Date: 2014-04-15
From: Low Gap Shelter

To: Budget Inn Hiawassee
Miles today: 9.7
Weather: light rain

To be honest,this was a tough day. Thankfully last night the rain wasn't as bad as expected and the thunder and lightning never arrived. I dodged a bullet, big time. I pitched my tent at the base of a hill and was in the potential path of a river if a torrential downpour occurred so I did what I could and took some large stones from a fire ring and built a levy by my tent to divert the flow away from my tent, it was a Hail Mary and it worked. I thought I would be up all night but somehow I had the best sleep so far even though I was sleeping on a 30 degree angle. I woke up at 7:30 to rain steadily hitting the tent and I wanted to sleep in but I was to hike out with Pocket Fire and I assumed he would be up as well, I was wrong. So inside my tent I went all Mission Impossible and maneuvered myself around to pack everything in my backpack and then broke down my tent and went underneath the shelter to try to shake it out and clean it off before putting it in my bag, it was a very muddy experience. This whole process took about an hour and a half and finally when all was done, I looked over at Pocket Fire's tent and he was still sleeping, so I ate a honeybun and contemplated my next move-to wait for him of to venture out on my own. I gave myself an ultimatum and at 9:30 if he wasn't up, I was hiking solo today.    So I hiked out solo, it was rainy and a bit windy, not too bad and it was nice hiking solo for the day. You get lost in your thoughts and get immersed in your surroundings. I passed a few people early on and at one point while hiking I heard a wild boar snorting in an area below me, it scared the crap out of me and I was on alert especially since I was hiking through an area where the plants grew tall and formed a tunnel over the trail. The trail went up in elevation and the wind got colder as did the rain, I kept changing hands I held the pole with as they were going numb to the point I couldn't bend my thumbs. At this point I finally took my first spill, there was 4 stone steps that I began to go down and somehow I slipped and slid on my butt and luckily I didn't hurt my wrist while breaking the fall. At this point I stopped and put on my hat and gloves and went on. The trail got real rocky so I slowed down and finally the sun came out around one,right when I was descending into Unicoi Gap. When I got there Delaware,Shelly and Cruise were there waiting for a shuttle to Hiawassee to get a room. They asked me if I wanted to come along and I was hesitant as I was planning on going to Hiawassee in a few days to resupply but since the temperature was suppose to drop to below freezing tonight and I had was a wet tent, I opted to go into town early and just walk a few days extra to resupply next. Before the shuttle came A Bear and another older guy joined the group into town and before I knew it I was sitting in the back of a pickup truck heading into town.   We ended up at the Budget Inn which is a thru hiker motel,the four of us got a room and we instantly set up clothing lines in the room to hang all our clothes and the. We all showered and went out to eat. We went to an all you can eat buffet at a steakhouse and even though we don't fully have the thru hiker appetite yet, we did some damage for 10$ plus southern sweet tea is mighty fine.   We ended up getting some beer and chilled in the room for a bit and talked. Cruise is a chill dude from Arkansas who's been working in the oil industry for a bit. He's a down to earth guy and would be cool to hike with him for a while. I've just realized that I've seen Delware everyday if he trip so far at one place or another, she and Shelly are hiking partners and Delaware is a natural leader and will be cool to hike with her and Cruise tomorrow, this could be a good hiking group to hike with for a bit. I talked to the parents for a bit to organize the first mail drop that I'll be getting in about a week. We're taking a late shuttle back to the trail so we're hoping to get at least 10-12 miles in, temperature is suppose to drop tomorrow night so we want to be in camp before that happens. Finally, I'm going with the trail name Shea, it seems appropriate, my hat is my identity and the name reflects that so I love it. Time for bed, night all.                                                                                             Keepin' It Steady