Trail Length: 20.2 miles Difficulty: Moderate to Difficult Date: 5/23/09 - 5/24/09

It all started at 3:45 AM when my alarm went off. As much as I hated getting up, I knew it would be worth it. I headed up to Unicoi Gap where I met up with Jackson. We dropped his car there and then drove to Neels Gap. Once we dropped our packs off, I drove 1/2 mile to park the truck and had to huff it back up the winding road while trying not to get run over.

The hike began at 9AM with about a mile and a half climb gaining about 800 feet in elevation. It wasn’t bad. There would be worse to come later in the day.

Despite the weather threatening to get bad, there were a few nice views today. We stopped for about 5 minutes at an overlook for a snack, only to have to push on quickly due to imminent storms.

It wasn’t long before the rain started. We quickly put on rain jackets, but within a few minutes we opted to take them off and get wet. It was just too hot for rain jackets. We were fine as long as we kept moving. If we stopped, it got cold quickly.

Many times on Saturday we came upon large areas covered with ferns. The trail seemed so different from a few weeks ago when spring was just starting to show.

After hiking 5.5 miles with no more than a 5 minute break, we reached Tesnatee Gap. There is a road at Tesnatee Gap that winds around the next mountain. A couple of girls were sitting at Tesnatee Gap when we arrived. Without stopping, we pressed on and began the climb up Wildcat Mountain. The elevation gain is only 400 feet in 1/2 mile, but without stopping for a break, it was brutal. It was steep, and it seemed like every step was a step up a foot or two onto a boulder. We found out later that some locals told the girls at Tesnatee Gap that it wasn’t worth it, so the girls simply walked up the road to where the AT crosses, bypassing the climb up Wildcat Mountain.

After descending into Hog Pen Gap, we stopped for lunch and filtered water, since that was the last opportunity to get water for 4.5 miles. We met a few southbound hikers who told us the trail ahead of us was crowded. Knowing it was going to storm all night, we were hoping to get a spot in Low Gap Shelter. That meant one thing: it was time to go.

Knowing there were lots of people ahead of us, we pushed ourselves, passing 13 hikers (all heading the same way as us). When we were approaching the shelter, we heard several people talking. Fortunately, most were setting up tents. At the turnoff trail to the shelter, we caught up with the girls who bypassed Wildcat Mountain. Between them skipping that climb and us stopping for lunch, they had gotten a good ways ahead of us.

There was only one person set up in the shelter. It was Allen, a guy we had met earlier in the day. The two girls (Jessica & Angie) were debating whether to stay in the shelter. They were scared because they had heard stories about the mice that frequent AT shelters. Jackson and I quickly pulled out our mats and sleeping bags to claim our spot. The girls decided it was worth it to risk the mice rather than have to worry with a tent in the rain. The shelter sleeps 7 and that made 5. Throughout the rest of the afternoon several others came by the shelter, but everyone decided to set up their tent.

Just before dark, however, a couple came running in just as the rain started to come down hard. Wes & Stacy had started their thru-hike the day before! They hiked from Springer Mt. to Woody Gap the first day. That’s 20.1 miles. On Saturday, they hiked all the way from Woody Gap to Low Gap Shelter (21.4 miles). Most people who are starting a thru-hike cover that 41.5 miles in about 5 days. They did it in 2! They are attempting to hike the AT in less than 90 days, making Stacy the 2nd fastest female to thru-hike the AT.

Once we filtered water for the night and the next day, we cooked, then hung our bear bags and crawled into our sleeping bags. By this time, the rain was constant and it was hard. Right at dark, we heard some noises above us and flipped on a flashlight. Bats had moved in and were now hanging above us. Then as if on command, the mice came out. It was funny listening to people try to smash mice until everyone finally went to sleep. I had a couple of mice run across me (one across my chest, one across my feet), and others explored my backpack that was right by my head. The next morning, there was one just hanging out between me and Wes’ heads. Wes encouraged him to move along and that was the last of the mice.

After quickly eating breakfast and packing up, we headed out at 9AM. We got a late start because it was still raining and we were enjoying being dry in the shelter. Despite the rain, it was again too hot to wear a rain jacket. Jackson and I made great time as the trail was on an old abandoned mountain road bed for a few miles. About three miles into the days hike, however, I had a problem. I hurt my knee. The bad part is that it wasn’t the knee I hurt back in the fall. I was being very conscious of protecting that knee, so I was relying too much on my “good” knee. Big mistake. I still had 7 miles to go and every step was quite painful. I made it a few more miles before having to stop and move my knee brace from my left (previously hurt) knee to my right one. With that, and while taking it slow, I was able to make it the rest of the way.

Wrong knee!

Before assaulting Blue Mountain, we stopped for a quick break. Here’s the perfect ingredients for a quick break on the AT: Gatorade, Cliff Bar (Banana Nut Bread here), Beef Jerky, trail data sheet and Motrin!

After the break, we quickly climbed Blue Mountain and began the 1.4 mile 1075 foot descent to the car at Unico Gap. I wouldn’t say that descent was fun. I’d say it pretty much sucked. The trail was nothing but large rocks, so you had to be mindful of every step. Because of the rain, the rocks were very slippery. Add the steep terrain and hurt knee and it made for a not so fun section of trail. Below is a picture of the trail along that section.

Despite the slowed pace, we still made great time, covering 10 miles in 5 hours. We were back at the car by 2PM. I was exhausted, wet, smelly, and in quite a bit of pain, however, had a blast.

I’ll give the knee a couple of weeks to recover, then it’ll be time to attack the next section. I can’t wait!

A few more pictures can be found in my Flickr account.