Date: 2019-04-09
From: Devil's fork Gap

To: Allen Gap
Miles today: 21.3

Unfortunately it was raining cats and dogs when I woke up this morning, and I was not thrilled to be second guessing my decision. I did have a good night of rest though. I went down to the main building after getting ready and all packed up and when Sarah and Taft arrived they made fried Chicken with gravy and biscuits so I indulged before hopping into the shuttle with Sarah and three other hikers. Sarah dropped us off at Devil's fork Gap and I headed south while the others headed north after giving Sarah a big hug and thanking her for the hospitality. It was still raining and I was covered in my rain gear and wearing my waterproof socks for the first time. With 21 + miles I know what happens to my feet when they're wet and I couldn't bear the thought of 21 painful miles so I was excited about my socks and the opportunity to retain dry feet. About two hours into the hike the rain stopped and my feet were still perfectly dry and comfortable inside my waterproof socks despite the fact that my boots were soaked. I hiked for a while longer in my rain gear but opened up my jacket to let some of my heat out. When I stopped for a short break on the trail I just wrestled out of my raincoat but left it tucked between me and my pack in case the rain should reappear. I stopped for lunch at a shelter and took a 20-minute break. While I was there two northbound hikers stopped and took off their shoes and socks and were commenting about their painful wet feet hoping to dry out a little bit before proceeding. I saw at least three dozen hikers today, and probably 20 of them I saw first thing this morning in the rain headed down towards the gap. I also noticed a couple of tents set up at different campsites looking like hikers were just taking it a zero or waiting until the rain to subside before going out to hike. I have never taken a zero in my tent or a shelter in the woods, I imagine it would be incredibly boring! I had fully intended to take the bypass for both big butt and firescald mountains today because of the weather but as I approached big butt Mountain I noticed that the bypass Trail was really close to the summit and I couldn't imagine that it would have made much of a difference if any so I stayed on the Appalachian Trail and went over the summit of big butt which was Rocky but fun. later when I came to firescald Mountain I totally stopped and read the sign about the bypass and took a left to their thinking that I was taking the bypass. A little while later, maybe two tenths of a mile in I noticed that it seemed to be pretty well trodden for a bypass and then I happened to notice the white blaze and not a blue. I realized then that although my intention was to take the bypass I was in fact still on the Appalachian Trail. I just can't deviate! It made me nervous because when I looked to my East I saw blue sky and white puffy clouds but up at the summit when I looked to the West I saw a really dark clouds coming my way. Although it did not rain on me as I suspected it might and the rumbling that I heard was actually an airplane and not Thunder I was quite nervous and the cloud did blow over covering my path in fog but also cooling me down with cooler air and condensation. Nonetheless I was happy to get to the other side of that Rocky exposed summit and back below Tree Line. The rest of the day became sunny and warm and I actually enjoyed most of my hike all the way down to Allen Gap. I met radio, out doing a short hike with his dog Phoenix and he offered to slack pack me from Allen Gap into hot springs, but unfortunately I have already hiked those miles and I'm not looking to repeat them. It was really kind of him and I enjoyed our conversation. I also came across to 2018 thru hikers finishing up named hippie and drop bear. once again it was nice to see that I wasn't the only left over.when I arrived at Allen Gap I was about 40 minutes earlier than I had arranged with James but there was no cell service for me to let him know so I sat on the stone platform for the forestry sign took off my extremely muddy boots and put on my Crocs and waited. James arrived about 10 minutes early and drove me the two miles to the hostel where I met his mom Diane, got checked in and enjoyed sitting on the porch overlooking the creek for a few minutes. I popped two frozen sandwiches into the microwave and had a banana and a Gatorade before retiring to my cabin and getting a shower at the bathhouse. It was close to 9 when I laid down but my feet were still twitching from being pounded for 21 miles. I took some Advil and some magnesium as well as melatonin. I was alone in the cabin and with no television or other distraction and no wi-fi. I tried very hard to go to sleep but it was probably 11 before my restless legs and feet would allow my slumber. Tomorrow Diane will meet me at the main building at 7am so I can have breakfast before Mountain John arrives to shuttle me to Garenflo Gap.