Date: 2011-04-06
From: (15) Deep Gap Shelter

To: (16) Muskrat Creek Shleter
Miles today: 16.7
Weather: clear sky

Last night Metric and I were startled by the sound of rats squeaking and scurrying in the shelter, but they appeared to have left our stuff alone. ¢Lemur is that what I think it is?¢ Me-- ¢yeah¢¦¢Today I hiked 4 miles to a road and decided to hitchhike into the town of Hiawassee to resupply my food store (I was nearly out having refused to buy the overpriced stuff at Neel¢s gap). Having never hitchhiked before I was a little skeptical at the likelihood of getting picked up. So I tried to make myself appear safe while also looking miserable by wearing my ¢big¢ pack so that people might feel sorry for me. A guy with a strong southern accent and deer antlers on his pickup (I love the south) offered me a ride for seven bucks, which I declined, and then he offered to knock the price down a dollar for every cigarette I gave him, which just made me laugh. I continued to stand with my thumb up for less than ten minutes when a nice old man picked me up. He said he had seen my pack and felt sorry for me, and then he told me some WW2 stories from the Pacific. Before I knew it I was in town. I went to the local grocery store and stocked up on food first, which I ended up buying too much of (lot of extra weight). Then I went to the dollar store and bought freezer bags to store my electronics in and keep them dry. Then I went to McDonalds where I destroyed the dollar menu (I am never full anymore), and last I went to the post office. There I took out my winter clothes, water filter, and some other loose ends and mailed them all home, which reduced my pack weight by several pounds. I now have one t-shirt, rain pants and jacket, shorts, and a fleece jacket. I will wear these every day. It is still cold out, but I feel a night or two of shivering it out is worth the weight I saved. I am not hardcore, but I have simply reached the point where I don¢t care anymore. Hot¢¦cold¢¦, clean¢¦dirty, it doesn¢t really matter; there is always something. Plus when you are hiking 8-10 hours a day up and down mountains, weight is all you think about. Less = easy. With my chores done I decided to try thumbing it back out of town, so I stood along the road by a pull off so that cars would have room to pick me up. A women named Judy picked me up almost immediately (she said I didn¢t smell) and I was back on the trail.I hiked most of the day without water (to save weight), drinking heavily from streams when I crossed them. Eventually I ran into White Blaze, and together we crossed the Georgia border into North Carolina! It was exhilarating to have finished an entire state! The mountains on the other side appear to be much higher, and I wonder if that didn¢t have something to do with how the territory was originally drawn. I arrived late at the shelter (16.7 miles) and found it was very crowded. I appeared to have hiked fast enough to catch up to a pocket of thru hikers who all started before me. It makes me wonder if I will ever see my own April 1st pocket of thru hikers from Hawk Mountain Shelter again. It is ok though, I am getting better at meeting new people. Plus White Blaze, Wofpack, Mule, Rat, Centrum and Metric are all here.