Date: 2015-03-07
From: Neals Gap

To: Blue Mountain
Miles today: 19.0

Started at Neals GapThe previous night was one of little sleep. A group of section hikers showed up late at the hostel/outfitters at Mountain Crossings. These hikers were also the loudest snorers ever! (Well, at least since Chef on the PCT!)Without much sleep, I arose to get a good start out of Neals Gap. The morning was absolutely frigid. The beauty of a dawn's clear sky offered optimism for the day. It was a glorious thing to see an actual blue sky after all of the dismal weather.The trail went up, up, and up. The sides of the trail were speckled with an occasional hiker packing up to begin there day. There was a good amount of ice to avoid on the rocky path. The trail was comprised of large chunks of off-camber rocks, making the ice more precarious.Once at the top, views abound! It was wonderful to see the mountain range after it had been hidden for so long.The upper elevations of the trail were framed by plentiful and green-leafed mountain laurel. It was a pleasure to see a nice contrast to the otherwise constant brown of winter. The trail transformed for the day and produced a nice, soft trail. Most of the climbs today were moderate and fast. Don't get me wrong, there were still a couple of busters to climb!I cruised at a really good pace today. I need to be careful with my blisters (my blisters would never miss one of my hikes!) and my shins. I am fine but can feel the strain and early onset of shin splints. My entire heals are blisters. Not too big of a deal except the one started filling with a bit of blood... I don't Iike that and will be careful for infection.As the day proceeded, I took lunch and Low Gap. It was picturesque with a little brook buffered in thick, green mosses. This was a great opportunity to rest the feet and enjoy the trail.As the day passed, I was lucky enough to meet three trail maintainers!! They were all really great folks! These were not the only folks that I'd see today. There was a fair bit of weekenders out hiking. I had already forgotten that it was the weekend!   The best part was heading up towards Blue Mountain and having a spontaneous gesture of trail magic.   Hermie, a previous thru hiker, was paying it forward and head hiked up donuts, apples, and Jolly Ranchers. It was so cool!!. Yes, he looked like "Hermie!" from Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. I got up to the top of Blue Mountain and found it to be a wonderful camp spot. Actually, today there were several really nice camp spots along the way. I arrived at 330. It was good days effort. I picked out a wonderful spot on the ridge and made some steaming, delicious Ramen. Fully-deluxe--TWO flavor packs, not just one!In a little while, familiar faces started rolling in. Hermit was the first to show up. As we relaxed and hung out, there was no sign of TreeNinja nor NotYet. We wondered where they were as they left only 15 minutes behind us in the morning.After a while, the RhodeIslandExpress rolled in. Always a pleasure. Then, NotYet and Failure hiked in. It was cool that they caught back up! We had more hikers come in: John and Hannah, Skunk, and a couple of others.We all had a small fire and savored the beautiful weather afforded us today.