Date: 2006-05-25
To: Day Eight On the Trail-Jerrard Gap to Neel Gap
Miles today: 5.0

May 25, 2006   DAY EIGHT ON THE TRAIL ¢ Jerrard Gap to Neel GapDay 8. Jerrard Gap to Neel Gap (5 miles)Woke up about 6:30, showered, finished packing and left the motorhome at 7:30. We drove to the Winfield Scott Recreational Area. This was one of the most twisted, curved roads I have ever seen. Once in the area, we headed up the Jerrard Gap Road to a private road gate. From here, Dennie and I began our hike to Jerrard Gap and Ris« headed back to the motorhome and then to Chattanooga. (This was the location of our Saturday night disaster site.)Now we are back on the trail and feeling fine. I had my complete trail breakfast and drank an additional 32oz of Gatorade. I am eating more food and concentrating on candy and high sugar items. And, I¢m still down 10 pounds. I also make sure I am drinking plenty of water.The new hiking poles are great. But I am having trouble with one of the straps. Nate told me the straps are set up for right and left hands. In addition, one strap is twisted. Dennie has new shoes and they are working so much better.Dennie is really hot and tired and doesn¢t have much energy. He says he is too hot and tired to eat or drink much. I hope he isn¢t the one who ¢hits the wall¢ this time. We made good progress. We passed Woods Hole Shelter, the Slaughter Creek Campsite and then began our climb up Blood Mountain. It is called Blood Mountain because it is the site of a particularly bloody battle between the Creek and Cherokee Indians before settlers were in the area. This is a long, steady, steep climb that was fairly tough. I think we both arrived on top in really good shape. There is a shelter on Blood Mountain. It was built around 1934 as a fire lookout tower and has since become an AT trail shelter. The building is built out of solid rock ¢ it actually has 4 walls and two rooms. However, there aren¢t any doors or windows. There is a new privy but no water in the vicinity. There are huge boulders and lots of blooming rhododendron in the area. We had lunch, relaxed, took pictures and talked with other hikers including Stryder and Toad, (Toad means¢¦Totally Outrageous and Delightful) a couple from Maine that maintain a section of the trail in Maine. We talked about the Maine section of the trail and where to find moose. They said that they always see moose when they go to Rangley, a trail town. That¢s where Ris« will want to join me on the AT next summer. There was a trail maintenance crew working on the section around the shelter.Then we started down. We had been warned that the trip down would be tougher than the ascent. There are huge flat rocks that must be negotiated by trusting shoes and hiking poles to prevent slipping and falling. Several times the white blaze is placed on the face of the rocks instead of on the trees. At times the rock was so wide that we needed to see the blazes to know the direction of the Trial. Then it began to cloud up and we could here distant thunder. When we felt the drops, we stopped and located our rain gear. But, for awhile, we just carried the gear instead of putting it on. Pretty soon the sun came out and eventually we decided to just attach our gear to the outside of our packs. Then when there were more drops, we had our gear out and ready. We continued on down the trail with Dennie in the lead. No sooner had he started down a rock face, when he turned around and looked at me and said, ¢I don¢t see the trail¢. Looking down the hill, all I could see was a jumble of rock with no trail in site. He was convinced we had lost our way. I caught up with him and after looking around, spotted the white blaze just behind me. I continued on down the rocks and found a path that we could follow. Then we continued on towards Neel Gap. All of a sudden, it started to rain, so, we hurried and put on the rain gear. Then there was hail! It wasn¢t large, but it was at least 14 to 12 inches. It didn¢t hurt except when it hit my poor bald head with only a thin silk-nylon layer of protection. The rain gear worked well except we were wet from the knees down. We went into the Walasi-Yi (pronounced wa-LA-see-yee) Center and paid our $15 so we could stay in the 16-bunk, two room hostel and take advantage of the shower and a place to dry our stuff.While I was at the Walasi-Yi center, I had them check out my new hiking poles. The hand straps were twisted and were rubbing. When Alpine (the salesman) couldn¢t fix them quickly, he just gave me a new set and made the statement that customer satisfaction was their highest priority. Then Winton, the owner, helped me continue looking for a pair of hiking boots. He had a pair of size 14¢s that were wide enough, but were too long. He will order a new pair and call me. Since yesterday, I have repaired my shoes and we will see if it will last. I hope it works, because I am not ready to blow the last of my Trail mad money at this point. As evening approached, we settled into the shelter for the night. Those spending the night included Toad and Stryder (we met them on Blood Mountain), Aaron and Noah and Dan. Aaron and Noah are from Michigan and just graduated from Central Michigan University. Dennie graduated from CMU as well. Believe it or not, they roomed at a house that was just around the corner from where Dennie roomed when he went to school. Dan is a dentist from Chattanooga who was just day hiking in the area. Lots of good food and good conversation was had by all and I went to bed around 10:00.