Date: 2015-03-04
To: Low Gap Shelter
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: light rain

Took off from Neels Gap at about 645 to try and beat the rush of hikers that'd be taking off for the Shelter. Jerica and Mowgli split a cabin and had planned to hit the trail as close t 6 as possible but my and Ryan took our time but still managed to be the first ones out of the hostel, no sign of the others though. Had a good start to the day and talked with Ryan for the first part of the morning till we ran into some trail magic from North Star, he drove all the way down from Chicago for a 3 day stretch of Trail Magic and it was incredible! He had full size candy bars, fresh fruit, soda, beer, coffee, coco, fruit gummys, and just about everything else a hiker could ask for. We ran into Jared and Erica who had taken a longer break than mowgli and we all answered some questions from a group of spring breakers about the trail. One of the girls there had been to Philmont before for a hike with her family and we talked for a bit she was super curious about the trail and preparation for it. We all opted for soda rather than beer, it was just too early in the day and no one felt like sweating out the alcohol as we climbed the mountain. As we took off to the climb the hill I think we all felt a little bloated from the overload of food and soda but we pushed through the burps and stomach grumbles.The four of us stuck together for the rest of the day and chatted as we hiked which always seems to make the day go by quicker. Also Ran into a guy calling himself Mr. Lynyryd who looked exactly like Gary Busey and it was kinda creepy the resemblance and mannerisms ya coulda swapped them out probably. Ran into Rocketman and Princess again who have been doing a NOBO SOBO slack packing trip, which we all thought was kind of a cool idea. We hit the shelter pretty early at about 1 and Mowgli was there waiting for us and talking to a Vet named Shortcut and his dog Indy they pretty cool and made me wish I'd brought a dog along with me. We all agreed we'd take an easy day to let bones and aches recover a bit before our next big push t Tray. Ran into the Diabolical Duo, Ethan and his Father Matt, but they only stopped in for a lunch break. Loner Boner made his way into camp a little later and we still had a spot for the crazy old man, I hope I'm in half the shape of that 74 year old beast by the time I get up there the guys his age are truly the most impressive and inspiring people out on the trail. Jim came along not much later than Loner Boner and decided to set up his tent. Another hiker named Justin made his way in not too much longer after that followed by Marlboro man and Shaggy. These two guys are by far the most interesting guys out on the trail and I've run into them a couple times now and they are completely unprepared fr the trail at this time of year. They came into Neels Gap last night in the beginning stages of hypothermia shivering almost uncontrollably and soaking wet from all the rain and cold. They got really lucky because Baltimore Jack was there and let them get a shower and sleep in the laundry room, I think they would have been in serious trouble if they'd been forced back out into that cold rain. But we got to share the campsite with them again tonight and it was a sight to be seen, they've got 68 lb packs and are carrying all their food for the first month but no stove to cook the eggs they eat every night. After failing to start a fire Jared offered them his stove which they'd been begging for. That evening brought more rain and the pair hadn't set up their sleep system yet which is a pretty unique design to say the least. Marlboro man sets up his hammock with a tarp over top of him while Shaggy sleeps beneath him on a bed of logs to raise him up and in full clothes and wrapped in another tarp, he called it his "burrito wrap", they think this is the best way to trap the heat since they only have 50 degree bags. These guys are the most unprepared hikers I've met out on the trail for this time of the year, it's just been too cold and rainy. I'm really worried about them getting into the Smokies they've got a real chance of getting themselves into a life or death situation with the wet and cold at that elevation. Just about everyone out here is worried about them; if they really wanna hike the trail they need to come back in a couple months when it's warmed up and they'd stand a much better chance.