Date: 2008-03-10
From: Hawk Mountain Shelter

To: Gooch Mountain Campsite
Miles today: 8.5

Today was truly wonderful. I spent the night at Hawk Mountain Shelter, but slept in my hammock. While I was laying in it I kept noticing a cold spot on my butt, so I put the sleeping pad in with me, and my butt got sweaty. It was a fair trade.I'm in my hammock again right now, but not at Gooch Mountain Shelter. I pushed a mile past the shelter to stay at the Old Gooch Mountain campsite, where there is no shelter or privy but there is water. I'm lovin' the smaller crowd. The shelter last night was packed! Here now are Handyman, Forrest (a 2006 thru-hiker who went from Neel's Gap to Katahdin), Walker, and a couple of young marrieds Scott (I think, Beth and their dog Murphy. Great company tonight.I didn't write yesterday because I was a little under the weather, moodwise. Actually I was about ready to quit. Here's the story of the past 2 days.On March 8, Ashley dropped me off at the greyhound station in Macon and I took the bus, which had a 1:35 layover in Atlanta. It was a little hellish. There weren't enough seats at the station, so a lot of people had to stand or sit on the floor. Some were delayed for hours. There were a ton of vending machines, but no change machine and all I had was a 5, which no machine would accept. Somebody finally gave me some 1s and change. There was even a lady speaking (actually yelling) at someon who didn't exist outside her frizzy schizophrenic noggin. Earlier I tore my tickets apart, thinking it would be quicker for the bus drivers to take, only to be told as I stood in line to board, "If it wasn't cold I'd make you go in and buy a new one for $15."The ride to Gainesville was okay. At the Gainesville bus station I was picked up by Josh Saint, of the Hiker Hostel. He's a really nice guy, and the hostel is great if you like hostels. I felt kinda weird coming in after 6 to meet a bunch of people, but there was a good group there: Slow Barbara, V8, Auntie Mame, Newt (who stared at my Wendy's chicken sandwich like a hungry dog while I was eating because she was waiting for her pizza to be delivered), Ruby Tuesday (who had slipped and injured his knee and was out to recuperate for a couple of days), Peacock, Michael who looks like Harry Potter, Puppy, and Bananas. I stayed up kinda late drinking Natural Light with Peacock, Ruby Tuesday and a nice older couple who supplied the libations. There was talk of seed planting that made everyone crack up at the expense of Ruby Tuesday. In the morning after a night when I slept not well at all (sore throat, drainage, dry mouth) the hostel fed us breakfast and shuttled us to our various locations. Michael and I were the only ones starting from Springer.Alrighty--I already said I had a bad first day. This is what happened. Started to Springer at about 9:30 Sunday morning. There was snow and ice everywhere from the bad storm the night before. When I started hiking it was 17 degrees according to Many Sleeps, the ridge-runner. I hiked with mittens, down jacket and cap. That part was nice because I wasn't cold as long as I was hiking and I never see snow and was hiking in amazement. Around 11:30 I arrived at Stover Creek Shelter where I had lunch with Voodoo (from Louisiana, carries a staff with a creepy figurine lashed to it), Handyman and Seventy (who I suppose is 70 years old, on his second thru-hike attempt). Passed a lot of streams, and a few rhododendron tunnels. The hiking wasn't hard at all compared to Emory Peak. It started going dowhill after lunch, when my knee started aching. The knee I hurt at Christmas, not the one I was originally concerned about when the idea of thru-hiking popped into my head. I was pissed. I was even more pissed when I looked in my pack for my ibuprofen and realized I must have left my hygiene sack at the hostel, since I hadn't seen it when I packed that morning. I was so sure I wasn't going to be able to walk on it the next day, because that's what happened last time I injured it. I was so sad about my knee and my lack of sleep the night before that I also had to fight a wave of homesickness. I was checking my phone all day to see if I had signal, and when I finally did I called Ollie to bitch about my misforturnes, almost crying. I told him I might have to get off the trail at Woody Gap, I would have to see what my knee would do. He said he'd be proud of me no matter what I decided, but to put some thought in the decision. When I FINALLY got to the shelter, after everyone else, I put up my hammock, ate a snickers marathon bar because I didn't feel like cooking, socialized for about 3 minutes (the crowd was SO big), and laid in my hammock. From hammock I called home and talked to my mom who advised me not to get discouraged on the first day. I decided to heed that advice and test my knee the next day (as if I had a choice, the next out was Woody Gap, 2 days away).Today was MUCH better. In the morning I emptied my pack and find my hygiene sack (which, it turned out, had been packed under my sleeping bag). I've been taking advil liqui gels at regular inverals throughout the day. The knee today did about the same as yesterday. I've just been going downhill slowly while placing as much weight as possible on the Leki poles. It seems to work. As I hiked out of the shelter I put on my headphones and jammed up and down the mountains for hours, sometimes singing quietly. Yep, music is like crack. Music and a nice mild sunny day are pefect companions. Also had some views today from Sassafrass (kick my ass) Mountain--my first views on the AT. Had lunch at Cooper gap with Forrest, Walker, 2 guys out for Spring Break, Handyman and a couple of guys whose names I can't remember because they were too mundane (no trail names yet).Today were a couple of firsts: first time drinking the mountain water, first time smelling Eau de Rachel. I kinda like the fragrance, I must say.There was also a fair amount of Ranger activity. They were playing with their machine guns. All in all, I plan to sail right past Woody Gap tomorrow and hit Neel's Gap on Wednesday for resupply. It all depends on the knee, of course, but it will probably be fine. I still haven't decided whether or not I am thru-hiker material, so I'm setting much smaller goals for myself so I can still feel a sense of accomplishment. My goal for the moment is to get the the Georgia/North Carolina border. I'll get overwhelmed if my goal is 2175 miles away. I guess I'll be out here as long as my rebellious knees will allow. But now sleep--it's late, nearly 9:30!