Date: 2003-03-04
From: Woods Hole Shelter

To: Neels Gap
Miles today: 4.1
Weather: overcast clouds

Day FourBraveheart was an early riser, and exited the shelter before first light. Well, she warned me. I don't have enough willpower yet to do that, get up with enthusiasm in the dark and freezing cold.I did get up to visit the laid-back privy, then got my food bag down from the bear cables. No sign of bears yet, but Anna reported a story BearKat told her about his stay at Woody Gap. Seems a bear came snuffling thru the tent sites late at night, and tho people had hung their bags, he could hear the sound of tents quickly unzipping and bags of GORP and snacks being tossed out. Grrrr! Thanks a lot guys, just teach the bears to "see tent/think food..."Of course, if a bear DOES bother a hiker, it gets tracked down and shot. It was so cold, I ate in my sleeping bag again, then packed up and hiked out with Wench and Hotdog, our last day as a team. Even tho I prefer to hike alone, I have been grateful for the last few days together. We all needed to work it through. I realize that, though wordy, I am not journaling with my unusual zest. Experience tells me it will return, as will my joie de vivre. Some things just take time to adjust to.Today's profile on the map looks like a giant hill - one big up (an hour and change) and one big down (another hour and change). We are climbing Blood Mountain, site of a past battle between Indian tribes. At 4,461 feet, this is tall for North Georgia.I felt my hiking groove start to return, and chugged right on up the Trail in The Zone. Ah, the Zone... Hello, old friend. Felt mighty good to feel it once again.At the top, another crowd of folks. An old stone house crowns the summit, along with some house-sized rocks. Of course, after climbing up a mountain, we HAVE to play on the boulders. We scramble to the top, and someone remembers Ted's flag.Dog is carrying it today since, after tripping over my tent guy at Gooch Gap, his knee has swollen and he is thinking of resting it a day at the Neel's Gap hostel. He hadn't yet had a chance, and with the Wench going on, he wanted to do his time.We unfurled the flag for the first time up there, on those high rocks that give one a view back to Springer. Then those of Pack 31 in attendance stood behind it and held it in the snapping wind. Pringles took all our cameras and took pictures. Roxann, Ted's wife, will be seeing a few of these. After about an hour of summit play, we descended the backside of Blood Mt. My knees were holding up well, thanks to the Cho-Pat braces. My arches were killing me, despite my Long Trail-tested orthotics. Oh well, I'll have five days to rest and try RICE therapy - wRithing, Ibuprofen, Cursing and Excuses.Half-way down, we run into Ma and Pa Wench, who have come up to meet the wackos with whom their baby daughter is hiking. They see thru our hiker stank right down to our hearts of gold, so we pass muster.Down below, we run into BearKat, part of Pack 31 who bolted a day early from Springer. He was afraid we would cry on top of Springer, and set him off. "I don't do that well," he said. BearKat was resting a banged toe. Anna had slacked him from Woody Gap to Neels Gap, so he could rest it.They say Neels is the "halfway point" - that fifty percent of the thru-hikers who start out quit here, at the 30.5 mile mark. Those ARE 30.5 tough miles. But perhaps this is an unusually well-prepared crew, because I know of no one who is getting off the Trail just yet.I shower - ahhhhh, a heavenly pressure and plenty of hot water - and descend to meet Pog (Karen) and Not To Worry (Ed Speer). Pog has written me a postcard so I'd "have some mail" but she has to show me where it is posted. I collect my maildrop, which contains my civilian clothes, and stash my pack with Winton. Ma and Pa Wench take Dog, daughter Wench and me out for some real grub. I order a sausage grinder and chocolate cake for dessert. When we return to Mountain Crossings, the outfitter at Neels, I say good-bye to Dog and Wench and take off with the Wench Parents. They are shuttling me to the Atlanta airport, where I will attend the mandatory national forum for dressage judges. I need to attend to keep my judge's license.People say, well, why didn't you start the Trail after? Well, because I wanted to start March 1, with my friends, that's why.So, here I am now in Florida, a freaking sauna after 19 degrees. Everyone has their air conditioning on. I must wear a coat inside. From grubby hiker duds and friends-who-make-fart-jokes to the unlimited toilet paper and well-appointed equestrian crowd at the West Palm Beach Hilton.It has been a day of contrasts.