Date: 2004-04-12
From: Deep Gap Shelter

To: Dicks Creek Gap (Hiawassee,Ga.)
Miles today: 3.5
Weather: light rain

Rained during the night, and we all woke up to fog and rain. Deffinately colder than yesturday. Word is there is a thunderstrom/cold front coming through and it is going to get worse. With Dicks Creek Gap only 3.5 miles ahead and the town of Hiawasse just down the road from there, the plan for most of us is to get a motel room at the Hiawassee Inn and wait out the storm til tomorrow. Sounds like a good idea to me, cold strong blowing wind on top of rain makes for some miserable hiking. After q uick breakfast of Carnation Instant Breakfast five of us head out in the rain for Dicks Creek Gap. The 3.5 miles go quickly and we all get to the highway going to Hiawassee. The wind starts blowing even harder and the rain starts coming down harder, it is evn getting colder as we try to hitch hike to the motel. Hitchhiking can be tough at times and with 5 wet hikers to be picked up it makes it even less likely we will get a ride, and we sure can't walk, it is over 10 miles to Hiawasse and the nice dry warm rooms waiting for us. Finally a small pickup truck with a topper on the bed pulls up to drop off a couple of hikers, One of them is Rooney Tunes, they are actually going to head out in this weather! Damn they are tougher than I am. The pickup driver is willing to take us but space is tight, we all manage to get in with our gear, packed like sardines. It seems to take forever to go those 10 miles to the Inn. The people at the Inn are wonderful, very accomodating and helpful, even have a dinner run to an AYCE restaurant and loaner clothes you can waer while doing your laundry. I split the cost of a room with Spencer ($25 each plus $2.50 for laundry) Weather reports expect hail and tornadoes, glad we are here at the Inn than out in the woods.I meet "Lumpy", "Gypsy", and "Redbeard" who are also staying here. I split a bottle of Tylenol with Redbeard, who I learn is from St.Pete,Fl. just north of Ft.Myers wher I am from. Seems to be alot of Floridians out here.The AYCE restaurant we go to is Daniel's Steak House. Most of us are there, even Goosebump shows up. Didn't think I would see her again, but the weather has knocked most everybody off the trail. Get back to the motel room with Spencer and we proceed to get rid of the beer we bought while watching the TV. I suddenly remember I have to pay Redbeard for the Tylenols we split earlier and head over to his room to pay him. Get back to find out during the 4 mins I was gone my wife called. Damn the luck, I try to immediately call her back, but there is no dial tone. I keep trying for the next hour before I finally get through and get to talk to my kids, first time since I took off on this trip. Bradley and Kimberly are wonderful they both lift my spirits, then I talk to my wife and she's got a bad attitude from missing me when she called at 9:00, we end up arguing and I even hang up on her. All this right in frnt of Spencer, how embarrassing. I can't sleep at all thinking about what happened so I call her back and make up and all is good again. By this time it is 11:00pm so I stay up to watch the weather report for tomorrow, which calls for cold, rain, and wind for tomorrow.