Date: 2014-03-26
From: Hiawassee, GA

To: Over the GA-NC border!! (Bly Gap)
Miles today: 0.0

First of all, thanks so much to all of my friends and family for the amazing support I have received thus far on my journey, you guys are all awesome!! Second, I apologize for taking so long to post a journal entry... so much has happened already (or so little.. I am just walking in the woods afterall) that it is going to be tough to turn out a good post, but here goes:Conditions : Weather has been fairly mild for the most part. The first few days we were completely enveloped in clouds. starting the first night on Springer Mountain there were second and third hand weather report after weather report that it was going to clear up to 60s and sunny later in the day or first thing the next day. My first lesson of the trail : hikers are even worse meteorologists than meteorologists. Trying to stay dry in a cloud is infinitely more frustrating than trying to stay dry in the rain. Both are fools' errands as moisture is just a fact of life on the trail, but at least when it's raining you have a tangible opponent and you can curse every rain drop that hits you. Clouds are like ghosts, able to glide through walls and any other barriers in their way condensing on every surface they touch.         The clouds finally started to break on the third evening. When someone spotted the first star of the trip the entire camp ground broke out into a raucous cheer, and the spotter earned a trail name : Copernicus. The next day was full of firsts. First sun shine, first sun burn, first views of anything more than 200 yds away, first mountain top vistas. It was very cool looking South and watching the tail of the Appalachian mountains sinking away, and then turning North and seeing them rise before me.         The sun and mild temperatures continued steadily for several days, until the past few nights. Starting at Blue Mountain Shelter 3 nights ago the nights started getting a bit nastier. The ridgerunner (a volunteer who hikes, maintains the trail, looks after hikers in need, and collects data for the park service) who stayed with us that night said Blue Mountain is considered one of the windiest shelters on the AT, and it definitely put my tarp to the test that night. Actually the tarp held up fine, but my nerves were tested as I was constantly waiting for the wild flapping of the tarp to rip its stakes out of the 2 inches of soil that covered the rocky mountain top. In the end the tarp held and my bag kept me pretty warm even though the temps were in the low 20s... score one for my sleeping system. The next night temps dropped into the low 20s again and we got our first snow of the trip. Yesterday morning the sun came up and it appeared we were headed back towards mild weather. Then around noon a cold front started whipping in from the northwest with 35-45 mph winds, and the hikers/meteorologists were all calling for temps in the low teens with wind chill factors of -5 - -10 degrees. The reports made it very easy to think of practical reasons why coming into Hiawassee and getting a room at the Holiday Inn was a great idea. My particular reasons included a sleeping bag liner, a new spork, and some insoles for my shoes to try to relieve some of the stress on my knees. After a great Mexican dinner and a few too many beers we all hit our mattresses like a sack of bricks.        I awoke to a continental breakfast, loaded my plate, and sat down in front of this, the world's slowest computer. As it turns out it has taken me entirely too long to get this written so I will not be able to get into talking about people I have met or trail magic I have experienced or any other highlights from the journey so far. Not if I want to get anything productive done in town that is. So for now I bid you all adieu from the town of Hiawassee, GA. I will be crossing into North Carolina later today and am only three or four days from Franklin, NC, and another post hopefully!!