Date: 2013-06-07
From: Low Gap Shelter

To: Tray Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 16.4
Weather: light rain

Today's theme is awake my soul. The rain that was forecast slipped around our resting place. I set up away from the shelter so it was quieter. Staying in a hostel or shelter means people noises all around you. Mike (I hope that's his name - I am bad at remembering them) and Dances with Mice set up across from me. I packed up and said my goodbyes. The crew I walked with for a bit yesterday was eating as I left.The trail is mostly upward out of low gap. After awhile I put on some tunes and the day became magical. On this side of the ridge there was a glistening fog that woke up the mountain mist green in the plants. As I went up and I've the ridge the sun was bright in the sky. Solidified sun rays pierced the canopy of leaves giving me reason to take many sun breaks (thanks Jeni and Billy for that inspirational image). The rains created cascading waterfalls down the mountainside. This is what life is all about. How many people go through existing without ever waking up their soul to experience life's majesty? Crossing back and forth from sun speckled path to mist enshrouded etherealness was simply magnificent. At Jacks Gap I met some day hikers we chatted for awhile then I headed out. The day was soon to change. There are some challenging climbs in this section. Now that I've hiked some I realize what a 1000 foot rise is a mile means. At points I was leaning over so much that I could practically touch the path ahead of me. Things are pretty steep. The downhill is no better. Toes jam into the front of the boot. Knees take a pounding as they try to prevent you from tumbling down the mountain. This is payment in arrears for the beauty I saw yesterday. I made my way down unstable footing, scrambled over large boulders, and kept an eye out for snakes. Unicoi gap was a break but another climb was ahead of me. I met up with Cargo once again. She was resting near a beautiful cascading stream - the largest I've seen in awhile. She camped at Jacks Gap and got poured on last night. Weather varies so much in the mountains. We met some trail caretakers and talked with them. 50,000 volunteer hours are spent each year taking care of the trail. Their effort shows in the beauty of their work. I wonder how our society would be if we all pitched in to work together in improving our world. We could get rid of many societal ills and build up community and self esteem. I pulled away from Cargo and put my efforts into this next climb. I won't be seeing her much more on the trail because her plans changed. This is a very fluid society of hikers I find myself in. As I was filling up on water a family out hiking for the weekend showed up. It was a reminder that today starts the weekend. It's nice to forget things like that and lose yourself in the present moment. I made it up to Tray Mountain shelter. It was another long mile day. There were a father and son here as well as another hiker. A couple of olde women showed up and we filled the shelter. The predicted rain hit us but we were already set up inside. I see a benefit to the protective nature of the shelters. The family showed up and waited for a break before setting up camp. Then I was surprised to see Cargo arrive. We had a large gathering here but sleep claimed us by hiker midnight.