Date: 2015-03-24
From: Hightower Gap

To: Gooch Gap
Miles today: 8.6

Today BonBon and I started at Hightower Gap. We started climbing right away. After reading so many trail journals from prior years, we know that usually the first thing you have to do is go up, but that doesn't make it easier. Even though it is early this year, there are stretches of the trail with limited water.   We passed two men that had camped out for the night and they had asked for water. We really didn't have much to spare, but fortunately hikers after us were able to help them. One of these hikers and I leapfrogged for quite a bit throughout the early morning. He seemed to really be struggling; his pack looked as if it wait at least 80 pounds.As we descended into Horse Gap we saw someone doing some trail magic with some water which was much appreciated. This young man wanted to get a ride somewhere so that he could lighten his load, so I yelled down to the person with the trail magic to see if he could wait a few minutes. Our Trail Angel turned out to be former through hiker Survivor Dave and he was wearing a Miami Dolphins baseball cap. When I mentioned being a Pats fan he wanted his water back and asked if I had an autographed photo of Tom Brady somewhere in my pack. I told him I didn't want to wait, so I only had one on my phone.The next up of the day was Sassafras Mountain also known as kick your ass mountain. We've been cautioned to just take our time and it wouldn't be that bad and that proved to be good advice. At the summit BonBon and I took some time to have some lunch. I took off my boots and was able to air my feet out for a bit. What a wonderful feeling that was.While we were waiting a group of hikers came by and it turns out of that one of them was Hopeful who thru hiked in, I think, 2011. Previously he had sent me a very nice note on trail journals telling me that women can and do very well on the trail and that we are often stronger than men in terms of our determination. It was absolutely wonderful to meet up with him in person.From the top of Sassafras down the hill we went and then up Justis mountain. Personally I found Justis a much tougher climb than Sassafras. We were also surprised at the bug activity so early in the season . I had fallen quite a bit behind BonBon so really was trying to make up some time. I seem to of gotten into stride after topping the summit at Justis and really was kind of cruising along for a bit. When I came to Justis Creek I wanted nothing more to take off my boots and soak my feet in the cool water, but I knew I was still significantly behind.When I finally made it to Gooch, BonBon actually walked part of the way up the trail to find me to be sure that I was okay. I was so slow that they had to send out the cavalry!!! Waiting down there at Gooch were some folks doing some trail magic including prior hikers Pirate and Lone Wolf. Our second "trail-ebrity" sighting of the day Wolf wanted a picture of me due to my wild colored hiking garb. I managed to Yogi them out of a cold beer which tasted amazingly awesome.After taking off my boots, I found that I had three good size blisters that needed to be dealt with. I pulled out the book Fixing Your Feet and despite having done all the things that they suggested that I do, I still managed to get blisters in boots that had never failed me previously. So hoping that tomorrow I'll be okay with my feet blisters drained and taped over so that they won't get any worse.Despite the blisters, day two was an absolutely awesome day on the trail."It was exciting to be off on a journey she had looked forward to four months."Brushstrokes of a GadflyE. A. Buccianeri