As my hiker legs grew stronger I blasted the next 40 miles in only three days. I felt rejuvenated after getting almost a 24 hour rest period at the blood mountain cabins. I hiked solo most of the first day and passed tons of hikers on the trail or still breaking down camp. I got some nice photos when I got to an overlook before Hogs Pen Gap.
I continued on for a few more miles before stopping for lunch around 3 and that's when Kirk, Andrew, and Matt caught up so we hiked to Low Gap shelter but decided to go a little further to camp for the night in order to avoid people. The noro virus has been going around the trail and we wanted to stay away from shelters and privies where hikers are in close quarters and spread the germs. It actually got so bad that Mountain Crossings in Neels Gap had to shut down their hostel!
I got an early start in the morning to be first on the trail and hoped to catch some wildlife but only heard song birds whistling their morning tunes. The trail followed an old road which had a nice gentle incline for miles with a smooth dirt surface which felt amazing on my feet. It was a relaxing and peaceful morning that soon got steep and rocky and that is where I met Karen who was back on trail after taking 4 zero days to recover from an eye infection. We hiked for a couple more miles before Kirk caught up to us and we then began a grueling stretch that we called "the W" It is a steep 1000ft drop into Unicoi Gap, then a 1000ft climb and another 1000ft drop into Indian grave gap, and finally another climb up to Tray Mountain.
Karen and another hiker departed from Unicoi Gap to head to Hiawassee while Kirk and I pushed on. I stopped before Tray Mountain at a campsite near an access road that was stocked with firewood and was soon joined by Andrew and Matt who are both fellow Marylanders. We joked that we wouldn't let anyone else camp at the site unless they were also from Maryland but nobody showed up.
Camp MD!
I left early again the next morning to finish the Tray Mountain ascent and then made great time hiking the rest of the 13 mile day into Dicks Creek Gap. Along the way I got a text from Kirk who already made it to Hiawassee and got a motel room.
SQUIRREL!
My first hitchhike only took about 10 minutes until Paul pulled over in a big pickup and said he could take me until about 2 miles outside of town so I hopped in. He was a civil engineer who now owns a concrete pouring company so we mostly talked about engineering stuff during the short ride. I thanked him, he pulled off, and I threw my thumb up again, and was soon picked up by a couple in a small pickup and the girl riding shotgun said hop in the back. When I leaned over the driver side of the bed to talk to the driver, he cracked his door to pivot around and ask me if getting dropped off at Ingles would work, and that is when I saw he was wearing bright pink lipstick..."uhhh that's fine" I blurted out while hoping I wouldn't end up in a well in his basement where he lowers a basket and says "it puts the lotion on its skin"
I met Kirk at the Budget Inn and then Karen met us for some BBQ before we picked up some beer and drank them on the hotel porch with some other random hikers. One guy from Cincinnati is hiking with a travel guitar so he played songs as we sipped on beers and watched a spider construct a big web in the corner. It was a great night feeling like some stereotypical hiker trash! We stayed up until 1030 which is way past out usual bedtime of 9pm AKA hikers midnight.
In the hustle to grocery shop and pack up the next morning I forgot to snap a photo of the motel spider's handiwork, but here is one his country cousin spun somewhere on the trail.
I made it to North Carolina last night on April 13, tackling my first state in just 8 days which covered 87.4 miles including the approach trail. Post 3 should arrive this Sunday or Monday after I reach Franklin, NC