Rain, Rain...

Saturday, March 13, about 4pm, Emily called from the Blueberry Patch Hostel in Hiawassee, GA, while her sleeping bag dried near the wood stove.

On Thursday she had hiked 11 miles in rain to Low Gap, astounded by the amount of trash she's seen along the Trail and in shelters.  She's not preachy, but indoctrinated in Leave No Trace ethics and accustomed to more pristine trails in Maine and New Hampshire, she was moved enough to write about it in one of the Trail registers.

Friday's 15 mile hike in more rain, and thunderstorms, was tremendously brightened after a steep descent from Blue Mountain:  at Unicoi Gap there was a truck draped in a banner advertising AT Trail Magic, a generous array of goodies that don't travel well in packs, including a Tastee Cake (spelling?) that Em was enjoying while she talked to me on the phone.   Thanks to Linda and Wayne of Cleveland, GA, for the boost!  It helped ease the hike over Tray Mountain, "treacherous," Em said, on both sides of the peak:  clear ice patches interspersed with remnant patches of crunchy snow.  During the night at Tray Mt shelter, a huge thunderstorm produced such bright lightning that, with eyes shut, it seemed as bright as daylight.

Saturday the 13th:  11 miles in rain and sleet, around and through a lot of blowdowns.  Apparently it's too early for maintainers to have been able to work on their sections.  This morning she woke up cold.  After three days and two nights in the rain, with high temp's maybe 54 degrees, drying gear inside the sleeping bag at night produced condensation.  She said,"You don't take many breaks.  You just want to hike to your base for the night and get out of the rain."  Her legs are fine, the one blister is no worse, a couple hot spots are under control, and her spirits are very good.  She came off the Trail at Dick's Creek Gap, where a hiker had just given up his seat on a shuttle in favor of an alternate plan, so Em hopped in and got a free ride to Hiawassee. There weren't many other hikers in the hostel needing drying space, so she was able to dry out her tent and fly.

Sunday, March 14, still raining, but back on the Trail to cross the North Carolina border only nine miles ahead.

The Shake Down

[Transcriber's note:  I can't quite bring myself to pretend to be Emily by using language such as "I" or "my" it just feels weird.  Maybe if you didn't know I existed it would be easier.  Anyway, I'm going to write in third person, and you're just going to have to deal with it.]

On day two, Emily put down another 10 miles and found a place to camp on the ridge line and spent the night in solitude.  Apparently there is a wildfire off in the distance, because she told me she could see the smoke from her camping spot.

So far the weather has been warm enough to hike in shorts and a tee shirt during the day, but some rain is on the way and so is a cold front.  =(

In the "good news" category we have several things to mention.  First is that Emily experienced her first Trail Magic - brownies!  A kindly day hiker thought ahead and brought treats to the trail.  Also a bag of apples was found, the details of which I was not told.

On the evening of March 8th, Emily arrived at Neels Gap, 30.5 miles from Springer Mountain.  She stayed at the Walasi-Yi Hostel for 2 nights.  While in Neels Gap it's necessary for one to visit Mountain Crossings outfitter.  This gear store and more is unique in it's position and catering to AT hikers.  Going in originally for a new rain cover for her pack, Emily came out with quite a bit more.  She got a gear shake down which includes first weighing one's pack.... Emily's weighed 50 pounds!  Yikes!  The experts at Mountain Crossings were able to help her pare it down to just 35 lbs.  This included the (unexpected and slightly expensive) purchase of a new pack.  It might be worth it though, if it saves your back and knees and feet and neck and arms and hips and...

No pictures yet, due to technical difficulties.  If we were going for 'typical hiker' we should have gotten her a smart phone.  Apparently everyone else is online whenever and where ever they want.  But how good of a picture can you take with a camera phone?  High quality pictures on the way.

Day One, Mile One

On Saturday, bright and early, well actually dark and early, Emily boarded a bus to catch an over night train to get to Georgia.  So the "Jet Plane" titled posting was misleading, sorry.  The Hiker Hostel is kind enough to run a shuttle from the transit center in Gainesville to the hostel, where Emily arrived Sunday morning.  There was a group of 5 other hikers being picked up at the hostel and being dropped off at the trail head by the shuttle, and rather than kick around all day waiting for Monday to arrive, Emily decided to hit the trail early!

First summit: Springer Mountain, elevation 3,782 ft. Woohoo!  The climb was gentle, but a bit slippery and mushy.  In fact, it went from muddy to slushy to down right icy.  Sunday night's sleeping quarters were the Hawk Mountain Shelter, 7.6 miles from the summit.  The weather at Springer Mountain was overcast and about 45 degrees.  Not a bad first day.