Date: 2005-05-24
From: Miller's Gap

To: Neel's Gap
Miles today: 8.0
Weather: clear sky

5.24.05I got up about 7 am. The next game I played was to see how many things you can do without having to put your boots on. Well, I did everything but pee and get the bear bag down until I had to put my poor feet into my boots. Then I had an idea ¢ I took the high priced insoles out to see how my feet would do. Oh my, what a wonderful thought. I wondered why I was getting so many blisters in boots I have worn for a couple of months with a pack. So, with happier feet I was off again.Two thoughts ¢ 1) I think that the bears out west skip the bear bags, and just eat the hikers. And, 2) I love this life. I felt like the richest person on earth when I saw that I had one more Skippy peanut butter left. LIFE IS GOOD.I went up to Jarrard Gap at about 12:00. I decided to hike the 2.5 miles of the Blue Blaze trail to Lake Win Scot to call home. It was along extra hike, but I had been warned about calling home. I got there, and there was no one around. I was going to walk up to someone¢s house but I walked on and finally found an older guy heading to his wife¢s trailer to see if he had a phone. He didn¢t, but another man, his son, and their puppy, ¢Dixie¢ drove up. They, after much discussion, said they would take me to a pay phone. I called and left a message at Mother and Burl¢s, grabbed some munchies, and we were back at it. The man had lost part of two of his fingers. He declared that, ¢I still have my middle finger.¢ He was very nice, and said he thought I was brave. He said he needed to get back into shape again. He didn¢t know where Springer mountain was, even though he had been coming to eh lake since the 70¢s. They dropped me off and I went to take a shower. After that, they turned up again¢¦it seems that they had come looking for me because I had forgotten my hiking poles in their car (or ¢my sticks in their jeep¢ as they referred to it). I started off. I now know when it will be time for me to be done with this adventure ¢ when a shower, some food, and good rest don¢t recharge me.I hiked back to the trail and then on to Blood Mountain. This is where the Cherokee and Crete Indians had such a bloody battle that blood just ran down the mountain. It was very sad, and humbling to think that neither tribe was ¢allowed¢ to keep it. The hike was not that tough. It took only about 45 mins. Because the winds were so blowing the view was spectacular. I stayed up at the summit for about an hour. One guy ¢ Solo ¢ was there as well. A very nice guy. We talked and he said he was going to stay there and watch the sunset. He told me the hike down was hard at first, and then would get better. I took off from Blood Mountain at about 6:30 pm. I should not have gone. I was way too tired, and the trail was hard, hard, hard. It was very steep, rocky, and slick. I did make it though. I was worried about making it all the way to Neel¢s Gap before dark. It was about 8:30 pm when I made it to the hostel. Wow, such a wonderful sight. I was told to knock on the caretaker¢s door and he would let us in. Sure enough it worked! He got me a towel, and he went to go sleep. Three men were already there drinking wine, eating chips, and watching Caddie Shack. Johnny, Rick and George. All of them were very nice guys. We had a fun night. They were hiking to get to North Carolina within 5 days. They shared their stuff, we watched movies and talked. It was a good evening. I joked and told them that I don¢t think I have ever been sleeping in the same room with 3 men in my life!We ¢got¢ one of guys. He had been in the dorm room getting ready for bed. He had his tunes turned up and was singing (not very well) loudly. I walked up and waited for him to turn around, and then in a high voice I said, ¢Hi there.¢ His friends were on the floor. I think that he¢ll not live that down for a long time.