Date: 2013-04-02
From: Around Low Gap

To: Uncle Johnny's Hostel
Miles today: 20.0
Weather: clear sky

I apologize for my lack of journal entries! I'm going to try to get caught up while in Erwin, where I am now. Yesterday Fly, Moxie, Chinstrap, 12 oz , Biscuits, and I awoke to a cold morning at a camp site near low gap, just after Sam's Gap. 12 oz and Chinstrap ( aka Rob and Kensey) began the trail at the exact moment I did. I met kensey's parents under the arch at Amicalola as my friend Rob and I were heading out. I had seen them periodically since then at every town stop, but I had never hiked with them before. They spent the night of the 31st with Fly, Grrrr, Moxie, and I at Flint Mtn Shelter. Hobbit and Cribbage ( a section hiking couple from Arizona) were also there. From Low Gap some of us planned to hike to town while Biscuits and Chinstrap planned on just getting close. Biscuits had been up all night being sick and did not feel up to the almost 20 mile day. Low Gap camp was a bad place to me unlike any other I have experienced since beginning my hike. When I got there I immediately felt like I should camp somewhere else. Fly told me she was in a bad mood, and Chinstrap, Biscuits, and 12 oz said they just wanted to get in their tents and sleep ( something unusual for them). I spent an hour and a half lying down in different places trying to decide where to set up my tent and was eventually told a place to set up. Every place I tried felt wrong. I didn't sleep well and Biscuits was sick all night. I'm normally not superstitious or anything but in the morning I was the last to break camp and felt so uncomfortable I left without getting water, opting instead to hike on and find a spring somewhere else. At the spring about a mile ahead I was already feeling better, and it was here that I met Corduroy. I asked him how he got his name and couldn't believe it when I saw he was wearing corduroy pants...We hiked over a big bald and the weather and views were beautiful. We descended to a beautiful forest and at the next shelter I stopped in and saw that Slapp and Dragon had left messages in the register for me ( praising my foot massage skills... More explanation later.... Frozen toes on max patch).While sitting at the shelter Zippy and Ann ( now Diddo) walked up and joined Moxie and I! They got off the trail at Sam's Gap and are planning to get off again in Erwin to go to a wedding. I hiked most of the day alone, giving Chinstrap a scare around lunch time when he saw me drinking a bottle of cold chai tea ( the bag had come apart in the bottle and it looked like horrible unfiltered water). I also passed Trisha ( Trixie/YeaBlaze??) and Cricket walking south with Roscoe! What a surprise. They got off for weather at Sam's Gap as well and shuttled to Erwin where they started hiking south. I passed Biscuits lying down for a nap in the middle of the trail... I hope he is feeling better now. Climbing out of Spivey Gap was tough but I was motivated and caught up with 12 ounce and Fly at the No Business Knob shelter where I met Jake. Rooster was there as well. We all made it down to Uncle Johnny's Hostel, where I was reunited with Slapp and Dragon! Fly and I got a ride into Erwin from a slack packer from Florida named Rick. He dropped us off at a Mexican restaurant and we stuffed ourselves. The waiter giggled when he dropped off my two burritos and three tacos, but I ate them all and then we went across the street and got a couple take out pizzas. We were trying to hitch back to the hostel for less than five minutes when I heard a guy lean out of a window and yell " why don't you get a job and take a shower!" A white van pulled over and inside was the famous Miss Janet and a thru hiker named Pilgrim ( Miss Janet runs a hostel, we have heard of Pilgrim). We really enjoyed speaking with them and they drove us all the way back to the hostel! Talk about trail magic. Back at the hostel we enjoyed a couple beers then went to bed , ready to slack pack another 20 miles bright and early!