Date: 2005-03-06
From: Hawk Mt. Shelter

To: Gooch Gap
Miles today: 8.8
Weather: scattered clouds

March 6, 2005-Good Day!Last night at Hawk Mt. was horrible for sleeping. The place was packed and we were lined shoulder to shoulder 6 across the floor. 4 more were in the loft. Those in the loft were horrid. They stayed up to 2 hours with the lights on and banging around. Enough of that. I woke up as the sun was rising and went out while all were asleep for a picture. Then Terrapin and Paul who is now the ¢Snail¢ got up and breakfast was made and we set out after dishes were done and resupplying water. The day started off steep and got steeper. We were ready though since Snail had done this section and warned us the night before. We ran into Nimblefoot who joined us and proceeded up and up. We ran into Snail again, who was with Phoenix and everyone met up again at Justus Creek for Lunch. We decided to meet again at a spring a few miles past Gooch Gap Shelter since everyone at Hawk last night said they were headed to Gooch. We breezed thru Gooch Gap Shelter, which was the nicest looking yet, and chugged into Gooch Gap near USf842. Bonzai and Red Rover were already there and Alex and Matt from CO. arrived a little later. Terrapin, Bonzai, and Rover got a fine group and we BS¢d pretty late (7:30 haha). Nimblefoot was very lucky today. He took a spill on the steep down slope of Sassafras Mt., and flipped head first on the left of me. Luckily he recouped from the twisted ankle and made the mile with us. There were some nasty drop-offs before and after his fall which made me watch my step that much closer. He promised not to trash talk the Mt. anymore since it seems to be listening. So tonight I am in my tent for the first time on the AT. I can hear terrapin in his tent to my left but it is definitely different than shelters. In the shelters you can hear the wind, rain, ¢nocturnal emissions,¢ people shifting and moving all around, and sometimes mice scurrying. In the tent I can hear the coyotes, sometimes unknown bulling through the underbrush. I keep double-checking the list in my head to make sure all food is hanging in the bean bag. Bah! I have a Nutrigrain bar in my pocket, hopefully the foil seal is enough to conceal the smell from animals. It¢s hard to say everything I see and learn here.        Terrapin has hiked Maine and New Hampshire, he is from Connecticut and Snail has done GA to the Smokies. It is a great help to say the least. The views have been amazing. Sometimes we are walking the summit of a Mt. that seems to have had half the trees battered down by wind and ice. Other times we are in tunnels of Rhododendron, which I think look like stubby banana trees, and give a rain forest feel. Water has been everywhere so we drink 3-4 liters a day without a problem. It really helps to be able to drink at the source. At 3-4 pounds a liter I only want to carry one at a time. We are attempting 10.5 mile to Woods Hole Shelter tomorrow and Bonzai¢s elevation chart makes it look ok but it depends on whether we have good switchbacks or not. The next day is 4-5 miles into Walasi-Yi, our first rest stop! I almost forgot we did 8.8 miles today and it was good. Instead of my legs feeling like water, they have upgraded to the consistency of Jello on the upslopes. Yay me!! Good Night.                                                No-Legs