Date: 2018-02-27
From: Lance Creek Campsite

To: Neels Gap
Miles today: 7.2
Weather: clear sky

Now THAT was anAMAZING day!!! Had hoped to get a really early start this morning, but when thealarm went off at 6:00 and it was still in the 30¢s, I told Next Step to feelfree to try and get a little more sleep. Still got up before 7:00 and startedour morning ritual of packing up and breakfast. Headed out around 8:45 andbegan our steady ascent to Blood Mountain, the highest Peak in Georgia (4,457feet). With a bright blue sky and cool breeze, it was a perfect day for ahike. Like yesterday, the ground under our feet was mostly soft, butthankfully not nearly as squishy from the rain.Shortly beforereaching Blood Mountain, we passed Jarred Gap (A.T. Mile 26.1). In 1996, whenour son was 4 and our daughter was 2, we started hiking the A.T.from Springer Mtn. as a family and inched our way slowly north along the AT.When we went to visit Next Step¢s Dad in Atlanta, he would often bring us tothe North Georgia Mountains. Grandpa would drop us off at one of the mountaingaps and navigate his way in the car to another location a few miles up thetrail as the kids walked, rock-hopped, splashed, or rode on their Dad¢sshoulders to the pick-up spot. So, what does this have to do with Jarred Gap?Well, that is as far north as we would make it in several hikes spanning a fewyears. So, all of this section of the trail north of Jarred¢s Gap is newterritory for us.Blood Mountaindid not disappoint. The scenery during the ascent was awesome and the view fromthe top was breathtaking. The climb was strenuous, but not overly difficult. Asadvertised, the descent was a much steeper grade and the surface waspredominantly granite. On a wet day, it would have been a tenuous trek down,but today it was just fun. Blood Mountainwas just one milestone in a day of milestones for us. At the bottom of themountain was the iconic Mountain Crossings Outfitter and Hostel at Walasi-Yi,Neel¢s Gap. We arrived around 1:15 and I headed straight to the counter to buymy Coke Zero, the first one I¢d had since Saturday!! We decided that with theupcoming forecast of some pretty heavy rain all day Wednesday and Thursdaymorning we would take a Zero on Wednesday. More importantly, the forecast forseveral days beyond Thursday looks great. We want to maximize trail time onthose types of days so we moved our planned Zero at Unicoi Gap (Hiawassee, GA)up a few days. We will now likely just do a quick re-supply at Hiawassee, thenreturn to the trail.Now MountainCrossings is definitely an AMAZING outfitter, but I really didn¢t want my firstpizza on the hike to come out of a freezer, so we made a decision to catch ashuttle into Blairsville and spend two nights there. The shuttleteam, Donald and Mary, were wonderful and extremely helpful, telling useverything we needed to know about the little town of Blairsville. We headed tothe Seasons Inn which is run by another really nice and superaccommodating couple. A pizza place right across from the motel?!?! Um,hello...Can it really get any better than this? Actually, yes. Before headingto Papa¢s Pizza (BTW, an all-you-can-eat buffet for $7.07 including your drink.I¢ll have two of those buffets, please!)  I got my first shower sinceSaturday. It really makes you appreciate the little things, for sure!! Aftersupper we walked into town to the Family Dollar and Ingall¢s to re-supply. We cameback and got the laundry done so that we can do nothing but R&R on our Zero(AND there¢s even a movie theater, so you know that¢s where we¢ll be tomorrowafternoon with candy and popcorn). Have only been out here for 4 days, butfeeling blessed beyond measure. Thank you all for the prayers and encouragingwords. God is holding us tightly in His amazing hands! - Which WayElevation Data:Ascent ~ 2,000Descent - 1,820Grade - 9.6Weather:Day - 60 / SunnyNight - 55 / RainOver the Horizon: GA/NC BorderUpdate: Next Step has a huge bruise on his right leg from the injury he sustained on Sassafrass Mtn. He assures me that although it is still a little sore, he is fine to walk on it. Let¢s hope that a day of rest will help it to fully heal.