Date: 2005-03-17
From: Woody Gap, hiker hostel

To: Neels Gap, Walasi-Yi Center!
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: light snow

Yesterday, we skipped hiker school, and today, we're going ... but without our books! -err, packs! We slack-pack all of forboding Blood Mountain, the 10.6 miles to Neels Gap. The skyis producing a nice wintery mix to be reckened with! We are happy with our decision to go without our big packs because the cold, snow, wind, and mist just don't encourage lingering. The goal is to hike quickly and carefully.   We meet Bones today as he stops to quickly brew up som hot chocalate to combat the elements. Beneath his layers, he is not much more than that ... Bones is a chef from near DC. He hs been up since 3am, out-snored from Gooch Mountain Shelter, and had enjoyed some night hiking. As he puts it, "just another episode on the AT show," of which he is the star. I like how he put that. I think hiking the trail is like that for all of us:   we're all stars on some comedy show.   We saw our first animals today (other than our birds). Three deer stood near the trail and did not shy from us even when we appeared out of the mist and stayed awhile to watch them.   It rains, then blows, the snows, then stops. Then, starts over. The entire day is in and out of snow showers that fluctuate with the elevaton and which side of the mountain we're on. We leapfrog a bit with Bones, each of us stopping or going on for different reasons. Footloose and Fancyfree are also enjoying the freedom of slack packing; they are big grins and practically skip through the woods on high spirits alone. Bearbait decided to take the mountain with his pack ... go Bearbait!   The shelter at the top of Bood Mountain is as chilling as the whole mountain climb. Located at the top, among boulders and a few hearty Roderdendron, the shelter itself is constructed from similar stone. Bones takes a picture of us here at the trail's high point in Georgia, and otherwise, we don't stay long. It is all downhill from here to Neels Gap and the "candy store" as Chestnut refered to the Walasi-Yi Center. It is reknown on the AT as a full service outfitter and the 1st major stop for northbounders. The trail literally goes straight through the building.   The bird of the day is the Hermit Thrush. This little guy was nice enough to stay puffed-up on his branch, tucked away under a Roderdendron, while we painstakenly IDed him.   We arranged to stay in Blood Mountain Cabins, just a bit down the road/hill from the Walasi-Yi Center, with Footloose, Fancyfree, and Bearbait. They are all behind us, so Torch and I grab our boxthat we had sent here from VA and settle in.   The box turns out to be an over-preparation. It is expensive to continuously send food around but still we thought buying a few items in bulk would be a good idea. It really wasn't. We bought and sent too-too much and now we'll have to divide it up into several different drops to fix the over-abundance. Besides, we have found that when we get to town to resupply, we have already developed a dream shopping list that more than fills our food bag. So, for now on we'll plan less, dream more, and "bounce" less ahead thus saving money! Oh! Have I ever been craving an apple, and Alex has been wanting an orange.   The cabins are all named. We're in raccon cabin with three quirkily stuffed raccoons above the fireplace. The cabin is small compaired to an average house, but to a tent, it is rthe lap of luxery. Torch and I are sowed away in a loft, while Footloose & Fancyfree have the only tiny bedroom, and Bearbait takes the couch. Bearbait starts a fire in the fireplace, Footloose and Fanyfree catch a ride to dinner, and Alex and I are on box duty. We have to divide our almost 50 lb box into three others: One-Stop Away, Two-Stops Away, and Home. I'm sure Mom was not reckoning on getting a lifetime supply of oatmeal and brown sugar.   THE DIRT. Alex and I are missing each other in communicating. It is after some "differences in opinion" that we finally get down to business to clean up our box, which consequently came in covered in lemonaid mix. The economy-sized container had busted in shipment and coated everything with a fine sugary mix. So, I over-fretted the clean-up and details of repacking, and Alex was majorly bummed on missing a chance to eat, a chance to go out to dinner to eat ... We both ended up frusterated with the other. It's tough; we're making alot of plans together on a daily basis, and more often than not we might have different views. But, having spats, and being terse, does not help us figure each other out.