Date: 2010-02-09
From: Gooch Mountain Shelter

To: Neel Gap Hostel
Miles today: 15.5

In the morning, I awoke before 8:00 and prepared to leave. It was very cold, but off I went towards Neels Gap. After several hours I passed through Woody Gap, where I met a middle-aged couple on a geo mission. The man took my photo with his iphone and emailed it to my mom and dad. They lady kept looking at me like she wished she had a son of her own. My first run in with Trail Magic!It was 11:00 and I continued on up to the ominously titled Blood Mountain. Cherokee and Creek warriors met head to head on these slopes, leaving so many dead that the streams ran red with blood. On the way up, I passed homeless and unemployed, two 2001 thru-hikers on a stroll for the day. Two of the nicest hippies I¢ve ever met. The man really wanted to give me tips and advice and the woman was beaming at me the whole time. I¢m not entirely sure why, but that couple filled me up with so much positive energy.Down into the next gap, I began to micro-nap. I don¢t know how long it lasted, but I continued to twist my ankle and walk off the trail, and even hallucinate (I saw my dad¢s face in a poplar tree, even double-taking to make sure) until, at last, I threw down my pack and collapsed trailside for a deep, hour long nap.Blood Mountain wasn¢t too difficult. It climbed up and over several false summits and finally wound up into a rocky, rhododendron covered peak. The wind was steady and snow was still on the ground. I Exploded off the trail and shot down the mountain (small birds for once played in the rhododendron). I found cougar tracks. An ornery, cantankerous skunk was said to occupy the mountaintop shelter, and a bear had reportedly been ¢hanging out¢ around the summit. To accentuate the sense of wildness was the narrow trail itself, which tunneled through the rhododendron and crawled over mossy rocks. On the summit¢s main rocky outcrop, I saw the entire North Georgia Mountains rolling out and a pink and purple sunset over them. The CCC constructed shelter, a 2 room stone edifice complete with windows and a fireplace. Still, drafts of cold wind kept the shelter far from cozy, so I gambled on finding a free place to stay and moved on down the mountain to Neels Gap.I reached Neels Gap outfitter by 5 o¢clock, closing time, but fortunately the Hiker Hostel was open. There were several men milling about, all with foot-long gray beards and long hair. A long beard means one thing in the mountains - experience- so, naturally, I was excited to spend a night with the experts. The price was only $15, said one bearded man, with the possibility of working it off. I sat down inside and wrote while another bearded man prepared tacos and rambled on about how ¢everything was going to shit¢ thanks to an enforcement of state ordinances. Two more bearded men walked in the door and dissappeared out the back. ¢Can you shoot a cougar?¢ I asked. ¢Sure, I don¢t see why not. But if they catch you they¢ll throw you in jail¢, said one of the gnarliest of the bunch. Then he let out a long calm laugh and started talking to the cats. ¢Come get dinner,¢ he said after awhile, ¢or the cats¢ll get to it. Actually, they already have.¢ He laughed at that.After dinner I boiled some tea and sat by the heater to write in my journal. In ten minutes I was curled up in the chair asleep. It was so nice being warm.