Date: 2004-02-21
From: Low Gap Shelter

To: Goose Creek Cabins- Neels Gap
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: clear sky

Woke up around 4:15 this morning. It was a very warm night. The radio said it was about 48*F about an hour before sunrise. I always did like being awake at this hour. I think it's the nicest part of a day. I felt bad waking up early. My bunkmate was pretty nice about me getting up at that hour. I'm not sure if he was being entertained or annoyed by me. I hope more so that I was entertainment. We got out of camp early. I know you're saying "But you got up at 4:15 how could you not leave camp early?" Trust me I can lolly gag my way into a late start! But we left early anyway, about 8:15. We both wanted to get into town. We just love our town visits. It was a windy walk. I wore my fleece jacket and hat but still had on my skirt. The wind blew right into the slit on the side. I was thinking about turning the skirt around so to face the slit on the other side away from the wind. But I didn't. I just suffered. I've been doing a lot of that lately.I finally got some views. Not sure what I was looking at. I just would take a quick look then I was gone. I guess with all the snowy and foggy weather I'm used to not seeing any views. I'll stop and enjoy them longer when it's not so cold and windy.I made it to neels gap about 1:30 of course Stumpknocker had been waiting on me for 40 minutes. He was ready for town food so we decided to try and hitch to Blairsville. It only took 5 minutes to get a ride all the way into town. We went to the Cookie Jar for an all you can eat lunch buffet. I love this all you can eat stuff! Fried Chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, broccilli, some kind of beef! All good!!! Full salad bar- Great dessert bar!!!!!!!! I'm getting hungry again just writing about it. All for $6.99 + tax. Perfect! We filled up and headed over to the grocery store for supplies. It didn't take long for us to head out of town. I think by 4:00 we were out of there. It took a few mintues but we got a ride half way to Goose Creek Cabins where we were staying. It took 2 rides and our second ride turned around for us. We got our cabin and took a look at my mail drop. 8 Yuenglings and a whole lot of food! Way too much food! I'm gonna leave almost all of it here at the office. We'll stop and pick it up on our way to Gathlinburg on Tuesday. I want to keep my pack weight down. At Walask-Yi center my pack weight was 22lbs. But that was without food, fuel and water. I picked through the mail drop got my backpack all set up for the next day and was about to get into the shower. All of a sudden I saw a white truck pulled up outside the cabin. It was the Tates! Tim and Donna "Cold Feet" Tate.   They are true Trail Angels! THey have worked a lot of trail magic for tons of hikers. THis includes me! They are THE NICEST people you will ever meet. I meet them on my 2001 thru hike. They rescued me on Thanksgiving 2001 from being alone eating ramen for dinner on the trail. They brought me home with them to their farm in northern Georgia for the holiday weekend. I had a great time and was very thankful to spend the holiday with good people. I've stayed in touch with the Tates ever since then. I even got to pay them a visit on my way home from a friend's wedding in January 2002. I was hoping I would have a chance to spend sometime with them while in Georgia.   They drove 2 hours to come and see us. I think they were disappointed that we already ate. But we all just hung out in the cabin and talked. They brought a gift for me. 2 tie dyed bandanas with happy faces and peace signs. LOVE THEM!!!!!!Today was great day. Sunshine, knees feeling a lot better, got to see the Tates, and we had town food! Perfect! I hope they just get better from here.