Date: 2010-04-03
From: Bly Gap

To: Beech Gap
Miles today: 12.1

I had a good nights rest in my tent, (a North Face Mica 12) which I love. I forced myself to eat some of my food. I enjoyed my instant coffee and drank as much water as I could before leaving Bly Gap. Today¢s elevation change will start at 3,840 and ascend to 5,498. I departed camp about 8:30am and dealt with two steep climbs immediately. Most of the springs had water flowing, so that was nice. I decided that if the water was coming directly out of the ground I would not purify it, but if it was an actual exposed stream then I would. It worked for me because I never had any problems. In fact during my entire hike I felt great. Yes there were times of fatigue and muscle soreness. If I stopped for just a few seconds or a minute or two, I recovered quickly. Even though I knew I needed to take in more calories I had plenty of energy. It is a 2.8 mile ascent up Standing Indian Mountain. On all of my long ascents I would change to a slow but steady pace. This way, I could stop and recover in just a few seconds and get going again. My experience on the Laural Highlands and Susquehannock Trails in Pennsylvania proved to be invaluable because I had learned to expect false summits and was not intimidated by these climbs that seemed to have no end. It is easy to understand why so many hikers give up in Georgia. If you are not mentally and physically prepared, these hills can do anybody in! So when I am almost to the summit of Standing Indian Mountain I meet Jimmie the Scotsman. He is in his 60¢s and one tough hiker and one nice guy. We took a break together and headed for the summit. There were still patches of snow on the summit. I lost track of Jimmie. I knew he was behind me. I start the descent, which was full of exposed tree roots. Suddenly I hear something rushing at me from behind. I thought, I was being attacked by a bear or wild boar. I turned, assumed a fighting stance and raised my trekking poles to defend myself as best I could. If it was a bear I knew I had to stand and fight. If it was a boar I knew my only chance was to get up off of the ground. It was Jimmie. He had caught up to me and had tripped over one of those exposed roots. After flying through the air, he fell on his knee and cut his head. He was a little dazed but recovered quickly and we hiked a while together and ended up camping in the same area that night. That night while talking with the other Brits I referred to Jimmie as ¢The Flying Scotsman¢ for the way he came flying at me from behind. This is how trail names come about. I also ran into another hiker ¢Ripple¢ who¢s journal I had read. When I got to camp and removed my boots one of the other hikers commented on my bloody sock. I treated these blisters quickly with Neosporin and kept them clean so they never got infected and healed.I slept very well. I had my coffee and breakfast, which was probably just a power bar. I filled my water containers and hit the trail around 8:45. I was being bothered by bugs and wished I would have kept my deet in my pack, but I decided I would not need it this time of year. I was wrong. I got stung by something below my left eye while taking down my tent and thought very little of it. I was happy because the trail was fairly level for some distances enabling me to make some great time. As the day progressed I noticed my left eye swelling. I already have a band-aid on my nose and now a swollen left eye. I ran into a family that was hiking the trail only for a couple of days and we would take each other¢s picture at the vistas. They must have been used to thru-hikers because they were not taken aback the least bit my appearance. Thank you Frank Foot for the trail magic at Mooney Gap. The climb up Albert Mountain will forever live in my memory. I met up with the Brits and a married couple - Carl and Carrie from Kentucky that I became friends with and saw quite a bit on the trail. Frank Foot gave me a PBR. I am not really a PBR man. I chilled it in the stream and slowly sipped it. It was one the best tasting beers I have ever had. True trail magic.