Date: 2019-03-29
From: Dick's Creek Gap / Hiawassee

To: Standing Indian shelter
Miles today: 16.7
Weather: clear sky

We skipped DQ last night. Instead I zonked out during the UT-Purdue overtime. It was a restless night, my back still stiff and the rest of me trying to process all those enchiladas!Back to the Main Street Diner for breakfast - our new home base. There are numbers on the tables now, and the waitress remembers our order. I haven't said too much about UNICEF, aka Neil. He grew up in small-town Texas, half-Mexican, spent two and half years in Madagascar with the Peace Corps, and now lives in Boulder. He loves rock climbing, speaks Malagasy and Spanish, and runs ESL programs for the Boulder public library.Fast Lane runs the Sophisticated Caveman blog which promotes a Paleo diet.Seems like everyone at the Budget Inn wants to take the first shuttle back to the trail. I don't recall hikers being so eager for an early start farther north! We end up squeezing14 hikers in the van - tying the record. With all the backpacks it's an impressive feat. Among the passengers is s 38-year-old woman named Grit and a sixtyish guy named Apostle after his real name Paul.We drop people at Unicoi Gap first including Alex aka Sinatra who I camped with back at Justus Creek.At Dick's Creek Gap 9 of us pile out and start up the steep climb with our packs heavy from resupply. Clammy falls back, nursing his knee, while Fast Lane disappears ahead. UNICEF and I hike together for much of the day. We pass a short-haired girl named Chris who is trained in wilderness skills and plant identification and led student backpacking trips in the Adirondacks. She's known for starting fires with a bowdrill. None of the names we throw out are you guys her liking.We come upon Clammy sitting in the trail stretching out his knee. He took a bad step and the IT band flared up. But he wants to keep pace with us and pushes on despite our concern.I bump into Grisu the Swiss hiker again, and get introduced to Pine Needle. He's a young blonde bearded and tan kid hiking barefoot and typically shirtless who has traveled extensively and knows his way around wild flora. His name comes from the pine needles he uses to brew tea.The hiking is almost all uphill today with long, often steep, climbs. But the tread is mostly dirt with nice switchbacks. We reach North Carolina and a twisted tree at Bly Gap, then the trail heads steeply upward again, as if to warn us the state is not to be taken lightly.Along some ridges the trees are dying, trunks covered with moss, and rhododendrons are colonizing the areas.We pass two older thruhikers Pepera (French for grandpop) and Perdito (Spanish for lost). Perdito's gaiters are tye-dye hippy style.At Muskrat Creek shelter I have a late lunch and share cheese with Mark, a somewhat quiet middle-aged thruhiker. Several hikers from different towns in Georgia are doing short sections. One is Sharon, whose son is starting a thruhike within days. Our group all decide to press on to the next shelter although it's already 4. I hike alone for awhile. From Yellow Mountain I see layer upon layer of mountain ranges in lighter and lighter shades of blue until they become indistinguishable from the sky. I swear I can see the imposing peaks of the Smokies off to the northwest.A mile from the shelter at Deep Gap a pleasant surprise awaits us - trail magic! French Dip (AT '17) and Birthday Girl, who's hiked all but Maine, are handing out sodas, orange slices, and snack bags. It's a welcome break and our group has a chance to reunite before heading up to the shelter.There are several weekenders tenting but the shelter is, incredibly, empty at 6pm. Someone has rigged up a hammock tarp to shield it from the wind on this knob. Clammy, me, and a 70-year-old slim woman named Flying Tiger occupy it while UNICEF, Fast Lane, Chris, and Pine Needle tent or hammock. Flying Tiger is a former pilot and Clemson Tigers fan.After dinner I build a fire that attracts a crowd and we have a great time carousing and cracking jokes. Mostly about horrible trail names to bestow. Father and son section hikers join us. The ten-year-old boy Ridge has been doing sections since he was seven and wants to thruhike as soon as his father will allow. He helps feed and stoke the fire with Chris's (now called Hemlock after her favorite tree) guiding hand. The stars are out and it's after hiker midnight so one by one we head off to bed.