 350¢ and then climb right back up the northern side of High Tower Gap ~400¢ to enter a series of rollercoaster ups and downs. Today I was looking for signs of Army Rangers who train in the area. We heard choppers the other day, but never saw soul. I was wondering if the Rangers were getting soft, not training in the rain- but how is that possible?! Anyway, saw MRE remains (could be Army, could be a hiker or hunter) and a black jungle hat which was Army issue but alas no Rangers. No Rangers despite my loud and amazingly melodious renditions of several partial cadences that I can now only vaguely recall. Do they still sing ¢C-130 rolling down the strip¢ or has it changed to a C-5 or C-17, I wonder. I feel old now. Anyway, I psyched myself up enough that Sassafras was a relative non-event climb. There were hundreds of red and yellow Columbine strewn over the mountainside, unfortunately there are little photo opportunities because the direct sunlight washes things out or creates too many highlights and shadows for my camera (and the operator) to deal with. Take my word for it though, Sassafras was all decked out in flowers and it was a beautiful distraction as I climbed. The fog meant little to no views. Georgia, oh Georgia, you may be on my mind but I have no idea what you look like beyond a football field or so around me. Would I pass through Georgia without a decent view? Happily, my question was answered in the negative when I summitted Justus Mountain (3,224¢) less than a mile from Cooper Gap. Finally, there was a semi-blue sky. I ecstatically took photos of sky, tree-occluded views of mountains to the east of me, yeah! The flowers looked a little battered but held their blooms despite the high winds from the other night: white Trillium, the maroon-colored Toadshade Trillium with it¢s huge leaves and a few of the greenish-yellow variants. There were a few blow downs across or near the trail. Some amazingly large trees now leaned against others for support or had come to lay to rest on the forest floor, I guess they will be bear buffets soon enough. The descent from Justus Mountain leads me to Justus Creek, quite active bubbling along with the recent rainfall. I decided to hang out there for a little while, enjoying the sound of the creek, having lunch and just chilling out. About 30 minutes after I arrived, Garrett and his girlfriend (the recent graduates) arrived and stayed for lunch. When you hike alone, or even as a couple, you don¢t get a lot of photos together, so I took theirs at the Creek which made them happy.The last 1.5 miles was no topographically challenging, a few minor bumps on an otherwise low-grade ascent to Gooch Mountain shelter, and yet somehow it seemed to go on and on! I finally arrived at the shelter around 3, and met Pack-mule and his daughter Downhill (she loved the downhill sections of the AT). It was her first hike on the AT and they were sectioning to Neel Gap. Unfortunately, Downhill had some sore knees from the AT downhills. They were taking an off day to see if she could heal up properly. I gave Downhill some advice about rolling her spandex leggings up to under her knee as a kind of brace; it worked well for me two years ago when I had knee pain. Downhill gave me a lesson on Spotify, so now I¢m more up to date than Pandora! Tobias, Dave and Daniel were also at the shelter but decided to move on- looking to push either to Woody Gap which would give them a 10-mile hike tomorrow to get to Neel Gap. An hour or so later, Sweet and Sour showed up, and a bit after that Heather and Jeff appeared though they decided to backtrack a 12 mile south to a nice tent site they located. Tonight I met thru-hiker, Michael (no trail name yet), he¢s a recent graduate with a Religious Studies/History degree. He¢s had a very interesting life thus far having already worked and visited in China and India. He is awaiting a job opening as a director for programs in India that are used by students wanting to take a gap year between high school and college. I wish him the very best and hope he¢s able to maintain his vegetarian lifestyle on the trail. As a just-about vegetarian, I eat little meat at home but the smell of meat on the AT is intoxicating.Day 2- FlowersA few hours after David, Tobias and Daniel took off, I noticed a couple of small storage bags, it turns out that David left his phone (Sweet confirmed it as his) so I called ahead to Mountain Crossings at Neel Gap and informed them that I would be bringing it but it would be a day later than David was due to arrive. Completed the usual camp chores, had dinner, got more weather updates about the anticipated storms tonight and settled in for the evening. Gooch is a nice shelter, though what I read made it would like it had a terrible rodent problem¢¦ we shall see. Sweet and Sour decided to take down their tent and move into the shelter after hearing about another storm on the way. The shelter is not crammed tonight, but good company is here. Hoping to get better sleep than last night! Goodnight from my hooch at Gooch, ~27 miles into my hike! More photos for the trip can be seen at: 2014 2000Miler