Date: 2009-04-06
From: Woods Hole Shelter

To: Neel gap
Miles today: 3.0
Weather: overcast clouds

What a monumental day on the Appalachian Trail! It was a super hard morning. We left camp at 0815, bound for the top of Blood Mountain. Blood is the tallest peak on the Georgia section of the trail. It is also a nasty descent as it goes down at a steep grade for a long time. When I got to the Blood Mountain Shelter, who was there to greet me other than Sean #1("trampoline Sean"). He was quick to show me these huge gashes on a nearby tree. I thought he was giving me one of his usual nature lessons about yellow belly sap suckers or something. But he explained that everyone in the shelter lost their food to a bear last night. They heard it happening in the middle of the night and got up to make noise in hopes to scare it away. The bear didn't care, he just climbed up the tree(hence the giant gashes) and cut down all the food bags and had bear buffet. I felt so bad for those guys because first it was scary and second the equipment is expensive(we also put our cook stoves in the food bags). Thankfully, resupply was just 2 miles down the road.      And gosh, was it down the mountain! I was super conscious about taking my time so I didn't blow out any knees or break any bones. There were some good views, but I was not stopping because the weather was deteriorating by the minute. The wind was already blowing about 30 knots. Those two miles were super long and super difficult. I got lost once or twice because the trail wasn't well marked. I just knew that "down was the right direction".      After what seemed like an eternity, our group began to pop one by one out of the woods to the Neels Gap "Mountain Crossings Center". This place is a hub of hiker activity. There is an outfitter, a hostel, cabins, mailing center etc. A huge deck on the back over looks on of the most beautiful views yet. At the risk of sounding sappy, I had to walk to a place more private as not to be embarrased by the wave of emotion I was experiencing. I cannot describe the feeling of accomplishment I had by completing this leg of the journey. There is no doubt that this was much harder than I ever thought it would be. There were times when I questioned that I may have to drop out. Lost bus drivers, ridiculus cold, throwing up, pain knees, running out of food, nightnares, shelter mice- these are things that we all have to deal with out here and get through it. Making it to Mountain Crossings was a huge accomplishment and all of us were nothing short of ecstatic.      As if things couldn't get any better, there was a missionary group grilling hamburgers on the deck for hikers! What a great time we all had talking together and man did I eat a lot(3) hamburgers. And they were home made! They were not necessary for me to know that God was walking with me more than once in the last five days,amen!      At 1300hrs Scarecrow, Solarman, Birdbrain and I checked into a cabin and cleaned up. What a super feeling.   I then went back to the outfitter and bought a new sleeping bag. Evidently, I am a "cold" sleeper which means I need more warmth at night. I have been freezing in my 25 degree synthetic bag. I felt that the loss of sleep was a safety concern so I bought the warmer bag. I am now the proud owner of a Montbell 15 degree down bag. It's supposed to be super cold tomorrow night so we'll see if it's warm enough. Solar Man is going to use my other bag this week to see if he likes it. If not I will use it as my summer bag.      Scarecrow and I went back to the center one more time tonight to get dinner. While we were there, six hikers that we were with at Hawk Mountain Shelter were decending. We stayed out in the bitter wind and snow to cheer for them, just like others did for us hours earlier. It was all smiles and tears.      Tomorrow is a big underway day as we are leaving for a 3 to 4 day leg to Halwassee. The first ten miles of trail are closed to camping due to bear problems so we have to hike at least 11 miles to get to the shelter. It will be our biggest day yet. I'm sure many new adventures await. Until then...