Date: 2018-02-26
From: Gooch Mountain Shelter

To: Lance Creek Campsite
Miles today: 8.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Pitter-patter,pitter-patter. That was the sound made by the light rain hitting the outer wallof our tent as we settled in at 7:30 last night. The combination of thatsoothing noise and temps in the low 50s quickly lulled us to sleep. But, as thelight rain intensified into a heavier, steady rain and accumulated on the treebranches above, before falling in big drops on our tent, the pitter-patter gaveway to another sound¢plop-plunk, pop-plunk! And that was the sound that woke us(or at least me) at 10:30PM. The persistent rain continued through the nightand into the morning. Nonetheless, we remained warm and dry through thenight. That is, except for the occasional spray of moisture that managed towork its way through the inner wall of the tent.At5:00AM I had enough signal to check the radar and hourly weather. It appearedthat the rain was going to continue to fall for a few more hours, but wouldmove out around 9:00. So, as Which Way snored away, I made a command decision.We would remain in the tent for a couple of more hours, then gather our thingson the inside of the tent and head up to the shelter for breakfast. By the timewe arrived at the shelter, a few brave souls had already hit the trail for theday. After breakfast, the rain stopped, so we struck the tent and cleaned someof our gear in a nearby stream. Before we departed, Which Way took care of ablister on her pinky toe and I popped my third 800mg Motrin. It appears thatthe Motrin, the use of a muscle roller that a fellow hiker loaned me, someintensive stretching (thanks to Stretch¢more on her later), and a good night¢ssleep, worked wonders for my leg.Finallyhitting the trail at 10:15, we were the last hikers to depart the area. Eventhe Ridge Runner beat us out by a few minutes. But just as we were leaving, thesun peeked through the clouds, the beginning of a perfect hiking day. Wecrossed over two mountains of decent ascent. The first, Ramrock Mtn., offered agreat view of adjacent mountains and a valley to the south. As we were taking inthe scenery, a day hiker came up and snapped a picture for us. He also pointedout that you could make out the Atlanta skyline, 70 miles away. Cool!Bynow we were hiking in shorts and feeling pretty good as we crossed our firstpaved road, HWY 60, at Woody Gap. This is where two female hikers from ourmini-bubble informed us that they would be departing the trail well short oftheir intended destination. I think that they were carrying about 50 lbs eachand one of them had a pack that did not fit well. There was a picnic area atWoody Gap, restrooms, and the best part, bear proof trash canisters. At thispoint, we (actually Which Way) were carrying more weight in trash than food. Aswe were joyously depositing our garbage in the canister, I noticed a large bagof coffee. It undoubtedly belonged to Joe, another hiker in our bubble, who hadbeen trying to give it away since Springer. Shortlyafter passing through Woody Gap, we saw our first snake sunning on the trail.It was an Eastern Ribbon Snake that measured about 2 feet. As we approached,the fellow quickly slithered away. I must say that he was moving pretty quicklyfor a February snake.Abouthalfway up our second modest ascent, Cedar Mountain, we broke for lunch. We sawone other day hiker, again moving in the opposite direction, and no A.T. hikersthe rest of the day. Westopped hiking for the day at 3:30 at a campsite along Lance Creek. We are theonly hikers here, as most of the group had indicated that they were continuinga bit farther up the trail to Woods Hole Shelter. However, there was a youngercouple from Charlotte that we had expected to see here. We met the coupleon the trail yesterday and the man was really struggling. I figured we wouldpass them along the way today. I sure hope they did not exit the trail atWoody Gap. We were able to clean up the rest of our gear, dry out our wet tent,cook dinner and talk to the kids before sunset. A good finish to a great day!Tomorrowshould offer some great hiking weather, sunny with a high near 50 as we hikeour way to our first milestone, Blood Mountain, the highest peak inGeorgia. AsI finish this post, I am sitting on a log under a full moon with nothing but hesound of a mountain stream. The temperature is quickly dropping into the lowthirties and Which Way is already warm and comfy in our tent. I think I shouldjoin her. - Next StepElevation Data:Ascent ~ 1,800Descent - 1,600Grade - 7.9Weather:Day - 50 / AM  Rain / SunNight - 32 / ClearOver the Horizon: Blood MountainNote: A Ridge Runner is an employee of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy assigned a section of the trail. Their primary purpose is to educate hikers, mainly on the ¢leave no trace¢ principle. With the high density of hikers in Georgia this time of year, there is a ridge Runner assigned to every shelter.