Switchback Caravan

I slowly but surely began the process of moving everything from my tent to the shelter. I then decided I was worthy of warm oatmeal and hot chocolate, so I fired up my stove and boiled some waer. I then, slowly, packed my backpack and talked to the other hikers. It is really quite fascinating to talk to other hikers, we all come from different backgrounds, and we all have fascinating stories. I hit trail around 8AM, my orginal plan was to stop at Blue Mountain Shelter for the night, 7.2 miles down the trail. The trail was wet and muddy. The trail was a river at times, I was assured all the water sources would be flowing. It was interesting walking in a cloud for most of the day, gives you a different take on your surroundings. The most interesting piece of wildlife I have seen on the trail has been some birds and varmint like species. I arrived at the shelter around 11AM, and attempted to dry things out. Mission failure. I then began the internal deabte of whether to stay or move on to Unicoi Gap. As the debate raged on internally, I realized there wasa homeless man at the shelter with me. He was a nice man. He neither begged nor took anything from us without consent, he only took things when offered. Also at the shelter were Bill and Jesse. We decided to move on to Unicoi Gap and to get a shuttle to the Cloud9 Hostel. The descent into the gap was slippery, due to the mud, the whole way. There were also stretches of rocks, it reminded me of hiking in Maine. Most of the descent has switchbacks, which is quite nice. The Maine Appalachian Trail Club should take note of these lovely things. About half an hour after I arrived in the Gap, August pulled in. We got to talking a bit, nice man. He hiked in 2005, and is at it again. He convinced me the hostel was not worth it, and that a Holiday Inn Express would in fact be cheaper when split four ways. August arranged a ride with a truck that was taking a rest break, we each agreed to give five dollars to the driver for the ride. August has mastered the art of Yogi-ing a ride from complete strangers. It turns out that since August;s father is a truck dirver, he could get us a discount on the hotel room. Instead of having to split 99 dollars four ways, it was only 70 dollars. August only charged me ten dollars for the room. I owe him one. I am going to consider this trail magic. I ended up saving five dollars compared to Cloud9, and I have access to a hot tub. I had chicken and spicy fries for dinner. I also bought enough food to get me to Franklin, NC, which is my next planned resupply. Tomorrow I shall take a zero mile day due to pending dangerous weather. There are tornado warnings all over the place, nothing for this region yet. Sunday I shall slackpack from Unicoi Gap to Dick's Creek Gap. My plan from Monday forward is vague, some tough decisions have to be made, and I might need tp move forward from my group, I shall seek my Dad's imput, that decision will be made in good judegement based on the situation at hand. Till then, time to prepare my pack for an 8:30AM departure to the Blueberry Patch Hostel. where I shall prepare to walk zero miles. Kirby

Ga>ME 2008