Date: 2014-05-02
From: Bull Gap

To: Somewhere north of Low Gap Shelter
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: moderate rain

Day 5 Bull Gap to campsite north of Low Gap ShelterSlept very poorly last night due to the cold. I shivered when I was awake. When I couldn't stay awake I fell asleep only to wake-up shivering again. It felt like I only slept for 30 minutes at a time and only got a couple hours rest in total. It was also pretty loud out, the wind picked up during the evening and sometimes, it sounded like a freight train was rolling through the area. On the plus side, the moon was beautiful, it hung, a mere sliver of gold in an otherwise clear black sky. Guess this was the price of nice weather during the day, the storms had been pushed out by a cold front and it did indeed feel like the temperature was in the low 40s or high 30s last night and early this morning. I started late. I guess that¢s kind of funny, I mean what is ¢late¢ when you are hiking?! What I do, when I walk, or eat, or sleep, well I¢m exactly on time, aren't I? There¢s no clock to punch, no time-card to keep, no appointment with someone else. I do love the trail for pointing out how warped my sense of time (and duty) is. I left at 9:00 a.m., exactly at the time that made most sense! I used the time to hang my tent to dry and eat without rushing. I bundled up as it was still cool and soon enough, I headed up the trail. It continues to seem as if no one has informed Georgia¢s trees that spring arrived over a month ago. Another oddity is that I've not seem much wildlife, some shelter mice, lots of birds, and of course other hikers, but no deer, no bear, not so much as a chipmunk or squirrel. Where have all the four-legged mammals gone?!The day was filled with gaps and summits that had animal names: Bull Gap, Wolf Laurel Top, Cowrock Mountain, Wildcat Mountain, Hogpen Gap and Sheep Rock Top¢¦ E-I-E-I-O. Up and down I went on the trail today and to look at these elevation changes on the map, well they weren't big deals at all but my behind was dragging. Maybe it was the lack of quality sleep, maybe I haven¢t had enough to eat, or maybe I really am getting older . In any case, the little bumps were more challenging than they ought to have been. The views from Wolf Laurel Top, CowRock Mountain and Wildcat Mountain (looking back at Cowrock Mountain), were pretty spectacular. I continue to be awed by the amount of mountains (or over-sized hills, if you¢d like) that are crammed into such a seemingly small area! I stopped at Wolf Laurel Top in the morning just to enjoy the great campsite there (better than Bull Gap as far as a view goes). Smoky caught up to me there for his nicotine break. I took another break at Cowrock Mountain on the south side of Tesnatee Gap (the deepest descent of the day but only a few hundred feet). When I got to Tesnatee Gap, I filled my water at the piped spring there and spent some time talking to Smoky and a cyclist from Florida (more Floridians) before climbing back out of the gap and heading to Hogpen Gap another mile up the trail. Day 5Had the wonderful opportunity to see an Indigo Bunting today, these birds are beautiful, a deep blue color that I've rarely seen in nature. There were more roller-coaster bumps north of Hogpen Gap, but I arrived at Low Gap Shelter by mid-afternoon and decided to clean-up a bit and make dinner there before deciding whether to hike further up the trail.I'm writing now from Low Gap shelter, it's pretty nice; the water source is a stream (maybe two) that flows around one side, the front and back around the other side of the shelter. It's running pretty well (no surprise, after all the rain earlier in the week).It is deep enough to wade into downstream and so I did. It felt so good, the cold water up to my ankles, making any soreness go numb . I had the shelter to myself for about an hour but Smoky showed up and then a bit later, Sourpatch (Bill) and another hiker (Dave maybe?) arrived. The three of them are staying here, but despite a strong desire to stay and hear a concert (Dave plays the guitar), I've decided to push a few more miles tonight after a filling dinner at the shelter. The trail climbed up from Low Gap Shelter but it was well graded and actually turned out to be an old CCC-built road. I saw several rock-reinforced curves in the road. It was an easy walk that wound around Horse-trough Mountain. I passed a number of small streams cascading down the mountain rock both above and below me. As the sky got darker, I decided to pump some water from one of the streams and focus on finding a place to crash for the evening. I located a spot at a bend in the trail and made it home for tonight. Set up the tent, listened to the owls call to one another and the trees creak in the wind. My bear-bag is hung on a tree branch with care, in hopes that come morning the food will be there. The one negative today is I left my hand-sanitizer back at Low Gap Shelter¢¦now I¢ll have to use Campsuds until I get to my mail-drop in two days. Rats!!! Good night from a somewhere on the AT!More photos for day 5 of the trip can be seen at: 2000Miler 2014 Day 5