Date: 2009-03-07
From: Woods Hole Shelter

To: Bull Gap campsite
Miles today: 4.8

Up at 6:15am, on the trail at 7:45. Lows this morning in the lo 50s with very thick fog, highs today around 70. I have been informed that these temps are very much above normal.All week I have been hearing about festivities that are being planned for today at the Mountain Crossing outfitters at Neels Gap. Apparently they are doing their annual hiking season kickoff bash (an all day and into the night affair) which starts with Trail Magic (free food) at lunch. And wouldn't you know it, I plan on arriving there just before noon. Col. Mustard is hoping for hot dogs...how appropriate. The only serious hiking this morning is up and over Blood Mtn. I get up there around 9am about 15 minutes after Q-tip, Col. Mustard and Brickyard. The entire mountain is socked in with fog but I wait around a bit after they leave on the off-chance the fog will burn off and I will get some good pics. My loitering was rewarded. The pic above is just one of several I got up there. On the way down Blood Mtn. I catch up with Col. Mustard....who is limping. Seems he has slipped and fallen on a large, fog moistened rock, breaking one of his two hiking sticks and tweaking his left knee. This is a knee he has had issues with in the past. I decided to accompany him down the mountain to the outfitters despite his protests that it wasn't necessary. We arrived at about 10:45. I wandered over to the patio to find some students from a local religious college preparing some Trail Magic. It isn't hot dogs...IT WAS BURGERS WITH ALL THE FIXIN'S! After my first one the girl doing the serving said she was going to time me on the second one. Very funny. I decided to stop at three burgers as I didn't want to seem like a pig. I also took this opportunity to wash my laundry and take a shower...whether I needed one or not. I also did some resupplying as I didn't have enough food to get to Hiawassee, GA, my next stop. The noontime Trail Magic wasn't the only festivities planned for the day. That evening there was to be live music, late night drum circles and....FREE BEER! Maybe I'm getting too old but I decided to pass on the party and (sob) the free beer to head for the Bull Gap campsite. But it wasn't all bad. When the religious college kids were wrapping up they had some leftover burgers. I scored two patties, a bun, a dash of ketchup and wrapped it all in a plastic burger bun bag for supper. Before I left I went to check on Col. Mustard. He had to decided to crash at the outfitter's hostel, take some "vitamin I" and ice the knee with the plan of hitting the trail the following morning.I left at about 4pm. On the way to Bull Gap I saw a hiker with a very large backpack with no waistbelt carrying a folding chair. Obviously not thru hiking. We got to talking and trading stories. Turns out his name was Bluedomer and he had done the entire trail southbound in 1993. He was on his way to a secret campsite to meet some buddies for a weekend "campout". He went on and on about how "envious" he was and that I was going to "love it". When we reached my campsite he said he was going to "...lay some Trail Magic on ya". He reached into his backpack and pulled out a bottle of Trader Joe's Hoffrau Boch. He then said goodbye, adding that I should hide the bottle and he would pick it up on his way out tomorrow. Q-Tip showed up a few minutes later and refused my offer to split the beer with him. So under a warm Georgia sky on the Appalachian Trail I settled back to enjoy a beer and a burger.