Date: 2022-04-01
To: View Entry
Miles today: 4.7
Weather: clear sky

So fun story about last night. The wind was just whipping through the shelter. It was just crazy how cold it made it. I was thankful for how warm my sleeping bag was. At around 2am I woke up to coyotes in the distance. I rolled over and thought about how cool that was to hear them. Right as I was about to fall back asleep a coyote howled maybe 30 feet from the shelter. It freaked me out! I was thankful to have the ATC Ridgerunner, Tom, with me in the shelter. I proceeded to listen to the coyotes talking back and forth for the next 30 minutes I guess. I was really awake for a time after that.When I next woke up at 8:30am I found Tom mostly packed and Kurt already gone. I was slow moving and my left knee and ankles were killing me. I think I hyperextended my knee yesterday and then have been compensating with my ankles. It was so cold I was tempted to just crawl back into my sleeping bag and not move but the saying is ¢no pain, no rain, no Maine.¢ Which means I¢d you don¢t walk through the rain and pain you won¢t make it to Maine. So I got up and actually beat Tom out from the shelter. Once I did get going I made a wrong turn, or rather failed to turn, at Slaughter Creek. So I went the wrong way for at least half a mile. And then had to back track. As I came up I was praying just not to see Tom. But as I got back to Slaughter Creek Tom was walking up to it. So I put on a bold face and said ¢Tom! I don¢t know if you know this or not but don¢t go that way! (As I pointed down the trail I had to back track from)¢ ohh how he full belly laughed. He thought it was such good fun that I had walked by the turn off at the creek. So there, I¢ve made my first trail mistake and I can laugh about it. I¢m sure there are many more to come. This one will teach me to only follow the White Blaze.I slowly made it up Blood Mountain. Each step was killing me knee. The view from the top. I¢m glad I took pictures because words will never describe the majesty of these mountains. Even the pictures won¢t do it justice. I will have to come back to see it again. The shelter on top is made of stone and it was constructed in 1937. It¢s the oldest one on the AT.I met some people at the top that I had stayed with back at Gooch Shelter. So it was nice to share the experience with some new friends. I ended up coming down from Blood Mnt. With Paul from TN, I¢ve met several Paul¢s so far. If I thought my knee hurt going up I was not prepared for coming down. It was a rocky trail. It makes the trail to the top of Hanging Rock look like a walk through a manicured lawn.  We eventually made it down to Neel Gap and oh the reward. What a place! I got a Tony¢s pizza, which they cooked for me, and a cherry coke. It was the best thing I have ever had. I sat and talked to so many people. I caught up with people I had left behind and met people I hadn¢t seen before. I resupplied food for four days and charged my phone. I bought an ankle brace and a knee brace. I am hoping they help. After a good 3 hour break and a plan with Emily and Jebry, I met them at Gooch mountain, and they were at the top of Blood with me. We moved on just one mile to a camp site in Bull Gap for the evening and night. We were the first ones here and not there are around 20 people. We made a fire. I rested my legs. I put Arnicare on them to help them heal. It was a fun evening to talk with people. I met a lady around my age who is doing the AT to finish her triple crown. (For people reading this a triple crown, or triple crowner, is competing the AT, the Pacific Crest Trail and the Continental Divide Trail) It was cool to chat with her since I will probably not see her again. She started yesterday at Springer Mountain. She covered nearly 30 miles yesterday and then caught me today. There are actually two people here tonight who did that. I¢m impressed! They talked about how it¢s all about learning what you actually need in your bag and getting into shape. They said in the next month I will be in the same place. And yes, I started with what I thought was the bare minimal, but already I know somethings I can leave behind. I would have left things today at Neel Gap but I¢d kinda like to keep my bear canister and I didn¢t want to pay the shipping to send it home.Well it¢s supposed to be below freezing tonight. So here is to sleeping with my water and electronics.