Date: 2014-03-09
From: Woody Gap

To: Neel Gap
Miles today: 10.7

Waking up to pancakes and bacon doesn't exactly facilitate an early start on the trail. We hung out with Fresh Ground until around 10:30 enjoying the food and company. There were a number of day hikers from colleges nearby who had gone up to see the sunrise and he called them all over insisting on feeding them as well so we got a little bit of local flavor on top. Most of them were skeptical about the free food, but Fresh Ground is such a people person that they were chowing down in no time.I Believe's husband Jimmy offered to slackpack us over to Neel Gap, an offer that we couldn't pass up on. We had only planned on doing about six miles that day in order to camp out right before the five mile bear canister required zone. We packed up food and water for the day and tossed the rest in Jimmy's truck and then headed out.I ended up hiking most of the day alone but met Moose and Brightside at Preaching Rock. I caught up with them and Listen and Squirrel at the top of Blood Mountain but stayed there to wait for Meg. I ended up hanging out up there for about two hours and got to meet a number of day hikers and really drink in the views. I once again crossed paths with Ed, Mike, and Kaylie and took a few pictures for them. Ed said not to worry about the camera cord either which was quite nice of him and threw in some freeze dried fruit to boot!Meg arrived with Coach, Riley, and Key Lime but was feeling the climb in her knees. Riley had originally planned on hitching a ride into Suches and waiting a day to get into Neel Gap. Coach earned her trail name that day coaching the three of them up and over Blood Mountain. Meg also got her trail name, Trix, after trying to convince everyone her name was Tris - unsuccessfully. Once up there it was a relatively short down into Neel Gap which I walked with Key Lime and Coach. It rocky and steep though and slow going for those on sore legs.We met up with Jimmy, Jesse, and our packs at Neel Gap and set up to figure out plans for the night. Jesse was sharing a cabin with I Believe, Jimmy, and one other. Meg, Key Lime, Riley, and I decided to split one of those as well as it came out to cheaper than the hostel. It felt great to shower and dine on frozen pizza and candy bars. It felt even better knowing that we had made it to the point where 20% of thru hikers drop out and were still feeling good and going strong (at least mentally if sore physically). Riley earned his nickname Chef mixing things up while preparing dinner.Coach, Listen, and Squirrel also grabbed a cabin there but we didn't end up seeing them that night. The four of us and Jesse (now Gentle Spirit, a name bestowed upon him by I Believe) hung out until relatively late talking and getting to know each other. Between last night around the campfire and tonight at the cabin I have to say I'm surprised at how quickly and easily people open up and get to know each other on the trail.With that said, I was apparently quieter than most the first few days and Coach dubbed me Shybear. Coach, Trix, and Key Lime talked about that one on the way up the mountain and I'm still working on deriving the whole story behind it.