Date: 2014-04-18
From: Low Gap Shelter Campground

To: Helen, GA Super 8
Miles today: 9.7

It's a bit cold, cloudy and windy in the morning at the campground, trundle of to the privy and pass Wayne and Caroline (puppy) sharing a sleeping bag near the shelter.The menu is instant expresso coffee and grits, but I screw up the water mix and the grits are really runny, we have bagels too, and some hot sauce gives the grits even more taste.We get out early, before 8:30, wanna get to Helen quick like. We pass a small group stopped for water at the first spring, including Jake, they're scared of some virus that may be in the water around the shelters, we just make sure to filter upstream for the shelter, no worries.We slow to check out a spring that off the trail and is reported to be the source of the Little Tennessee River, which fills Fontana Dam where we're headed later in the trip.We bump into the 2 ladies we saw on Blood Mountain and stop to chat, they're headed in the other direction, we get their names (Hopalong and Fern Lover) and exchange emails, Hopalong has a new job coming up at Yellowstone National Park, an iconic spot in the U.S., so we may try to visit sometime later in the year.An "Unsafe at any Speed" CorvairWe stop at a spring to filter some more water and then a short hike to the next shelter, getting a bit hungry some wolf down a Dark Chocolate Almond Joy, it tastes really good it jets me up Blue Mountain and down the other side, so quick I catch up  to Jake looking for sticks, he takes off when he sees me so just cruise along behind in.We do very quick 9.7 miles to Unicoi Gap, it's just barely past noon, not bad at all. One of the military  type women from last night is already there with their slow and blistery friend, they walked her out to Hogpen Gap and caught a ride.A pick up stops by the side of the road and I run over to see if he's going to Helen and will give us a ride, the women will take us to town but not for a while, we're way in front of the rest of them.The guy agrees, it's a work truck and he initially says he's not going all the way into Helen, but as we chat he relaxes a bit and agrees to take us all the way into town, we get out at the Hofbrau House and we nosh on herring, goulash with very stringy beef, pickled cabbage and of course Bavarian style beer.We wander off through town to look for the motel,  it's on the other side so a nice walking tour of the town, the Super 8 is close to the commercial area so will be easy to walk back to eat.We check in, there aren't many rooms left, there's a Corvair convention going on, that's why we saw some of those old restored pieces of junk driving around, can you imagine that some people actually think these things are cool, it's what made Ralph Nader famous (Unsafe at any Speed!).The car was rear engine rear wheel drive, which conventional wisdom says is the best combo for great handling, if you look at the car it's hard to tell the front from the back, and GM managed to screw up the chassis so badly that the car itself can't tell either, it had a nasty reputation for the back becoming the front if pushed a little around a corner.We head to the room to change and get ready to do laundry, our first wash on the trail. Back at the lobby, the group from the trailhead has arrived, 3 male hikers and 4 married women, and they all share a room, on a tight budget and husbands won't find out about it.The laundromat is close by, but gotta cross a muddy construction area or go around, not wearing boots at this point so we try to avoid the mud if possible.Laundry started we head off back into town to re-supply, pass one of the kitschy touristy stores that seem to breed like rabbits in these kinda towns, there's not really much we can buy because we gotta carry it on our backs.Main thing is re-supply, it's a place called Betty¢s Country Store and Deli, not a great place for hikers, we can only get Knorr sides which for me are passe. Next stop is the ABC store next door, they have all kinds of local hard liquor and expensive moonshine, we head back to the motel feeling a bit tired, still gotta stop by the laundromat to put the washing in the dryer.It's starting to rain now, not too heavy just yet but looks like a good decision to get off the trail for the evening, we shower and clean up a bit and get ready to go back out for dinner.The rain is coming down steadily now, a fairly good downpour as we hunt for dinner, there really isn't much to choose from, I just want some fresh veggies and protein but can't seem to find it, and we're starting to get wet despite the rain gear.The Way They Dance in the CountryWe settle on another Bavarian restaurant, the cucumber and dill salad is good, not much healthy protein though. On the way back is Pauls sport bar, they have a cover charge and give us yellow arm bands, I get to like the arm band and am still wearing it as I write this (June 18th lol).The band is great, we get some sweet cocktails to start us off, the waitress is very friendly, but the sweet drink specialities are devoid of alcohol so we order some beers and chicken wings to get our protein count up, and then dance a little to get even more excercise. There's a few other couples on the floor and they dance very very close, country style.