Date: 2009-03-23
From: Neel's Gap

To: Campsite at former Rocky Knob shelter
Miles today: 17.1
Weather: broken clouds

Pirate usually cooks breakfast for everyone who stays at the hostel, but this was a rare day when he did not. I got some coffee and snacked on granola out of my pack. I had intended on taking a half-day to write my journal entries from the trip so far, but the internet connection was still down, and I found it hard to concentrate among the milling hikers. Everyone else seemed to be headed up the trail that morning, and I felt a bit of pressure to do the same. Obie had said he was going to take a zero, and then said a half-day, but at 9 am, he said he was antsy to get going and took off. I had sent myself a maildrop with way too much food, and I had to figure out what I really needed and how to re-pack everything. There was another scale here, and I heaved my pack up to the hook to find out that it now weighed 40 pounds! Oh, no...! '9 Iron' and Honey soon rolled in, just in time for some burgers that were being cooked for us by a local church group. It was good to see him again. I asked him if he was going to be buying food in the store for re-supply, and was able to give him some of my extra food before he did so. I shaved off a pound and a half... still not good enough. I headed out to the trail at 11:15, feeling a little unsettled. I was disappointed that I was putting off my journal entries, and not sure of my itinerary. The majority of the hikers were planning to do 11 miles to Low Gap Shelter, 15 the next day, and 11 the following day to get into Hiawassee. Obie had said that he planned on zeroing in Hiawassee and would see me there (he owed me money). I knew he thought he would get there in 2 days, and that I would take 3, and I didn't know if I would run into him or not. Instead of feeling happy and peaceful like I had in the beginning of my trip, my mind was bogged down with his problems and the things he had said to me. I knew it wasn't right- that I should not be burdened by that type of thinking, but it was so difficult to get it out of my head. (I did see a male deer charge up the woods on the slope to my right, which was cool! And yesterday, I got startled by a long black snake slithering across the trail in front of me).   I passed Karen, who stayed with us the night before, and then a man who wanted to know how close we were to Tesnatee Gap. I took his picture for him. We were closer to the Gap than I expected! When I reached it, I found Richard re-packing his pack! A friendly face! He asked me how my hike was going, and said that he was feeling the same way that I was! He was also struggling with his thoughts, and he told me that today was the hardest day for him so far (the terrain, with no big landmarks, was not helping). I asked if he wanted to keep hiking alone, but he said we could probably both use some company. We talked about a place in England that I had been to, called Edale, where he had done many of his practice hikes for the AT. It is such an idyllic place, and it was a nice connection that we had. We chatted about our jobs and hometowns and reasons for doing the AT, and then he let me talk about how I was feeling that day. I felt so much better afterwards! It was so pleasant hiking with him, and he had no problem letting me take the lead, which I love! We also chatted about the wildlife that we had seen, and how every time he heard a squirrel, he thought it was a bear! It is amazing how loud they sound when they scurry around! Not a minute later, I heard an animal scurry into the leaves beside me and I got startled. And then I heard another loud noise and let out a little squeal. Richard said, "It's your thing" (pointing to my rolled up sleeping pad on my pack) and started giggling, which made me keep laughing.   We soon arrived at Low Gap Shelter, and Richard set-up up his tent straight away, as it was already getting crowded. I walked down to the shelter to collect more water, as I would be stealth camping farther up the trail. I took off, said good-bye to Richard, and headed back out on my own... I wanted to get in several more miles and then find a place to camp. My pack was extremely heavy because of all the water I was carrying, and I moved slowly. I saw a couple of possible camping places, but they were right on the trail, and I didn't feel safe staying there alone. I saw in my guidebook that there were camping sites at the former site of Rocky Knob shelter, but it was too far away... I was walking on a ridgeline with dense brush on either side, and growing tired. Finally, I decided I would keep going to the Rocky Knob campsites... I arrived at 7:03 and had to move quickly to set everything up before the sun went down. I assessed the direction of the wind and changed my original choice of trees to accommodate it, then changed into warmer clothes, prepared dinner, and packed everything up. Despite this being my very first night of solo camping, I felt safe and settled in for a windy, but warm night. (Even though I had hiked 17.1 miles on my intended rest day, I still had not seen Obie...