Date: 2005-03-21
From: The Blueberry Patch Hostel

To: Muskrat Creek Shelter
Miles today: 11.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Miles hiked today : 11.6I woke up this morning to the sound of a bird call, which was five sharp notes in succession. After each call, the bird would stop long enough for me to almost fall asleep, then it would begin again. Eventually, I did fall asleep again, though the other hikers began making noise around 6:30 a.m., so it was time to get up.The breakfast bell was rung at 8:30 a.m. and we filed into the main house to eat. We met Gary's wife, Lennie, who had been absent last night. As we ate, Gary and Lennie stood by and talked with us. One of the other hikers later commented that it would have been nice if they had sat down with us, rather than hover. I suppose that they stand for a reason, though I didn't take the time to ask why.Shortly after breakfast, our ride into Hiawassee showed up. Raz, the third overnighter, had met a local named Corsican who offered to loan his Jeep for the day. So we piled in and rode with Corsican, who was on his way to meet his wife. Afterward, Raz took us to Rite-Aid, where I picked up some blister pads, just in case I needed them later. I had received some from Serenity earlier in the week and they were very handy.Next, Raz dropped me off at the post office and I went in to pick up my maildrop. I was alarmed to find out that my maildrop wasn't there. I went out to the lobby to call my mom to see if I'd gone to the wrong post office. Sure enough, my first maildrop is in Franklin, NC, about 36 miles up the trail. That's fine, as I didn't want to carry an extra eight pounds of food when I still had plenty of food in my bag.I believe my confusion was due to my plans to send some of my gear home. Items such as my monocular, insect repellant, a thick paperback, and other non-essentials. I ended up mailing more than four pounds of gear home.With my load lightened, I walked a short distance from the post office to Ingles, a local grocery store. I had thought about picking up some more Ritz crackers, but decided on a large bottle of orange juice. As I walked out, a lady on her way to do some shopping asked me how I was and I stopped to talk for a bit. A little while later, I told her I had to go find a ride back to the trail. She IMMEDIATELY offered to drive me there, which I graciously accepted. She introduced herself as Rosie Oswald and we were off.On the way back to the trail, we saw Joe walking back toward The Blueberry Patch and stopped to pick him up too. Rosie dropped me off at Dicks Creek Gap and I was back on the trail by 12:15 p.m.I hiked on and made the North Carolina border right at 5:15 p.m. I stopped for photos at the GA/NC border sign, as well as at the old gnarled tree just past Bly Gap.From the border, it was exactly three miles to Muskrat Creek Shelter and I made it there at 7:15 p.m., shortly after sunset. The night sky was clear enough to hike the last half mile or so by moonlight. I pitched my tent and ate a quick dinner of lemon cookies and peanut butter before closing my eyes at 8:45 p.m.Today I made my way into the Southern Nantahala Wilderness. It appears that I am now out of the Chattahoochee Forest.