Date: 2020-06-08
From: Low Gap Shelter

To: Unicoi Gap / Helen
Miles today: 9.7

Low Gap shelter was shrouded in mist as dawn broke. I lay in the shelter messing with my phone's manual camera settings trying to capture it. Photography is not my gift, or at least not my phone's.Gear was a bit damp. Socks, towels, shirts that were left out in a vain attempt to dry had if anything absorbed more water. Such is summer on the AT.Our sheltermate David, the sixtyish Colorado Trail hiker was very talkative as he'd been all last evening. Trail Arms calls him Sheldon after the Big Bang Theory character. Boy scouts started appearing to fetch water. Big E and I downed a cold breakfast of donuts - don't tell his mom! - so we could leave early for Unicoi Gap. He has a plane to catch for home this evening. I'll be continuing on without my hiking partner.Big E has saved us from going off trail at least three times this week. I seem to ignore the blazes and go with the path that looks most traveled. Don't know how I'm going to find my way to Maine without him!We were first out, shortly after 7. Miles of mostly dirt sidehill trail wound around knobs with imposingly steep dropoffs to one side. Numerous springs or runoff trickled over bare bedrock onto the trail from the steep slopes above. Pure enough to put out your hands and drink from. Sometimes we were engulfed in tunnels of mountain laurel.We passed numerous tent sites, one of which held the large Mexican family. They have come a remarkable distance over the last few days, considering the number of kids in the group, and that all their equipment is heavy and designed for car camping. I wouldn't want to carry the packs some of the women were carrying.The early morning fog gradually lifted, though it remained humid and overcast. The forecasted scattered showers manifested as barely perceptible drizzle. We actually wished for more to cool us down.We ended a tough rocky and rooty climb up to Blue Mountain with a well-deserved break. It was here I met my trail family last March when I was hiking to Damascus. It was already dark and pouring, the shelter was overfull, and I had to set up my tent in the downpour. But the shelter had a large overhang for cooking and socializing and the company was great. Continuing up Blue Mountain, we heard the ovenbirds were out in force again. They've dominated the forest conversation in Georgia. A strong breeze blew through. Traffic sounds from Unicoi Gap reached out ears.It was over 1000 feet down to the gap over unusually rocky trail. We reached the gap about noon. All morning we'd seen only two other hikers, both dayhikers. But at the gap were Sheldon and Trail Arms, both of whom passed us during our shelter break, and a thruhiker named Jammin'. He was headed into Helen to rest his feet which he thought were prone to injury after the last few days. There were also a dozen trucks belonging to dayhikers who were off in the mountains.The highway was poorly arranged for hitching to the south, where we needed to pick up a rental car near Helen to get Big E to the airport. So I called and texted around looking for a shuttler nearby. The closest was over an hour away. So we waited. Jammin' started talking thruhike logistics and said we'd certainly have to flip up to Maine at some point to finish in time. Nothing doing, I told him. It's continuous footsteps to Katahdin for me. I had enough of flippin' and floppin' as a section hiker.Jammin' was going to share our ride but got impatient and approached a grizzled guy in an old pickup. A minute late he and his pack were in the open back of the truck heading south on the highway. If I hadn't already arranged the shuttle we probably would have joined him.Splitter, our driver, eventually showed up and took us down to Enterprise in Cleveland. He thrued in 2015, and worked at Mountain Crossings for years. He trail runs the local AT as often as he can, often daily between shuttles. He used to run up and down Blood Mountain everyday trying to break his record. Recalling the rocky descent I winced at the thought of what a wrong step would do.Big E and I drove up to Helen for a celebratory Mexican lunch. An enormous amount of food even two famished hikers couldn't finish! It was the first time either of us had eaten in a restaurant in almost three months. Helen is a kitschy town full of faux German architecture. The main attraction seems to be river tubing. But there are so many hotels and restaurants it seems to have developed as a popular destination in and of itself. Even on a Monday lots of people were about shopping, eating, and tubing. It was an ordinary summer day. We drove two hours to the Atlanta airport, stopping at Walmart for a duffel to hold his backpack, poles, and other items that would need to be checked. Since Big E is still a minor I was able to escort him all the way to the gate and see him off. Another ordinary event that is now rare in our safety-crazed world. He landed safely in Pennsylvania before I even got back to Helen. On Jammin's advice I got the hiker special at the Best Western. More than half off the going rate is pretty nice. If it weren't already 10:30 I might have taken a dip in the pool. Tomorrow I need to resupply, return the rental, and get back to business. Katahdin will not come to me. I must go to Katahdin.