Day 5-One of the 85%

March 23-Day 5

Last night, Doug and I walked back up to the tent pads to see if anyone else was there. Oh yeah, they were all full with two tents on one of the pads. Juice and Bomba Bear from Black Gap were there, as well as Primo and his dog Scruff, Morgan and her dad, Brian, Happy Harrison, Tin man, and the two other hammock guys. Morgan and I were the only females. We had a good time hanging out by the fire they had built. Funny/not so funny thing happened when I was brushing my teeth. It was pretty windy (impending rain). I finished brushing, and spit out my toothpaste onto the ground, only the wind took it and plopped it right on top of my foot in my Birkie sandal. Fortunately, I had put my waterproof socks on to keep my feet warm. I just squirted water on my foot and washed it off. Note to self...best to spit downwind from one’s feet!

Anyway, the rain started after we had gone to bed. As soon as it started, I had to pee (of course). Such a pain, but I managed. 

Woke up to it still raining. Did as much packing in my tent as possible, then donned all my rain gear, fetched my bear bag, and took down my tent. It was all a muddy mess. Doug and I decided we wouldn’t eat anything until later on the trail when maybe the rain would ease up. It didn’t, so we finally just stopped and wolfed down a bar. 

Rainy trail

I tried using my umbrella. It wasn’t too bad, but I need to come up with a better way to secure it to my pack. I’ll try it again, but may end up sending it home if it’s too much hassle. 

A little rain on the camera...oops. 

Today’s big climb was Blood Mountain. Doug (who has now been christened with the trail name of “Sure Foot”) was ahead of me for most of the hike to the last .8 mile up to Blood Mountain Shelter. 

I got up to the shelter first. No one else was there. 

The infamous Blood Mountain Shelter



Nobody stays here anymore (except the rodents) because you have to have a bear canister, and well, who wants to sleep on a concrete floor?

“Sure Foot” joined me shortly after. 

Welcome to Blood Mountain Shelter!

While we were sitting in the doorway eating some lunch, and trying not to freeze, Juice and Bomba Bear showed up followed by Morgan and her dad, the Brian and Tin Man. It was a regular party.

Brian cooking himself some lunch

Tin Man

Morgan and her dad left first. Sure Foot and I weren’t far behind. Unfortunately, there was no view due to the crap weather. 

I’m sure there would be stuff to see...

The descent from Blood Mountain is quite steep and lots of wet rock slabs. 

See the white blaze? That marks the trail. 

I just did my usual...going slow, being careful. Sure Foot appeared to be skipping down the rocks! Juice and Bomba Bear caught up to me. We hiked most of the way down together before they too got ahead of me. 

I arrived at Neel Gap at about 2:30. Neel Gap is the first real opportunity to resupply. There is Mountain Crossings Outfitter which has darn near everything one could possibly need. The AT actually goes through the breezeway of the building. Amazingly, about 15% of the thru-hikers quit at Neel Gap. 

This is the famous boot tree where all the people who quit throw their boots (probably not really true, but there are a lot of boots in the tree). 

Mountain Crossings

I can say I am one of the 85% who don’t quit. However, we are taking a zero tomorrow. At the top of Blood Mountain, I was able to call Blood Mountain Cabins and find out they were open, and had an available cabin. I had tried to get more people to join us (the Cabins sleep 6), but everyone one else headed into Blairsville (except Polar Bear is also staying in one of the cabins. So it was just Sure Foot and I. We are in the Bear Cabin 

Turns out it was good we didn’t get anyone else to stay. It sleeps 6, but in two doubles and a hull size futon. 

After spreading the contents of our packs all over the cabin, and cranking up the heat, we walked back up to the office/store to get something to eat. As we walked in, Primo and Scruff were there. Primo asked he could ask us a huge favor. Could him and Scruff sleep on the floor in our cabin. Dogs were allowed. We told him no, he couldn’t sleep on the floor, but he could sleep on the futon! He was ever so grateful (so was Scruff).

Good thing Scruff is on Primo’s sleeping pad, otherwise you wouldn’t be able to see him. I told Primo Scruff’s trail name should be “Ninja”. 

So, the hiker rate is $72/night, but tonight Sure Foot and I only paid $24 each, thanks to Primo. Unfortunately, Primo is not taking a zero tomorrow. 

We’ve been drying all our gear. Tomorrow morning we’ll take our laundry up to the office, and the gal will wash and dry everything and return it to us. We’ve tentatively planned our next section, and will resupply food tomorrow at the Outfitters.