Date: 2017-04-06
From: Chatahoochee Gap 

To: Unicoi Gap
Miles today: 4.7
Weather: moderate rain

Day 9 on the Appalachian Trail April 6Miles Today: 4.7 Total Miles: 52.6Last night was absolutely crazy. The storm was far worse than I ever expected it to be. Things had died down for most of the afternoon and early in the night. Winds were slower and the rain had reduced to a trickle and had stopped completely at some points. Come 10pm or so, things took a turn for the worse. Wind speeds had to have been 50mph at least and the rain was coming down heavy. Our campsite was less than ideal. Since it was called Chatahochee Gap we were expecting it to be a low elevation and in between two mountains like every other Gap we've come across so far. It ended up being the perfect location for the wind to blow directly up into my tent. I had gotten to sleep sometime around 9pm when things had died down. I was hoping that I would just sleep through the night and through the storm. Good joke.. I woke up shortly after at 10/10:30 to my tent folding in half on top of me and the heaviest downpour of rain I've ever experienced. I had to sit in my tent and literally hold the walls and roof so my tent would stay open. Anytime I let go the whole thing folded right back in on me. The wind was so powerful it ripped my fly stakes right out of the ground and I nearly lost my rain fly. Then came the lightning and thunder. The lightning was so bright it lit up my entire tent as if I had a spotlight shining inside of it. Thunder followed not even a second after the lightning flashes. The storm was directly on top of me and for the first time in my life, I was actually afraid to be outside. As the wind died down, I tried my hardest to fall back asleep to make the night pass quicker. It was a losing battle and I woke every half hour or so to sounds of thunder and wind. It probably goes without saying but, my entire tent was soaked inside which included my sleeping bag, sleeping pad, and myself. It was a night from hell and I was half expecting a large branch to fall from one of the trees above me and land on top of me to make matters even worse or to put me out of my misery. Eventually I was able to get to sleep and ride out the night. I couldn't tell you what time it was that I actually fell asleep but it was quite early in the morning. I woke up around 6:30 or so. The wind had switched directions and was coming up the other side of the ridge line. It blew the vestibule part of my rainfly right out of the ground and exposed my pack and my boots to the rain. Now everything was completely soaked. Temps had gone down significantly and what was originally just a shitty night, was now a potentially life or death situation. Cold weather + wet gear and clothes is not good. I wasted no time and switched in to the last dry set of clothing I had, put on my drenched boots and began breaking down my gear. Was on the trail right at 8 and was headed up and over Blue Mountain. I was surprised to see that the trail began to look familiar to trails at home. It consisted of long sections of boulder slides and rocky terrain. Not exactly ideal given the weather conditions but it spiced up the trail a bit since almost the entire day prior was a simple walking path. As I headed up in elevation, it began to snow. I couldn't believe what my eyes were seeing. I was convinced that I wouldn't see snow on the entire trip except for the Smokies or towards the end of the trip in the Whites or in Maine. It blew my mind. The snow was short lived however and it turned into a mixture of freezing rain and sleet. Knowing that I had a warm room waiting for me a short few miles away, I was completely content with being pelted in the face by freezing rain. As I made the summit of Blue Mountain, I yelled aloud, "Is this all you got AT?" "You're gonna have to do better than that." I've figured it out. All of these things that we perceive to be negative experiences are tests of your physical strength and willpower. Every time you're tested with something such as gear issues, physical pain, weather conditions or any other number of things that can go wrong, you're being tested and each time you're tested you become stronger both physically and mentally. After having this realization on the trail, I was cruising my way through the day and singing songs out loud to myself as I made my way down the trail, all the while being hit in the face by freezing rain. I was having a grand time. Before I knew it, I was at Unicoi Gap waiting for my shuttle into Hiawassee. My dad showed up a little while after me and we waited around in the parking lot for about an hour. We saw the shuttle pull in and we proceeded to throw our gear in the back and hop in. The heat was on and it didn't take long to warm up. Several other hikers piled in and we were soon on our way to the Inn we had made reservations for. After a 10 mile drive or so, we arrived and checked in. While talking to the owner of the Inn, I heard a familiar voice call my name. I turned around and I saw Joe. I was excited to see him and he offered for my dad and I to come hang out in his room while ours was being cleaned. Of course we accepted and we headed to his room. Inside was Murph doing another one of his gear-splosions where he takes literally every piece of gear out of his pack, spreads it out on the floor, and goes through each and every piece to determine what is still necessary and what he can get rid of. It's interesting to watch, and now having seen it a few times, my dad and I have picked up on its usefulness and have begun doing it ourselves. After doing some catching up, I went to see if our room was ready. It was, and it was the one right next to Joe and Murph. Awesome! After getting our key to our room it was time to get down to business. Everything was wet so we took up every inch of our room by spreading our gear out and hanging it up. We cranked the heater in our room all the way up and before long it was unbearable hot. I decided to leave and go hang in Joe and Murph's room while our stuff dried out. My dad left to go to the store and get some fresh veggies for a salad that he's been craving. He came back with all the fixings and whipped a ginormous salad. He brought enough back for me to have one too so I made one and enjoyed every last bit.We hung out in our extremely hot room for a while and Murph came by to let us know a bunch of hikers were going to the local BBQ restaurant to get dinner. We joined in and we had quite the crew together at dinner. It was so awesome! It's amazing how the trail brings all these people together and we were able to all sit down, have dinner together, chat, laugh, and tell stories with each other. If I wasn't on the trail, I would never even consider going to dinner with a bunch of people I barely know. Dinner was delicious, I had a 1/2lb burger on Texas french toast with a side of fries. After dinner a few people went to get groceries. Joe and I opted to head to the convenient store to pick up some beer. I got 2 24oz High Life's and a he grabbed 1 since he had a box of wine back in his room. We went back, cracked our beers and began the night which was once again filled with music, conversation and laughter between Joe, Murph, my dad, and myself. It topped off what was a pretty amazing day and made me forget about how brutal the night was before. It's the bad things on the trail that make the good things that much better. Joe and Murph will be heading off for the trail in the morning while my dad and I hang in Hiawassee to get some supplies, finish drying out our gear, and really dial in our packs.