Date: 2004-04-04
From: Neels Gap

To: Low Gap Shelter
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: clear sky

9:34 pm What can I say? Laying here watching the full moon drift lazily across a clear, star-filled sky¢¦if I had any doubts about being out here, they¢ve been blown away by the beauty that is tonight. After staying at the hostel last night, we left this morning as most of the group that started the 1st arrived to take our places. Really we had a really easy day of about 11 miles. We stopped very frequently to talk to other hikers and, much to the dismay of most, my partner, Tim (who is now called the Sheriff), talks about as much as I do! The first couple were video taping thru-hikers who didn¢t mind being asked a few questions¢¦ yeah, we didn¢t mind. But we saw a bunch of people; a guy who¢s been to Alaska like a billion times and who¢s kids daughters refuse to piss in the woods with him any more; a saucy, British couple out for a little walk in the mountains so they could see what it was like; a couple from the great state of MI who were out hiking for Spring Break (Rex is a teacher in the GR area!). We also leapfrogged Nicole and Mike who we stayed with last night and again tonight¢¦they¢re stopping at Franklin, NC. Anyway, we had some ups and some downs and some straights and, well, we just humped over, through, and around them all¢¦hell, what else we got to do? Oh, at one point we were breaking on a rocky outcrop and saw the trail wind down and around to the next mountain¢¦and we could see the spot we breaked on from that next mountain¢¦it¢s just kind of cool to see where you¢ve been, ya know? All in all, we had fun today. We talked about life, love, the future, the past, blah, blah, blah. But I think the Sheriff and I go pretty good together¢¦as sappy and homoish that may sound, but he¢s a good guy. We¢re just really similar in personality, and humor and crap¢¦all I¢m saying is that I¢ll welcome his company whenever I can get it¢¦that¢s all. Hey, there¢s sparklies on my sleeping bag! Oh so, there¢s this thing called ¢trail magic¢¢¦I think it refers to hikers helping hikers¢¦a kind of hikers karma if you will. And our first bit of magic is in Low Gap, about a day or so from here¢¦in the form of a party with everything free¢¦food, fire, friends¢¦and freakin¢ three kegs of BEER! It¢s truly great to see other helping to encourage the smelly lonely hikers¢¦and it¢s things like trail magic, hiking buddies, mom-made food, full moons, twinkling stars, messages from my favorite girl (which I save and listen to when I can¢¦sigh¢¦I¢m such a sap) that keep me inspired and help me realize that I¢m here to enjoy it all and to keep on keepin¢ on! So, now, when people ask me if I¢m going to Maine I don¢t say ¢hopefully¢ or ¢that¢s the plan¢ or ¢assuming I don¢t get mauled by an insane moose or an escaped zoo mountain lion¢¢¦I say ¢HELL YES!!¢ Oh, and it¢s official, I¢ve been dubed a trail name¢¦quite an honor to be given one by other hikers while on the trail. Because I brag about my wonderful mommy and she helped me pack all of my food and really made this whole trip possible¢¦.I¢ve been named ¢Momma¢s Boy¢! That one¢s for you mom¢¦I love ya!Quote of the Day: ¢Are you complaining? Do I have to call the Wambulance!?! Waaaaaaaaaaaa¢ ¢ the Sheriff