Day 3 : Feb 24

What a day! 

Rained most the night last night which was actually enjoyable. I sleep alot better with a bit of noise. With the sound of rain and nearby creek I got the best sleep I have on the trail. Slept from 8 until 1135. Then 1230 until 530. Tossed until 630/7.

Then I officially got up. Wasnt raining to bad at 7. Walker and I got out of camp by 730 but we didnt cook breakfast cause we wanted to get away from the 20 other people near the campground / shelter. On our way out we passed by rice sides and said hello to him and all that. 

Our plan for the day was to hike from gooch mountain shelter to either woods hole shelter or Neil's gap hostel ( 15.7 to 27.7/31.3).

1.7 miles into the day we reached the bottom of gooch mountain and went to a water source near gooch gap. Here, we ate some oatmeal and tuna for breakfast, got more water, and stretched out. We then climbed 3 or 4 ridges and came down into woody gap which was about 5 miles into the day. Here, we were blessed by a public garbage can and a semi maintained bathroom. After eating some more tuna with some cheese and spinach we decided to move on. 

After leaving woody gap we hit a sign saying that blood mountain was 9 miles away and niels gap was 10.8 miles away. It is also important to note that this was probably 10am or somewhere around then, I dont quite remember quite when. Also, up until this point the rain was only spitting..... that was about to change.

By 1230/1 we had hiked 7 more miles up and down a few ridges and the like. The rain was really coming down. I do not doubt that we received an inch today. We walked a side trail to a shelter to escape the rain, and eat some ramen, and guess what else.... more TUNA! When we got there vermont was actually at the shelter so we talked with him and he decided to stay there at the shelter. 

As we left around 130 we refilled water and continued on the trail. We had 1.7 miles to go to blood mountain, the highest peak in georgia. It took us an hour and a half to get there but we made it. At this point rain is pouring down, in buckets. We didnt spend much time at the top, other than deciding that we were gonna hike the final 1.8 miles to Neil's gap. For one, we didnt want to stay at the top of the mountain in the storm, especially since the temp might drop. Secondly, it was only 20 dollars for a shower and a bed. So clearly Neil's gap was the best option. 

Coming off of blood mountain was actually fairly tough. The rock slabs were extremely slippery and there was mud or a river down the middle of the trail. With all things considered, from the time we left blood around 3, we made it down the mountain pretty quick, arriving at Neil's gap around 415 or 430. 

Virginia welcomed us when we arrived as he had been here for an hour or so. He also left at 6 am from gooch gap, so he appears to be a pretty good hiker. The shower was amazing and I've pretty much just sat in my bed for the past 3 hours. Gear is drying out and should be good for tomorrow.

For dinner I ate oatmeal and some rice with pasta and cheese in it. Wasnt great but food is food. At least I had a break from tuna, even though tuna is the best thing out here. Unless we are talking about mashed potatoes. Walker cant get enough of them. From my experience, if I do the opposite of what walker does, I turn out pretty well. 

Might rain a little bit in the morning but tomorrow is supposed to be 60 and cloudy with a low of 40. I'm hoping for another easy day tomorrow. We also plan to hike either 11.5 or 13 miles, to low gap shelter or a small campsite slightly past it.  

Rain is rewarding to hike in. Sure, it tries to drown you and is a mental challenge, but I have never hiked 16 miles in the rain before and am relieved to have done so well. We will see if this positivity about the rain continues throughout the trail.

Looking forward to sleeping tonight. Hopefully the people in the living room of the hostel stop watching movies and talking about how they are upset that they are currently sober.... people are interesting. To each their own. 

Final thing, here is Walkers blog. Hopefully he starts making fun of me a little bit, if not I just look rude... oh well. I wasnt the one who almost started going back south before being told that way the wrong way....

https://longwalk2020.blogspot.com/?m=1

Goodnight, 

Tyler M