Date: 2012-04-09
From: Neels Gap, US 19/129

To: Poplar Stamp Gap
Miles today: 12.9

4/9In the morning, we enjoyed a second hot shower, which also helped loosen up the leg muscles. We checked out around 9am and headed up to the store to resupply. At the store, we signed their registry. I'm the 777th thru-hiker to come through Neels Gap this year. Breakfast was a microwaved frozen BBQ rib sandwich and a hot dog from the store. Crap food never tasted so good. Hiker hunger is starting to kick in. I will eventually need to start eating 6000 Calories a day in order to not become emaciated. The Professor (below) had a friend who thruhiked and he drank a whole nalgene filled with nothing but ranch dressing and olive oil. It would have given him 1600 Calories but he threw the whole thing up.We hit the trail by 9:40 am. The trail followed the ridge almost all day, though there were quite a few gaps in the ridge. Being on the ridge is cool because you can see that you really are surrounded by mountains.On Cowrock Mountain, there was an absolutely breathtaking overlook, but stupid me was too lazy to take any pictures. At the bottom of the mountain, we stopped to eat lunch in Tesnatee Gap, where we came across The Professor. He is thru-hiking with his friend, The Detective, and his older brother, Wild Bill, but they all hike at different paces. After he left, we had some super trail magic! X accidentally brought his son's sleeping bag, which was way too small and he had to use it like a blanket (nights have been in the 40s in town, lower up on the trail).  Well, X walked into the woods 20' to pee when he found a few supplies scattered and a 40* down sleeping bag, completely dry with no defects. With the road right there, the scene looked like somebody said, "Ef this" to the trail and bugged out. X now sleeps much warmer and will ship his son's bag back once we get into town.Later in the day, we were running dangerously low on water. When we got to the side trail leading to Whitley Gap. Shelter, we were dismayed to find out that the shelter was 1.2 miles away, and water another 0.3 miles. We didn't want to walk an extra 3 miles for water so we decided to push our luck and hope for some at the bottom of the mountain in Hogpen Gap. We found some there before crossing the road. After filling up, the trail follows the road for 200 yds to a parking lot before heading back up the mountain. In the lot, we got our second bit of trail magic! A day hiker, who is also section hiking the AT, gave us some cold Coke and sweet tea. So much goodness.On the way down the next mountain, we came across another picturesque scene. The mountain slope down from the trail had undergrowth that made it look like a grassy glen and the trees were just sparse enough to have a continuous green canopy.  In addition, the slope was littered with ginormous moss-covered boulders. It reminded me of what I imagine the Scottish countryside to look like, only steeper. At the bottom of the mountain was Low Gap Shelter where we stopped for dinner. We dined with some really neat people who were already there.The Professor, The Detective, and Wild Bill were there. Wild Bill was a photojournalism major at Belmont Uni.  He's thru-hiking and making a documentary out of it. Sunbeam was there. She thru-hiked in'08 and is back on the trail just for a few months until she starts a new job. She's accompanied by her two friends, Lisa and Guano (name acquired the next morning because bats in the shelter pooped on him that very night). Chainsaw was also there as he had gotten back on the trail early that morning. Lastly, there was a ridge runner, Razor, and his wife. Ridge runners' jobs are to hike a section of trail repeatedly, inspecting it for needed maintenance, offering help to anyone in need, and making sure the HS and college kids don't get too rowdy. He hikes the GA section (77 miles) in five days every week.They were all staying for the night, but we headed on up the trail for a few more miles before setting up camp. We stopped at a place where Yankee and his wife Zzz were making a fire. He owns a concrete pouring business in AZ, but hasn't been able to get any contracts in this economy. So he's taking a few months off to do this.  Zzz is pretty reluctant about this excursion but she's trying to be a trooper. They had started on 4/1, which means that they took 9 days to hike what we did in 4! It was a windy but very clear night and the stars were incredibly bright.Lessons learned today:1) Clothing > sunblock. Still no leaves and the sun was very hot. My sunburn from the day before felt like it was on fire. I tried sunblock but it didn't help the burning sensation so I got the bright idea to put my long-sleeve shirt on. Instant relief and I didn't overheat at all. Ahhh.  Also, Yankee let me use some of his lotion with aloe in it. That helped a bunch.2) Gaps are all windy. I guess valleys channel the wind and that gets super concentrated when it has to come up and over a tiny little gap.