Date: 2014-04-15
From: Hawk Mountain Shelter

To: Dahlonega Super 8
Miles today: 12.7
Weather: light snow

Trying to Stay Warm at Woody GapIt's a nice nights sleep, no loud snorers or mice, some booming in the night so a wet morning. I turned my phone off to save the battery since we're dependent on it for the electronic version of the guide, and for the camera. I turn it back on again and the time is totally screwed up, it's even on the wrong month, what the hell?The stormy, rainy first night on the trail has done some weird things to folks, we roll into Coopers Gap and see a cupla tents set up and our first little taste of trail magic, some water bottles by a tree at the side of the road, very refreshing.A woman comes running down from the tents, had a very wet and uncomfortable night, while the weather is clearing the wind blows through the gap and there's stuff hanging in the tree, looks like a sleeping bag, apparently all her stuff got wet in the rain yesterday and last night, now she's trying to dry it all.It's a total waste of time and I tell her so, and best way to warm up is just to pack up all your wet gear and take off, the trail will warm you up, and you can roll into town and dry out your gear. Hope she took our advice, hypothermia walks the trail too.A young hiker passes us by while we're stopped, he rolls down the hills pretty fast but carries a heavy pack so struggles up the other side of the hills and we catch up, he stops to rest at a bit of a sheltered spot and we pass by, seasoned legs carrying us past the younger folk, that won't last long however.We stop for lunch at Gooch Mountain Shelter, people start rolling in, including an older guy who hikes sans poles and admires my fake Cohiba cigar, a bit of a puff at lunch time to relax and enjoy a bit.It's so windy that folks are crawling into sleeping bags to escape the wind chill. We eat eat jerky and have some hot tea and check the time, it seems we've done 8 miles in 3 hours, hardly seems possible until I figure out the problem with my phone and the time.The 2 hikers doing our section are stopped trailside, they're checking accommodations, masses of hikers are headed off the trail and into town or a hostel to dry out, everything close is full, including a hostel that's close, everyone has gotten wet and is headed somewhere off trail to dry out a bit and get warm, the only place to go seems to be Dahlonega and Super 8, the hostel will shuttle there for a small fee.About a mile from Woody Gap we hear a loud roaring sound off in the distance, it sounds like a waterfall, gets later as we approach, out into the open and the source of the noise becomes clear, it's an express train wind howling through the opening of the gap, maybe 50mph, luckily there's a bathroom in the gap that offers some shelter, there are 2 hikers sitting there looking pretty miserable. One claims to be a former thru-hiker, huh , didn't she know to expect these kinda conditions in mid April in the mountains?Inside the bathroom there's even more shelter but the wind is so strong it grabs to door right outa my hand and slams the door against the side of the building, yikes.A car rolls up to offer rides, but only has space for one, so the hiker who was in a ball by the side of the bathroom gets up to go, it turns out she's a bit older and possibly hypothermic, got wet last night and can't dry out, she decides to quit then and there, makes me wonder if she really thru-hiked the trail, or is it just getting older?The 2 section hikers we saw just down the trail arrive, it's only about 3.30pm so a long wait in the cold wind for the 5:00pm shuttle, they immediately hang their thumbs out and get a ride within minutes, Matilda walks over to the road but has not luck for about 10 minutes, then an SUV rolls into the parking area and I walk up and ask if we can get a ride, they're shuttling themselves to do a section so it's a go, we pile in including the younger thru-hiker who was huddled by the side of the bathroom.As we drive down the mountain towards Dahlonega, he quietly announces that the trail is too much for him, he's cold and his shoes are wet, so he's done with his thru-hike and is heading back home to New York.We check into the Super 8, it's not much but very cheap, we're aren't really all that wet so put out shoes to dry in the sun, hang some stuff and look around a bit, looking for other hikers and to make arrangements for a shuttle tomorrow, there's a G3 in one room, it's really smelly from all the wet gear, they might be interested in sharing a shuttle but no commitment just yet.It's time for food and beer (we hope, it's not Sunday at least when GA is dry dry dry), so walk off down to the corner to check things out, there's a gas station and some slightly upscale Mexican fast food looking place, we found out later that it's better to stay near the center of town, there's a nice pub, but we don't know and our shuttle folks were not locals either, oh well.