Date: 2007-03-18
From: Neel's Gap, GA

To: White Oak Stamp, GA
Miles today: 7.3

We got up at 7:00 this morning, assuming someone would be by to get us around8:00 a.m. We (Nicole, Gadget, Kay, and I) all ate and sat around till 8:30 andfinally decided to call for a shuttle. We got back up to Mountain Crossings andtook some pics, sent my pocketmail stuff to Rachael, and loved on the storedoggie Patches and kitty Bronson (I miss my babies now, and apparently my littleman Henry misses me too, because Rachael reported from home that he has taken itupon himself to leave a tiny turd for her, right OUSIDE of the litter box, everyfew days...he never did this before I left.....oh the way cats protest). Anyway, we headed out at 9:45 a.m. and it was a cool brisk day.We got to the top of Levelland Mt., which warmed us up and had a great view. Today was the day of great views. Talked to 2 previous thru hikers, TerrapinFlyer , Stitches and their doggy Murray, who are doing it again. We got started again and ended up eating lunch on top of Wolf Laurel Top Mt.,which was amazing. The sun was baking us warm, lunch was awesome...summersausage, cheese and mustard, we were leaning against our packs and enjoying anincredible view of the mountains. We must have stayed there for 2 hours and itwas hard to leave, but we figured we wouldn't get anywhere if we stopped after 3miles...LOL. You can easily walk right past this great spot..so for those ofyou who have not left yet, look for the path that goes to the right (if you area NOBO), and it opens up about 10 feet over the hump. It is worth it!Our next mission was to find water, which proved to be a huge challenge today. There were two spots on our information, but the first at Rock Spring Top, wasbarely flowing, so we decided to wait until Hogpen Gap. I did a little hot spot prevention with duct tape (which is on my top 3 list ofmost important gear to have....zero blisters so far.....YIPPY!!!) and we keptonward to Tesnatee Gap, which would be our hardest area to hike today.The other issue was that when we got to the bottom, it was 5:00 p.m., it wasgetting colder, and if it were not for Nicole sharing, I would have been totallyout of water (thanks Nicole!). We were all a little drained too, so as we satthere trying to figure out what to do, a day hiker named Cail showed up and heheard us discussing camping\water\dinner\keeping warm options. We asked if heknew if there was water at Hogpen Gap, because only the Companion showed it, notWingfoot or my maps. Cail said no...and now we were in trouble because the nextwater was still 5.5 miles away at Low Gap Shelter, and making it there wouldhave made it an 11 mile day, which we were prepared to do if we had to, butpreferred not to.Well, next thing we know, Cail is walking back with a cooler, gave all 4 of ussome Gatorade and then let us fill our waters up from his 3 liters of water!Trail Angel indeed...now we had some options. That totally gave me an energyboost, and it was a good thing, because we were about to climb Wildcat Mt.Oh...ma...gaw....that was the worst Mt. yet. Even WITH switchbacks it waspractially straight up. The temps were still dropping, and the wind wasfreezing, but as long as we hiked, we were warm.So we got down to Hogpen Gap, and we actually did find water, but it was asketchty source, and is easy to miss. It is a blue blaze trail to the right,just before the road. Sometimes you can't be picky though.So now, all we wanted was to find a safe place to camp (Hogpen Gap is at a majorroad crossing), but we did not know where a good campsite would be.All we could do was push on, and we figured worst case was we would stop fordinner and then hike all the way to Low Gap Shelter. Well...miraculously, we found a nice spot about .8 miles away, which was plentyfar. Then things got interesting for me and my hammock. The temps are in the30's now, and all I want to do is get my camp set up. I tie to one tree and my tree hugger wasn't long enough to get around the othertree, so I find one other place, get everything up, sit down, and realize I'vetied off to a huge dead tree that may fall. It stayed up alright when I satdown, but I had Gadget and Kay push on it, and they could see the root basemoving. I decided I did not want to risk becoming a shish kbob, because thistree had tons of bare short thick branches sticking out. So by now...it is getting COLD, so I decided to do the unthinkable....I took myhammock to the ground,to use both my sleeping bag and underquilt as blanketsand see how warm I stay.This campsite is full of sticker trees and is not that ideal for hammocking, butthat is part of being flexible, and honestly, I am excited to learn how to dothis and see how it works so I'll know for the Smokys.We have a fire, and its the only reason I am typing this...I am right in frontof it, and it is COLD tonite!. The starry sky is stunning...so clear, so pure. Weird to think every human being is being blanketed by them. I have all of my clothes on tonite, but I think I'll be ok with two quilts.One last thing....I never thought I'd use this, but I now have a pee rag(bandana). Can't carry enough TP to use everytime, but leaves just aren'tabsorbent, and your undergarments start smelling like pee (not to begross....just educational). The urine evaporates quickly, so it's not like youare carrying around a gross pee-soaked rag. I keep it in an opened ziplock andcinch it down under the top strap of my pack so nothing gets "contaminated." Well, a few more minutes I'll be heading to the ground BOO HOO! I'll take picsand report on how it goes tomorow.      ~Michele