Date: 2004-05-12
From: Neels Gap (Walasi-Yi Hostel)

To: Gooch Mtn Shelter
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: light rain

Care Packages6PM - Gooch Gap ShelterStarted off today in the mist and the dripping left over from yesterday's rain (I forgot to mention that I got caught in a thunderstorm and downpour 30 minutes out of Neels Gap yesterday.). I climbed Blood Mtn which has many vista points toward Springer Mtn, but couldn't see more than 100'. The sun tried to come out all day but alternated with sprinkles until I got to the shelter around 4. Now it is shining brightly. I'm looking forward to tomorrow, my last day on the southbund leg of my hike. I need to walk nearly 16 miles by 4 PM to catch my ride. That should be no problem, but I am not as enthusiastic about the walking since I have been doing high mileage days. I am frankly looking forward to being off the Trail for a while.I got a care package at Neels Gap yesterday from a former colleague. I would like to say a few words about care packages. I think these words apply to all thru hikers.First of all, the cookies were awesome, Jo-Anne. Thanks. It is thru-hiker tradition to share around mail-drop cookies. I did and they were well appreciated. One section hiker will be forever known as Cookie Monster in hiking circles because of them. Don't worry. I got my share as well.Beyond cookies, care packages can be tricky. Remember that anything that doesn't get eaten or put in the pack must be left behind, either given away, put in the hiker box (a box full of stuff that previous hikers have left behind, and anyone is free to help themselves), or (horrors!) thrown away.My rule of thumb for the contents of a care package is the following:Weigh everything. Ignore the weight of anything the hiker has specifically asked for. That's his problem. Count cookies at half weight. Count everything else at full weight. If this total is more than three or four pounds, think carefully about where the extra may end up.To take yesterday's care package as an example, there were two bags of cookies, two trail bars, a bunch of notes from friends and 5 or 6 packages of trail mix ingredients. The cookies were eaten within a few hours of their arrival. Three bags of trail mix ingredients were put in my pack. This made my load heavier than I wanted, but since today and tomorrow will be shorter than expected, that won't be much of a problem. All the other food went into my bounce box, so I will use it when I get back on the Trail. The notes also went in the bounce box, since I didn't want them to get wet in the rain we are having. I am looking forward to reading them next week while on break.If I hadn't had my bounce box with me, I am not sure what the fate of the other food would have been. Neels Gap is a special place for northbounders. Everyone in the hostel but me was northbound. By the time northbounders get to Neels Gap they are becoming very conscious of the weight they are carrying. Yet their hiker appetite has not kicked in yet. So it is very hard to give away food, unless it happens to be exactly what someone is looking for.Hikers met today:Vladimir; Garth & brother Craig; HighpocketsSomehow, most people I met today seemed grouchy. Do you suppose that could be some reflection of my own current attitude about hiking?Milestone Today:Finished 40% of the Trail. That means what I have left to hike is only half again as much as I have already hiked.See you on down the Trail