Date: 2009-02-20
From: Tray Mountain Shelter

To: Dicks Creek Gap / Hiawassee Ga
Miles today: 11.3
Weather: broken clouds

Day 6 boots on the ground..What a night ... It went down to 5 degrees outside and 15 degrees in the tent.I had slept with my water bottle and my gas canister so I could use them in the morning. Everything else was frozen ..my back up water, my toothpaste, my gloves , my pee bottle ( which I used during the night) ...all solid like a rock,My gloves were not usable until I warmed them up under my coat so my hands really froze while I was packing.The fastes I ever packed, just threw stuff in the bag. Once we got walking you warm up fast so we were in a hurry to get off that mountain.The three of us hiked all day together ,, more ups and downs ...we had to go ver Kelly's Knob which was 4000 feet high, the problem was it went from 3000 to 4000 in a mile. That is pretty steep. You keep thinking the top is around the corner but it never shows up. On the way down we ran through ling alleys of azaleas and rhododendrums, they cover the trail creating a green tunnel. It must be beautiful when they flower. We met someon on the trail who was hiking with his dog. He had done a thru hike in 2000 and was out for the day. At the end of our day we were at Dicks Gap and a road. This gentleman was finishing his hike at the same tiome as us and gave Primitive and me a ride to town and also a cold soda. Boy was that great. Journey dog stayed there because his wife was coming to pick him up.Primitive and me stayed at Hiawassee Inn, a very old motel that is used by most hikers. When we stepped in Sam ( owners Sam & Ron) told us the routine. H e gave us a basket for our dirty clothes and told us he would wash them and return them this evening. He asked if we had clean clothes to go to town in because if we did not he had sweats we could use.(Hikers really smell). He also told us that he would provide us a ride the local grocery store to resupply and to a restaurant for supper ( all close by ) but since he was the only one working we would have to drive ourselves. He would just give us the keys to the van. Then we got our room , showered and walked to a local AYCE restaurant instead of waiting to use the van.AYCE -A hikers best friend ALL YOU CAN EAT.We got to the buffet about 3:30 and the waitress knew we were hikers right away. She had a second coke on the table for each of us before we had even taken a drink of the first one. Basic salad bar, fried chicken, fried shrimp, fried catfish, veggies, slaw, starwberry cobbler , muffins. It was great ..I only had a salad and 1 heaping plate of food but PRIMITIVE being a 6 foot 1 inch 21 year old packed it away. He had been undernourished oin the trail for 5 days and he was eating like a man on a mission.Not much conversation at that table.The waitress told us that during hiker season she had seen hikers come in and stay her entire shift , eating , relaxing, reading the paper and eating some more.Only $7.50 for all you could eat ...Then we went to the Dollar store to resupply on Raman and candy etc. I finished the night with a stop at the dairy Queen next to our hotel.I am taking a zero day on Saturday. A zero day is a no hiking day...just let the feet, legs, and blisters rest. I have 3 blisters but only one is large...Not a big problem.I am typing this on saturday morning...The local library is closed and that is where most hikers would use the internet so I just went up the street to the holiday Inn, came in the side door and looked like a customer and am using their business center.Last night Rockstar and Gungho had the room next to us so we shared a bottle of wine and discussed the trail and the weather and where the other hikers were. Cindy and Shane the dog also stayed at the hotel. They are all behind me but this hotel is good about coming and picking hikers up and then bringing them back to the trail so you can do short sections if you want..Cindy and Shane and Primitive left this morning, looks like the others are staying anoither day. They are predicting 50% chance of rain/snow for tonight but then the rest of the week is going to be warmer than what I just went through.So after 1 week ( 6 days hiking) I have gone 67 miles and I only have 8 miles to finish off Georgia and get into North Carolina.O.M.River