Date: 2017-10-23
From: Low Gap Shelter

To: Neels Gap
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: moderate rain

On the floorboards of the shelter we are sandwiched together tighter than the patties on a Big Mac. (Frodo: Okay, that analogy just doesn¢t work. You guys are squeezed together side by side, not on top of each other ¢ I hope. And it¢s been decades since I had a Big Mac, but I believe there is an extra half of a hamburger bun between the two patties, so they¢re not really that close.) The rain ¢ consistent, steady, and loud ¢ has been falling for hours. I just got back from my 4:30 am pee (what fun in the rain) and write this in the dim red glow from my headlamp, set to disturb the others as little as possible. I¢ll go back to sleep now and see what the dawn ahead will bring. (And Frodo is right, ¢I haven¢t had a Big Mac in 20 years,¢ [Frodo: Now that¢s just creepy. He wrote that in his journal two days before I ever read it and added my comment above!]  But, my dear, I know a juicy metaphor when I see one.)It¢s almost four hours later, after 8:00 am. It alternates between raining hard and raining harder still. Mona is dressed and she just used three full coffee packets crammed together to make one super-shot dose. I will set this down, unhang my pack, and make myself a two-hot-chocolate single cup. But a poor imitation of Mona¢s zinger.I hike out at 10:00 am; wow, is that possible? Aloha¢s phone shows the yellow of deluge everywhere. http://www.trailjournals.com/j... I walk out and unfurl my trail super power. It¢s a bird, it¢s a plane, it¢s umbrella man! All too soon my socks, gaiters, and shoes are dripping, soaking wet. They must weigh twice their normal weight. The rain sounds like a whole marching band¢s worth of snare drums, all their sticks beating a machine-gun clatter on my umbrella. The wind blows gusts from the side and I grip the umbrella with three points ¢ two hands and my head jammed up between the struts for support. The AT is giving me a rousing ¢Hurrah! Don¢t forget me, Scout!¢The trail is now a stream and at times more a cascading waterfall. At 12:30, in quick succession, the rain changes to drizzle, it stops, blue sky breaks out, I shout for joy. I reach Neels Gap at 4:00, get a bunk and towel, and resupply one last time. In the store I meet Neels Gap Outfitter staff Alpine (AT this year NOBO) and Holy Diver (AT ¢16) (Frodo: Your sister Shelley and I had a hard time reading the second half of the second name, and we didn¢t think ¢Holy Divan¢ was correct. Then Shelley looked online and found red-bearded Holy Diver there. Ha!).  They love the tattoos when I hand them out.  http://www.trailjournals.com/j...How many AT tattoos do you think I¢ve handed out this summer?Thor walks in, looking for me. I met him on the PCT in 2006 for 15 minutes and then again two weeks ago in the Smokies when my son Sean was with me.  http://www.trailjournals.com/j...After I arrived, Aloha, Funky Duck, Cauldron, Keller, and Keller¢s Dad came in. It¢s almost an AT SOBO convention with six of us here. Keller¢s Dad sat down next to me and told me a very moving story which I¢ll try to share in the next few days.  Cauldron showed me the reason that he¢s called ¢Cauldron.¢ His pot, compared to the rest of ours, is as large as a cauldron.  http://www.trailjournals.com/j...Tomorrow I will climb Blood Mountain, 2000 feet over 2 miles. Tomorrow will be 23 miles and then the next day is¢¦  The next day is¢¦  No, I am not ready to write it yet.AT Tattoos? I have given out over 750.I am dry and I have a pack of oreos, a bag of chips, and a candy bar I intend to eat.Nite,