Date: 2005-03-28
From: Helen, GA

To: Helen, GA
Miles today: 9.6

Helen, GA9.6 miles (50.5 total miles)Last night was crazy. The wind was howling like I've never heard. JoAnne says she has been told that a tornado sounds like a freight train. But the wind last night just sounded like loud airplanes, so that was a slight comforter. Our tent did surprisingly well in this major test of the weather. At times the water running down the rain fly sounded like a flowing faucet, but nothing inside got too wet. There saw constant flashes of lighting, accompanied by nearby thunder. Needless to say, we didn't sleep well last night.It was a chilly morning. JoAnne was especially cold, and ran halfway up the mountain just to keep warm before I even had my pack on. The trail followed an easy grade for a while, so we moved along quickly. Someone with a thermometer said it was about 40 degrees. It rained on and off, making us feel colder. We headed up, way up, arriving at Blue Mountain Shelter at about 11:00. The wind was howling at the shelter, colder than it had been all day. It would be another 8 miles to the next shelter, which is also high on a mountain. There were a group of about 6 hikers in the shelter discussing hitching into town at the road below. Suddenly the rain turned to sleet and snow. I was colder than I had been all day. One of my biggest annoyances while backpacking is hiking a long day while it is too cold to even stop to eat. It's not healthy. We decided a night in town was wise.We marched another 2 miles through all kinds of crazy precipitation down 1000 feet to Unicoi Gap. We decided to go into Helen, a trail town that neither of us had ever been to. We stood on the side of the road with another hiker named Forrest. We stuck out our thumbs, and the second vehicle stopped. We walked up to the truck, and found a man talking on his cell phone. He didn't acknowledge us. We assumed he didn't stop for us, and went back to our roadside. Sure enough, he drove on past us. But it was only a few minutes later when a very kind southern woman stopped for us. She worked for the local county school district, and was driving between schools. She said she never stopped for hitchhikers, but she liked to stop for hikers.She drove us to the tourist town of Helen, GA. All the buildings in town have an "alpine" theme. I was impressed by the friendliness of all the locals. We got a room at the Super 8, showered, then walked down to a Mexican restaurant. So far on this trip, I haven't been craving anything in particular, other than something with a lot of flavor. We ordered some greasy chimichangas, overflowing with refried beans, lettuce, tomatoes, guacamole, and red sauce. They were delicious! It is still raining and cold here in town, making us glad we're not up in the mountains. I'm not sure what the plan is for tomorrow. We need to dry out all our stuff, and figure out how to resupply with our unexpected stop. My clothes also smell especially bad, so another laundry trip is necessary. I would also like to let some major chafing heal up before hiking out.We are aware that we are pushing too hard too early. I hiked too quickly in '03, and I am already ahead of that pace. We meant to take a slow day in Neels Gap, but somehow ended up rushing through. So, we may take a zero day here, or at least a near-o day. Neither of us will go to the laundomat or grocery store while it is cold and rainy. So we'll do our chores tomorrow, and see what time it is when we're done. We may end up staying an extra night here at the Alpine Super 8.