Date: 2010-03-14
From: Addis Gap

To: Dicks Creek Gap/Hiawassee
Miles today: 5.4
Weather: overcast clouds

The cold wet night turned into a cold wet morning. I stayed in my tent till 8:30 before deciding to pack it up and start walking. Kelly Knob was straight up for 1 mile then straight down for one mile. Very hard going, but the higher up you went the more beautiful it got. It started with sleet and eventually turned to snow. The trees were covered with hoarfrost and the ground was painted white. I took a few pics, but this computer doesn't have a slot for my sd card and I didn't bring the camera's USB cable. I'll get them up sooner or later.At the bottom of the mountain I met up with WaitNSee who was just coming from the shelter. It was 0.3 miles to the shelter and water (of which I had none, addis gap was dry) but I didn't want to walk 0.6 miles that i didn't have to walk. It was only another 3+ miles to the trailhead. A tenth of a mile further down the trail was a temporary spring formed from the run-off so I cameled up there (a term meaning to guzzle water and carry it inside you rather than in a bottle). Then I walked on and caught up to Waitnsee and hiked with him dowm to the trailhead. In 67.5 miles that was the first time I had hiked with anyone on this trip. About a mile before the trailhead we ran into a nice couple who were handing out bananas, cookies and crackers. I didn't get their names, but they are planning a thru for 2012. Thank you very much for the food, and I hope you get as much goodness as I have been getting. At the trailhead, a shuttler pulled in to drop off Moonshine and Terrapen and offered us a ride in to town for $5 each. So here I am again at my new home, the Hiawassee Holiday Inn Express.I think I will say a few things about the Hike overall. First, I am in much worse shap than I thought I was . Apparently I was in great shape in 2005 when I sectioned Georgia with Wildbill. I am only doing half the miles we did back then. On the other hand, other than some aching knees, I don't hurt as bad as I did then either. The second thing is, the trail is great fun when I am around people. The people out here hiking have all been great people to be around. And the first few days when I was staying in shelters I was around lots of people, and during the day when hiking I was crossing paths with lots of people. But ever since it has started raining I walk all day and not see anyone until you get to the shelter where there hasn't been much socializing unless you want to stand in the rain. And last night I didn't make it to a shelter and spent all night alone. One other person was there but since it was raining all we did was put up our tents and crawl inside for the duration. The shelters out here are spaced either approximately 7.5 miles apart or 12/13 miles apart. Hiking 10 mile days puts you between them and tenting alone. I need to either get my hiking speed up to 12/13 miles per day or slow down to 8 miles per day. I want to speed up or this will be a very expensive hike . To that aim, I am taking a zero day tomorrow. A zero day is when you don't hike the trail at all. I am hoping a day of rest will let my legs and body rest and be strong for 3 or 4 consecutive 12 miles days. That will carry me to Franklin, NC staying in shelters each night. Hopefully the sun will be out and people will be about. Hike alone 7 or 8 hours a day in dreary cold rain leaves you too much time to think about what your family is doing back home, and why the hell am I not with them. I miss all of you very much. I nearly choked up today when I heard Jason's gutteral noises in the background on the phone today.Good night and sweet dreams to all of you not living the dry night off the trail dream.