Date: 2008-01-19
From: Neel's Gap

To: Gooch Mtn Shelter
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: overcast clouds

*I went through and added a bunch of pictures. I may go back and add even more. This is my first time at looking at a lot of them. Some of them turned out way better than I could have thought.mi. 15sleep shelterdest. Gooch Mountain Shelterday 190Well it seems to be a reoccurring theme not to get started early. Not really that big of deal. It just means we will probably not hike down the approach trail. Meat had a package going to the outfitters. When I called yesterday I did not think about asking them to put it in the hostel. So we ended up waiting for them to open. It was cool going in and taking a look around.I talked with one of the guys there for a few minutes about my foot and shoe problems. He said that it sounded to him like the starting of plantar factious. I can¢t say I am that surprised, I was thinking that was what it was to start with. He recommended looking into a good insole first. That might be enough to keep me in trail runners. I think after I get done and settled I will get a good set and try the same shoes I am using now. From there I will start looking at light hikers. I am also going to start looking into lightening my load. I know I am carrying more weight not than I could be. A lot of that is my pack, the rest is a few things I need to find or make lighter alternatives to. But that is for the next adventure.We got packed up and headed out right around 10am. Just in time for the snow to start. We both wanted to put some distance in today. We are planning on finishing up tomorrow. The more we do tomorrow the easier tomorrow will be. Another reason to put more in is the Memorial walk up Blood Mountain planned for tomorrow. I am not going to get into what happened here, it did affect me. I just think this is not the best forum to discuss my views on it. The walk tomorrow is expected to have over a thousand people show up. It turned into a small cleansing ceremony from the local Cherokee Indians to a huge deal. I really did not want to be in the area with all of those people. I will say I don¢t think that walk is one that people who do not hike would be ready for. It was a little rocky, snow covered, well below freezing, and by tomorrow might have some ice to deal with.The hike up Blood was not that bad at all, neither was the way down. I have no idea what everyone is talking about here. It is the GA Mountains here. There are not that bad of climbs anywhere to be found. The last ones that I think might be hard is the climb up on either side of the Smokies. They were not hard, just long. The stretch I did after getting back on the trail was steep in places, but not bad either. I know it is harder just starting out, but I don¢t see what all of the northbounders are complaining about. There is dirt here; all I remember is rocks, roots, and mud where I started. But anyways. I¢ll try on my next journal not to rant so much, no guarantees though.I really enjoyed today¢s walk. It was one of those nice walks in the snow. It was cold, but not too bad. Just great scenery and views all around. The best part is this means there is going to be snow on Springer. I have been thinking about it and I really want snow in my Springer picture. I have seen southbounder finishing pictures in and out of the snow. The snow ones look way cooler.Originally I was thinking about pushing on with a little night hiking. We were not sure if Meat¢s ride could get up the forest service road that goes to within .9 of the top of Springer. I fell a little behind. I wasn¢t feeling pushing it too hard my last couple days out. Meat got to the shelter a few minutes before me. I walk up to the smell of a campfire. I look up and see a huge bonfire. We talked for a minute and it did not take long to convince us to stay there. Plus it was already 6pm and the next shelter was 7 miles away.There were actually 3 different groups of people here. 2 friends in their late 20¢s from Atlanta, a guy from south GA, and a father and son from NC. I didn¢t expect to be spending my last night on the trail with other people. We did pass a good number of people on the hike today. Most of them were early on and seemed to only be day hiking. One guy we talked to brought his girlfriend up for her first overnight and is planning on camping somewhere on Blood Mtn. Can¢t say that is the first backpacking experience I want to give someone. All the people here seemed pretty cool. Did I mention the fire here was huge? It wasn¢t the highest flames I have seen, but it was the hottest. There were multiple feeders already going on it. I was told a new gauge on how hot the fire is. If you stood at the outside of the snow circle, there was a 6 foot wide melted circle of snow around the center of the fire. It felt like Atlanta. If you moved a little in it got to feel around Northern FL. I little farther in it was Ft Lauderdale. Closer yet it was Miami. Closer still it was the middle of the Sahara. All the way in it was the surface of the sun. I thought that was great, temp based on location.It feels really strange to be out on my last night. I am ready for it to be over, but yet I¢m not. If the weather was warmer I think I would be taking my time more. The cold nights and days have just been wearing on me. Tonight is supposed to be another cold one. Maybe one of my coldest yet. I am sleeping with everything I don¢t want to freeze. I think Deluxe said it best. If we had the money we would keep hiking until it got warm again. Though a couple different trails we can hike all the way through FL. I heard from them and him and Oblivious summated on the 13th.It only took me until my last night on the trail, but I finally heated up water and put it in my nalgene and in my sleeping bag. It feels phenomenal even after being in there for over an hour. It is almost too hot to the touch to hold. Next time I think I will be doing this from the start. Especially on nights where there is a fire going. After all I can cook over it and it does not use any fuel.Meat and I talked for awhile tonight. I just can¢t get over how strange it feels to be finishing up. It feels like forever ago that I started. Maine does feel like years ago. I can¢t get over all the amazing adventures I had, people I met, and places I been to. I plan on getting more into this post hike. I am planning a couple entries. A thoughts on the trail one. Maybe a breakdown on places for those who want them. I gear breakdown on what I used. Maybe a one on my transition back to the non-real world. I¢ll put warning on the top of those so you know what you are getting yourself into ahead of time.