Day 4: 4/6/2016

Today was about another 13 mile day. We woke up at Neels gap, and it was nice to have running water and a real toilet to use before starting the day. Last night was another cold one, and very windy… a trend that would continue throughout the day. I forgot to post some pictures of Mountain Crossings, so here are a few from this morning, including one of the local wildlife, and a tree filled with the worn shoes of many hikers.

We started our hike a bit later than we have been, about 9 am. The hike out of Neels gap was steep, quite a way to start the morning. We kind of just put our heads down and just hiked, and we reached Tesnatee Gap, about 6 miles away, by 11:45.

Felt like a fall day

The hike or if that gap was, yet again, steep, I think the steepest we’ve seen yet. But we took it slow and steady, and climbed up to Hogpen Gap in about 30 minutes. We took our only major break of the day there for lunch. We had some leftover cheese from the store at Neels gap and some more tuna. Is it possible to get mercury poisoning from eating too many tuna packets? Can someone figure that one out?

So steep…

We kept our steady pace for the rest of the afternoon until we reached some campsites about a mile and a half from low gap shelter. Like I said before, the wind was crazy all day, gusting to about 20-25mph. Also it was pretty overcast all day, so the sun wasn’t as strong, so it was also a bit cooler. It was a bit of a balancing act to figure out just the right layers of clothing to wear to stay warm, but not get to overheated on the climbs. I think what worked the best today was the rain jacket, slightly unzipped with a wool top underneath.

Selfie time!

Filtering water

We’re camped out with probably close to a dozen other hikers tonight. We got to chat for a while around a nice campfire. These were a whole new group from the previous night. I’m glad we’re finally getting to get to know some of our fellow through hikers. It’s all part of the experience.

Tent city

We’ve got a relatively short day tomorrow down to Unicoi gap, about 8.3 miles. From there we’re getting a shuttle into Hiawassee, GA and we’ll be spending tomorrow night in a motel. I think both of our bodies are in need of a bit of a break, we’re both already experiencing knee problems, which we limped through today. We plan on taking at least one zero day (a day with no miles hiked) in Hiawassee, but it could turn into 2 days since it’s supposed to get cold on Saturday night… too cold for my sleeping bag.

We’re expecting some rain tonight, so we’re all hunkered down in our tent, with our extra tarp over to to ensure a dry night. We need to get up early to cover those 8.3 miles to our ride into town.