Date: 2015-03-03
From: Need Gap

To: Hogpen Gap
Miles today: 6.9
Weather: overcast clouds

Some would say the weather today was crappy. But I suspect that it was good compared to what we¢ll find the next couple of days. We did a short hike today, only 6.9 miles. We could have hiked more, but the logistics of slack-packing dictated a short day. Good trail access is limited to a few paved roads that cross the trail. And sometimes the trail distance between crossings doesn¢t fit well with how far we'd really like to hike. Ranger is supporting us - meaning that he drives us each day to and from the AT. And for the last 5 days, we¢ve been staying with him and his wife Gay. He lives in Blue Ridge, GA which is not too far from the trail. For the first couple of days, he dropped us off at our starting point each day and then picked us up at the end of the day¢s hike. So we didn¢t have to sleep in a tent and carry our food. This is the essence of slack-packing. But now, we¢ve moved along the trail to a point where it¢s not reasonable to drive back-and-forth from Ranger¢s house to the trail everyday. So now, we¢ve set up a new base at Helen, GA, and Ranger and Gay are enjoying a short vacation in a very nice motel with Princess and I. Ranger will drive us to the AT from Helen until Friday and then we¢ll move further north to another motel. We hope to do this as far north as Fontana Dam, but unfortunately Gay will have to head back to Blue Ridge on Friday. Today we did a northbound (NoBo) hike for the first time this year. We saw only one hiker on the trail, not surprising, since everyone is going northbound like us. The one fellow we saw had a dog, and we exchanged greetings and passed by. From Neel Gap we climbed up Levelland Mountain, then descended and started a long gradual climb toward Cowrock Mountain. Cowrock had some interesting outcroppings of flat rocks near the summit on the north side. The descent from Cowrock to Tesnatee Gap was fairly steep with considerable mud, but no residual snow or slush. In fact, the trail was remarkably clear. After Tesnatee we had a steep climb up Wildcat Mountain and then down to Hogpen Gap. The temperature hovered in the 40¢s, but the sun never broke through and the surrounding clouds and mist obscured any chance of views. We were in a continuous ¢tree rain¢ drip with a chilly breeze on the ridges and at times I think we had a slight drizzle or even warm sleet. Everything was wet and we wore our ponchos throughout. I have a problem with cold fingers, and I still haven¢t found a good glove solution. I have several pairs of synthetic thermal gloves that block wind, but they aren¢t effective when they get wet. I have a pair of Zpack waterproof shells that keep water and wind out, but eventually my hands get wet from sweat. I have wool liners, but they don¢t work well when wet and they don¢t block the wind. Fortunately, much of the hike today was warm enough that I didn¢t need gloves. Princess has a pair of think wool gloves with foldover mittens that work for her even when they¢re a little wet, so she was pretty comfortable.While we only saw one hiker today, we did find some trail magic at Tesnatee Gap. At the bottom of the gap, three fellows had set up a canopy tent with chairs, hot chocolate, fruit drinks, energy bars, etc. We had just eaten and we were near the end of our hike, but we stopped and talked with them for a while. The greeter was King Tut, who has been doing trail magic at this spot for many years, supported by members of several church congregations. His companions were Chicken Feathers and Jim. Chicken Feathers did a thru-hike in 2012 and last year hiked as far as Harpers Ferry. He plans to start another thru-hike this year in early April. King Tut said only 8 hikers had passed through (it was about 12:30 or 1:00) so far, perhaps attributed to the wet chilly weather. He did say that one of the earlier hikers was named Rocketman, so apparently my trail name isn¢t unique this year. When he said his name was Rocketman, another hiker in the tent asked him where Princess was - no doubt someone we met in the past 2 days. We will likely do SoBo tomorrow, so perhaps we¢ll meet him.