And Almost As Quickly Ended

 Trying to do these entries on a cell phone is problematic. 

Readers, you are bound to see typonese, and what looks like garbled speech. Please just overlook it or better still point it out in the comments section. 

Wednesday, March 23 

I got up early and went to breakfast at the Motel. There I met up with Todd, Terry, and Joe; three other hikers. Joe was from Virginia and he was hiking back to Virginia. Terry was from Dawsonville and he was up here hiking with his friend Todd. The three of them were sharing a room just on the backside for where I was. 

It was raining that day but not as bad as I had feared, which is good. No high winds so I didn’t have to worry about blow downs on the trail when I got back on again. I went through my pack and removed a couple more items to lighten it up. I put it on and it felt a lot better than what it had but I still need to trim it some more. I walked around town a bit then I  visited my new friends. We chatted for a bit, getting to know one another.

  I had gotten a number from Lucky, the shuttle driver, yesterday of a shuttle service to call.  I called and left a message but my call was never returned.  In the meantime the man in the next room to me had struck up a  conversation with Terry, Todd, and Joe. He was local but I thought he would’ve been a hiker too. As it turns out his stepfather is basically a trail angel and stepdad was willing to give us all a ride the next day. We got together and decided to do this at 8:30 in the morning. 

I walked back into town to Dollar General and got a few supplies.  This was a small box of Slim Jim’s which had about a 14 count,  and each one was like a quarter of an ounce a piece. 

I found a little scrubby pad that could fit inside my cup.  I decided to leave the bowl that I had bought. 

Around dinner time I met up with the others. 

We ate at the little oriental restaurant next-door. It was kind of a fusion of Japanese, Chinese, and Thai food. We bought the man who hooked us up dinner also.  I had the teriyaki steak bento box.  Lots of food. 

After dinner we went to our respective rooms and got ready for tomorrow

Thursday, March 24

Up at 5 AM and ate the motel’s breakfast. 

I checked the pack. It was ready. When 0830 came around I checked out. The ride was here. We rode in an extended cab with our packs in the bed. Terry and I were in the second seat while the stepdad, Joe, and Todd rode in front. First stop was Walmart. Terry and Joe had supplies to get. 

I got dropped off at Woody’s Gap while the rest continued on to Gooch Gap. The wind was cold and biting. They had a port-a-potty there and trash receptacles. 

I started my hike and first had to climb big Cedar Mountain. I came down through Dan’s gap. The hike was good but a bit brisk. Without the spring foliage visibility was excellent. 

On southside of Burnett field mountain I slipped.  I went down on my left knee. My left buttock (not a word I get to use often) went back and hit my left heel. I thought I may have broken my hip but luckily I didn’t. It was just very sore afterwards. I took some Aleve and limped along. 

Terry and Todd caught up with me about a mile from Jarred Gap. They were pushing on to Slaughter Creek camp. Joe was nowhere to be seen. They said they soon distanced themselves from him after they started hiking.  They were both going at quite a clip.  

When I came to Jarred Gap there were lots of tents set up along the trail.  Terry and Todd were there. They had decided that was as far as they were going today. I pushed on to Wood’s Hole. 

About a mile later I found the cut off to the shelter. The shelter is 4/10th miles off the trail. 

Halfway to the shelter is a stream to get water. 

I got to shelter and no one else was there. 

And a little while another hiker came up. An older gentleman. We talked a little bit but basically we were ready for sleep. 

I Woke up a couple times to relieve myself during the night but it was cold and I shivered a good bit. It was hard to get any good sleep. 

Total trail miles walked 7.5

Friday, March 25

Got up and made a cold breakfast with hot coffee.  The other hiker had risen early and had continued on. After repacking I continue on towards Blood Mountain. 

I made the main trail with no problem. Just past the side trail to the shelter is another trail to the right called Freeman Trail. I didn’t recall anything about that trail so I filed it in the back of my mind for future reference. Further on I came to Slaughter Creek. One has to be careful because the trail doesn’t cross the creek but cuts to the right ascending. The trail for the campsite at Slaughter Creek crosses the creek and goes down to the left. Another hiker was stopped there and we chatted a bit when another hiker trudged by, crossed the creek then headed down towards the campsites. This hiker had the disenchanted look so I called out and pointed the trail out. The hiker stopped, looked the way I pointed and gave me a nod of gratitude before correcting his course and ascending up the trail. 

I made the summit of Blood Mountain where the shelter is. I stopped, ate a little lunch, and took a few pictures.  Beautiful view up there. 

The old shelter is a CCC construction

I started down the north side; this is where the fun began. Going down the northside had a lot of rock gardens and steep slopes.  My descent was slow. My left leg was holding up pretty good. Soon I came to an area that was a lookout for the surrounding countryside.  A big rock was there.  There were some young folks there who were having a photo opportunity.  I thought they had came up from the trail back of the rock so I went down past the rock and kept going. It got very steep. Careful I got to the bottom of the slab area and there’s an old sign posted to a tree which is almost unreadable, something about AT to the right. I continue down what I perceive to be the trail and after a quarter of a mile I realize that this is more of a runoff for the mountain and the trail itself. Briers on either side of the trail getting thick.  That's something you don’t normally have on a well traveled trail. I realized I was going wrong. I turned around and started making the slow ascension back the way I had came. 

As I was coming back out there was another couple coming down the same way. I was able to stop them, telling them that this wasn’t the right way. They went off towards their left,  my right, to find the trail.  I continue straight up mainly because of the pack. Soon the man reappeared. He was nice enough to come back by the trail and let me know where it was that we had made our mistake. Soon I  got to where the trail had veered off and realized how I made my mistake.   I wasn’t watching for the blazes like I should. 

That could’ve been a costly mistake. It did cost me an hour. I continued on with the trail.  It was less steep but more rock garden making my descent slow again.  There were about a couple more hours to finally get through the rock garden part. 

I got to the junction of the Brian Reese Trail which headed off to the west and the Freeman Trail which headed off to the east.  Apparently the Freeman trail is made to bypass Blood Mountain probably for those people that are just trying to hike through and get around the mountain. 

I was now heading towards Neels gap at a good pace.  For a while now I’ve been hearing the traffic from the highway.  Soon I got to where I could actually see the highway.  Then I could see the building there at Neels gap. It was such a welcome sight. 

I planned on picking up a sleeping bag rated for colder weather, some supplies, and staying at the hostel there  

(The old Walsai-Yi Inn)

I got there about 10 minutes after they have closed.  The hostel still has not reopened from the pandemic. 

It was going to be cold tonight. 

I really didn’t feel like camping out. 

I tried my luck again with Uber but, I didn’t know, apparently the drivers don’t wanna come up into these mountain areas. They might be scared of hearing banjo music. 

I was rescued from my predicament by another trail angel.  This man agreed to take me to Blairesville and I got a room at the best Western. He even showed me the best way to talk to the hotels and let them know that you are a thru hiker even when they claim to not have any vacancies. They’ll usually have a room or to set aside for thru hikers and give them a better rate. 

He was also kind enough to give me a lot more sage advice but I won’t get into that here. 

I got myself checked in with a check out time for Sunday morning.  My room had two queen size beds and a balcony, which looks out to the parkway. There was a Zaxby’s next-door which is where I got my dinner. I wasn’t really feeling hungry till I got smelling that delectable aroma and of course this whetted my appetite. After eating I showered and then to bed. 

I slept soundly