Date: 2007-03-15
From: Woody Gap/Dahlonega

To: Lance Creek, GA
Miles today: 3.1

Well...after a whopping 5 1\2 hrs of sleep, we all decided to do laundry, andcall the hiker hostel for a ride back to the trail. I took another shower toget the 2nd layer of grime off me. Sailor was nice enough to take mine andNicole's laundry down to the landromat about 1\8 mile down the road, and wash itwhile we worked on a plan for the day.Chris got ahold of Josh from the Hiker Hostel, and he said he'd be happy toshuttle us when we were ready. Chris and Kay were still doing laundry and weresupplied a few lunches and I replaced my lost tooth paste. We all decided toeat lunch before heading out, and we got a great lunch at Moe's. While Sailorwas inside, a guy asked who we were. Sailor told him the short version and theguy was appauled that the police wouldn't take us back to the trail. A few minutes later, he came out and offered to go home and get his pickup andtake us all back to the trail! We agreed to meet in 1 hr at Moe's. In the meantime....it got really cold and storms were heading in. We knew thehiker hostel was booked, so we figured we might as well just get back on thetrail, where we all wanted to be anyways.At 2:45, Greg and his wife showed up with their pickup. It was looking likerain and was cold, so I put my rain jacket and pants on. Now everyone was inthe back but me and Nicole, and just as she got in, the skies opened up and itwas pouring. I hopped in and we were zooming down the road towards Woody Gapand we were all laughing because it was raining so hard.Greg dropped us off, we got a picture with him and we turn around, there's Geekagain with others who had slackpacked from Neel's Gap. We told them whathappened the nite before..and at 3:42 started up Big Cedr Mt. The plan was to go 1 mile to a water source or 3 miles to a watersource/campground. We ended up going 3 miles, but it was a nice hike. Itrained a bit and was really foggy at higher elevations...beautiful really.People often complain about not having a "view" due to bad weather, but they aremissing the point because it is still beautiful and is its own unique view.Nicole and I arrived first at 6:00 p.m. I went to go do my biz in the woods andI saw bear tracks!! I took Nicole back to see them and she agreed they lokedlike tracks. I took some pics but they are not that clear.Finally Chris (now Gadget..because he has all these toys like a laser pointer)and Kay, and Sailor showed up. Gadget made a great fire and we all sat andtalked a bit. It is currently 9:19 p.m. and we all just turned in, and the rain has startedagain. I'm lying here in my comfy hammock enjoying it. We are in a gap, so nowind. I got a great hang tonight. It's perfect...but I have felt a few raindrops hit me (from bouncing off the ground I'm assuming or misting thru mytarp?). I'll see how it goes..I may need to adjust my tarp if it seems toworsen, but I think it will be fine. It is getting really easy to get in myhammock with the pad inside too. Practice makes perfect!I am so happy to be out here. It is beautiful despite the dirt and sweat andexhausting ups and downs (and car thieves..LOL). I get my butt kicked everyday, but I am truly enjoying every single minute of it. I love this trail and Ilove the freedom.~Michele