Date: 2019-03-28
From: Lance Creek Campsite

To: Bull Gap Campsite
Miles today: 8.4

Today was awesome. I started out the day cold, as I have been. I was sleeping on cold ground all night so it was uncomfortable. The trail ambassador, who¢s name is Pete, also Smokestack (I really take a while with these names, there are so many!), shook my tent to wake me up. I asked him to, but it still startled me. Haha. He told me later he was gonna call ¢Rudolph¢ and see if I responded. We ate oatmeal and watched the sunrise by the creek. The first part of the day was all uphill. I felt really sluggish. I¢m not sure why. Maybe lack of sleep or just the pounding on my feet all day. I met the most wonderful people from the Georgia AT club. I had stopped for a break and a granola bar, and they walked up with shovels, ready to maintain the trail and clean it up. I must say, the trail is in excellent condition. The blazes are sometimes too far apart and I get concerned that I¢ve gone the wrong way, but the trail itself is clean and the campsites are all well maintained as well. I was noticing at my campsite that there were a lot of down trees nearby, and Pete told me that Hurricane Irma took a beating on the trail and they had to come out and clean up the mess, but couldn¢t remove all of the damage. There were a few trees in spots where the tent pads used to be, and I¢ve noticed that some trees came down on the trail and they just cut the middle chunk out, so you could walk through the fallen tree. Anyway, the two men chatted with me about my trip and one of them said ¢I sense something about you. You¢re going to Maine. We¢re going to read about you on Facebook in a few months.¢ It made me feel really good. I definitely find Maine very daunting right now, as I am only a week in. But those little moments of encouragement make all the difference. We chatted for a bit and I was on my way. My shoes were also bothering me for some reason. My feet kept sliding around, which hasn¢t happened at all so far. I tightened the laces and kept on, and as the day went on it was better. I really think my feet are sore because of the mileage and weight, but maybe it is my shoes. At this point, I¢m just going to go with mileage. I made it up Blood Mountain without even realizing it, just like with Springer. It was a rocky climb, but really not too bad. There were a few ¢false summits¢, but the view was spectacular. You could see everything and felt so high up. Finally! After so much up and down hiking, I finally hiked a beautiful, tall mountain. I was very pleased. And I ran into Smokestack and his family again! Also, his trail name is Smokestack because he¢s always smoking a pipe. They were so nice and we chatted while looking at the view. I think I made pretty good timing, because people started flowing in behind me and commenting on that. I felt like I had gone so slowly, but maybe not? A woman came up to the summit and screamed ¢Ahhh shit!¢ Haha I felt that! The next thing to conquer was the downhill. It was just like some of the mountains I¢ve hiked with my parents actually, and I was having real flashbacks. A ton of rocks, sometimes a flat rock face with the white blazes painted on it. When I was younger, my mom and dad had the food and water in their packs and we all just hiked without it. Coming down those flat rock faces with 34 pounds was not exactly the same haha. I was actually scared. I managed to get down well and continue on, but it was definitely a rough downhill. My knee that has bothered me in the past started acting up, and my feet were not having it. But I really enjoyed it because it felt like home. It felt familiar. And I saw people with sticks they had found and were using as poles, and we always used to do that while hiking too. Now I have real, fancy poles and I love them, but it was nice to reminisce. I started to think about all the AT hikers I had run into, and suddenly realized I was the hiker. These families, coming for the day, were asking me about my trip and seeing me as the AT hiker. It felt really good! Another thing people have mentioned that made me think of home happens every time I say I¢m from CT; they always say, ¢you¢re going home!¢ I guess I hadn¢t thought about it that way, but yeah, New England is home and even though I won¢t pass through my hometown, I will pass through my state and some of my favorite states. I don¢t feel too far away in Georgia, but I suppose it is not that close. I did meet a family from New Hampshire today, and they brought their dog ahhhh. I love seeing dogs on the trail. It makes me so happy. Especially the little ones that carry their packs. I can¢t wait to have a dog someday. I also could use one for warmth at night! I also met a dog the other day with the trail name ¢Deeoegee¢. Took me a minute, but I enjoyed that haha.I met a woman from Sweden and a man from Wisconsin on the top of Blood Mountain, and after the rocky descent, ended up at Neel¢s Gap. It was like seeing heaven. I was so excited to be there. It had been a tiring, but beautiful day, and I realized I was more sunburned than before and just needed to fix my supplies and everything. Mountain Crossings was great! They had pizza and candy and honestly that just hit the spot. I went right in and asked about the tent and pad and the woman was super helpful. I also realized I probably smell horrible right now, and my face is like a tomato, but I was so happy to have made it there. The tent was NOT cheap. I definitely lost some money there. But it¢s so nice. It¢s a Big Agnes two-person, so it¢s nice and roomy! And the company has a great rep. I got a Thermarest pad, which is more durable and won¢t have holes, although it¢s less thick. It does the trick! I also bought a pizza and Mr. Goodbar. I chatted with a fellow from England and a guy from Boston. Both started two days ago; so they were quite ambitious. They were joking with me because I pulled out everything from my bag as I was planning my purchases and I found out the bottom of my bear bag was still wet from the rain storm. I took out my food to dry it and got a new trail name possibility of ¢soggy oatmeal¢. Yeah no. Chatham showed up and said ¢no she¢s Rudolph!¢ So I guess my options are set haha. We¢ll see if something else comes along.I bought my new stuff and shipped the old stuff home. It¢s amazing, my two-person tent is lighter than my REI one-person! Don¢t get me wrong, I love REI, but it was clear that maybe the pricey options would serve me better. Chatham was staying at the hostel that was right there, but I figured I had spent enough money, so I walked a mile to Bull Gap. It wasn¢t bad hiking, but I was definitely tired, and after you take that pack off, you really don¢t want to put it back on. I¢m very happy with my choice because Bull Gap had plenty of people, including the British guy Johnny and the guy from Boston. I can¢t remember his name, but he brought whiskey on the trail and I was so happy. We had a campfire and some whiskey and it was just as I pictured the trail to be. Everyone around a campfire, the sky full of stars, whiskey going around, and laughter. They called me Soggy Oatmeal a bunch and we had a great time. Nate helped me hang my bear bag, which takes some getting used to! I think I threw the carabiner 5 or 6 times before finally getting it around the 20-foot branch. I got it though! So far, most of the shelters and sites have had ¢cables¢ set up to hang the bear bags or ¢bear boxes¢ that seal the food in, so I haven¢t had to do it myself, but this campsite had nothing. I must say I¢m a huge fan of the bear boxes. If I could put those all over the trail I would, but I was told there aren¢t that many of them. The AT Club members that I¢ve talked to definitely think they¢re the best way to go too, but I don¢t know what process they have to go through to get bear boxes placed at all the campsites and shelters. For now I¢ll keep chucking my carabiner at a tree and hope it works! Haha. Silly bears could probably get the food anyway. At the campfire, one of the people, Boulder, was trying to convince everyone that the world was flat. People were getting into a heated debate and I was just sipping my whiskey. Flat or not, I was enjoying myself. Willow the Mountain Goat built a second fire, close to my tent, so yay warmth! Patches, Passport, Debra, Nate, Johnny, Boulder, and Boston guy all huddled around and cracked up. It was great. There was a man, August, from Texas, but he didn¢t join us. We chatted for a bit earlier and he said his pack weighs 55 pounds. Holy moly! Unfortunately he started talking about feminist issues, and though I¢m rather neutral these days with politics and stay out of it all, the other women were getting pissed. You meet all kinds of people on the trail and I¢m trying my best to reserve judgment and enjoy myself. We can all have our own opinions. I was really just happy to be by the fire. I am interested that people open up so quickly on the trail!I was disappointed about the amount of money I spent today, and I¢m so frugal, it was bothering me. I was a bit disillusioned, thinking about my purpose and goals for this trip. I was able to process through that and hopped into bed. I should¢ve gone straight to bed while I was warm from the fire, but I wanted to write this. I bought SmartWool today to keep me warmer at night. It seems to be working, but I¢m still cold. I¢m worried about the Smokies. I really hope I don¢t freeze. For now, I¢m way more comfortable and that¢s good! Phew it¢s been a long day. One more day/night before I can shower and sleep in warmth, although it¢s supposed to rain on Sunday. Ugh. I¢ll enjoy the weather while I can! Song of the day: ¢Secrets¢ by One Republic. I listened to it going up Blood Mountain and it was great!Diana/Giggles/Rudolph/Soggy Oatmeal