Date: 2006-01-15
From: Blue Mtn Shelter

To: Steeltrap Gap
Miles today: 9.5

Steeltrap Gap Sunny, clear, cold Had a good nights rest inside the warm sleeping bag, inside the tent, inside the shelter. Saw a little bit of the sunrise through the tent window before I decided to crawl back into the sleeping bag - it was like a deep freezer out there.Guys, it is 1:00 in the morning - I am going to bed after a long hard day of no hiking, lots and lots of eating, and a great superbowl evening - will finish updating tomorrow - well, later today I guess!Never heard the boy scouts during the night so I assume they are either frozen or they made it through alright. BE PREPARED if you want to sleep out in three below freezing weather with winds blowing at 70 mph!!! Got packed up and said goodbye to Chris who was looking forward to one day taking his son out hiking - but preferably not until the weather got a little warmer. The hiking seemed easier today - must be getting used to hauling around a mini house on the back while trekking through the snow.Absolutely gorgeous views from Tray Mtn - could even see all the way to Atlanta and on the other side just beside the foot of the mountain was the town Hiawassee - a future mail drop stop.I talked to several nice day hikers up there but wearing only long johns and a long sleeved t-shirt in january usually makes you a little chilly, even if you are a Dane. Had planned to stop at Tray Mtn Shelter but it was littered with trash and crumbs everywhere - surely the mice had already gotten the invite to attend the huge party tonight here. Well, it was either them or I - I left! Wanted to try to make it to Addis Gap - 5 mi further and it was already 14:30. Seing a sign leading to water at Steeltrap Gap I decided this was as far as my feet had to drag me today. Found a great parking spot for my tent underneath two great pine trees, lots of needles on the ground so it would be like sleeping on a cloud compared to the wooden floors in the shelters - furthermore, I would have authentic pine needle aroma threapy instead of that cheap Walmart make-believe air-freshners.In the middle of consuming my chicken and teryaki rice dinner, who else but half-Moon comes wlaking down the trail. I wave him in as i am sitting all "camouflaged" away from the trail next to my orange-yellow tent that would have forewarned even a blind person. I guess I can always wear a tent-cape during hunting season - as I really would hate if a hunter mistakenly took my red hair for a turkey!!!(like one hunter thougth the red dot of a pepsi can, held in the hand of a hiker, was a turkey and shot the poor fellow!!!) Half-Moon came down from Tray Mtn - and I thought he was already in Hiawassee! It turned out that he had been caught out in the rain on the 13th. After getting to a shelter everything had frozen from raincoat, water bottles, and boots - to the sleeping bag. Not a fun situation so he had decided to back track 5 mi to catch a ride to Helen, where he got thawed out. Tomorrow we will both go to Hiawassee.Will sleep really nice in this aroma and without a huge mouse party running all night.Thought of today - solitude - do you really realize what it means until you once again are among other people? Kind of like "you do not know what you have until you have lost it" Well, I kind of define it as being able to be alone with me, myself, and I - not a bad thing, as long as there are no arguments!!!