Date: 2005-04-07
From: Woody Gap

To: Neels Gap
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: moderate rain

We left the Hostel and were dropped off at Woody Gap 11:30 that next morning. What a nice bunch of people there. Interesting experience happened that night. There was one hiker who snored so loud I decided to sleep out on the porch. It was lightly raining so I set up a piece of cardboard to deflect the splashing water as it impacted on the deck. Later that evening I awoke to a clicking sound. An animal, I assumed was a dog, was walking across the porch not 10 feet from me. That next morning I asked who owned the large black dog out on the loose. I was told no one in the area had such a dog, what I most likely saw was a Black Bear that was hanging around the neighborhood. To bad I did not recognize it as such. That would have made the experience exhilarating to say the least.    The hostel fed us in two shifts depending on when you were departing, it was raining and we were soon on our way. After being on the trail a few hours I realized I may have not paid for the nights logging (lack of brain cells again, darn 70's). It seems that after the ride to town, pizza, a shower and a few beers it slipped my mind. Earlier I asked to pay when the money was being collected for pizza but, the young lady there asked me to hold off on paying for the lodging so she did not mix the two together. Trust me when I say I will be sending my greeting's and thank yous out soon and when I do, the cost of logging will be included. If the hostel's record proves me wrong then I will tell them to add it to their fuel fund jar.    We moved on to Woods Hole gap where we met up with Joe and Praying Mantis once again. Joe is a newly wed missing his bride and I could tell he would not be with us much longer, timing on the trail I guess is everything. Clint arrived at noon just before the rest of us moved out. Clint said he would catch us by the time we got to Blood MT which he did. The man carried an umbrella. I chuckled but said to myself, "hmmmmmm, not a bad idea but who wants the extra weight". A thru hiker as I found out becomes a minimalist (go light, go comfortable and do bigger miles). As time went on I found it was easier to just let the rain soak you as long as you have dry stuff to get in to and the weather isn't to cold. We arrived on Blood at 2:30, (elevation 4461') it was socked in with fog and it rained on and off all day. We stayed long enough for a few pictures and then moved out to Neels Gap.       Once again I rented a bunk at the hostel there ($15.00) . The shower was worth it after being soaked all day. We took a shuttle ($4.00) to a place called "The Cookie Jar" and had the buffet ($8.00) for supper. I began to see that this trip would bust a budget fast if you let it. It also seemed that the rate of people who left the trail at Neels Gap was astronomical. Historically it has always been this way. Back at the hostel I met a lot of folks, Jerry (told you I would add your name to my log), Dana (who knows Toni), The Rambler from PA ( Thru-Hiker class of 04), Christina, Ken, Chopsticks, Flash hand, Amy, Dana and a Mickey Rooney look alike called "Mickey one Sock".    Eventually Rick and I talked about our argument and I asked him to let up on the wise cracks. I also advised him perhaps he should outfit himself for a independent hike just in case we separated. He was using my equipment (stove, filter, cook set, etc) and carrying a small pack with about 2/3 rd of the weight I was. This was one of our problems as we had two different hiking speeds and then again there were always wise cracks made. I informed him earlier before we even met in Atlanta that if there were problems on the trail then I would be moving on alone (Rick asked at the last minute if he could come along with me and I made this quite clear). We decided to try it again and it went well, for a little while that is.    On a personal note I noticed two interesting things on the trail. First all the fire pits I came upon were stocked with wood near and inside the fire ring, that is good trail magic indeed. Second, it was mating season for the Grouse in the area. You could hear the males drumming on their chest now and then. They roost low on a log or rock to do this. Kind of sounds like and old tractor trying to start but just could not quite turn over. It reminded me of where I grew up in the Catskills.Peace... WB