Date: 2013-03-29
From: Hiawassee Budget Inn

To: Muskrat Creek Shelter
Miles today: 11.8
Weather: scattered clouds

It took me forever to fall asleep. I felt wired. I also realized that I'm a "wide" sleeper. I like to kick a leg out here, an arm out there. Sleeping bags make me feel like I'm wrapped in duct tape. Oh well. I guess I'll just have to get over that. I awoke around 6:30 and convinced myself to stay in bed until 7. I got the bag packed back up. I had stuff strewn from one side of the room to the other. I guess I'm a wide un-packer, as well. I popped over to Subway and ordered two egg, bacon & cheese English muffins and an orange juice that I had exhausted before I could even pay for it. The sandwich artist was generous enough to double the egg and bacon. Trail magic! I think I'm finally coming into my trail appetite. I bought another pair of socks from 3 Eagles Outfitter's. I'm trying to get the right sock combination down. My boots are a little too big, and I've come to realize that my feet are different sizes- my left being slightly smaller than my right. One sock seems to do the trick on the right, but I'm doubling up on socks on the left. Three socks. Whatever works!With hikers all packed in the free shuttle, we headed up to Unicoi Gap to drop off one set of hikers. Two days ago I huffed and puffed to get there, and today we cruise to the top using horsepower without a second thought. It felt like cheating. The driver swung us over to Dick's Gap. We unloaded, sorted out stuff, did some stretches and put on our game-faces. It was so warm that I shed a few layers before stepping off on the first climb. About a mile into the trail I passed Wrong Way. The back of her heels were taped up and she was standing barefooted. She, too, had suffered blister issues, and even after a few days off and new shoes, her feet were still giving her problems. So she opted to hike barefoot. We hiked together and chatted for a bit, and she managed to maintain a good pace. I was impressed. It was a lovely, lovely hike. The hills weren't so aggressive, and the temperature was perfect. At one point I rounded a corner in a rhododendron tunnel and came to a halt. The scene in front of me was so ethereal that I hesitate to describe it. A steep rocky spring seemed to appear out of the side of the hill. Three humongous bright green moss-covered trees with roots intertwined lay on their sides facing down the hill. Everything about them seemed to be intact, and they lay so gracefully and unbroken it was hard to imagine how they could have come to be there. The cliff to the side was covered in its stark white ice beard. It felt ghostly calm. All I could do was stand there and stare. After a few minutes I moved forward and decided to sit on a rock and adjust my boots and try to prolong the moment. I heard voices and knew it was Thor and Happy-Grumpy. As soon as they rounded the corner they too came to a sudden halt, taken by the same scene that had struck me. I smiled to myself; I wasn't the only one entranced by the scene before me. I ran into Jay and G-man, and Jay and I continued to leap-frog each other for the next few miles. Jay was waiting on his group at the Georgia/North Carolina line when I got there, and he helped capture my crossing on camera. Woohoo!I had planned to stop at the border and camp, but I was feeling great. Instead I refilled water and decided to push on the next shelter. Forecast was for rain, and I hoped to get under cover. As gentle as the last few miles of Georgia were the first few miles of North Carolina were a bitch. It was a complete shock to the system. Seemingly straight up. My heart pounded. The blister on my heel screeched a few times, but I was committed. Suddenly snow. What? I finally arrived at the shelter and claimed a place right next to the wall. There were a few tents set up, and several people lingering about. The promised forecast rain came down in the form of giant snow flakes. Again? Strider (an impressively large hiker), Day Pack (a 2012 thru-hiker who enjoyed it so much the first time that he decided to do it again- and try to make everyone else feel slightly inferior to his expertise), Johnnie, Cold Feet, Blue, Tore, Canadian Bacon & Zen Master, Jay, Storytime, Hammie, Pack-rat, Wrong Way (barefoot until she hit the snow)and many, many others continued to trickle in. Spirits were high as everyone was pleased to get Georgia behind them!