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AT Mileage: 12.4 miles (15 Total)
at Gooch Gap Shelter
Okay, so I'm not sure where I want to take this journal, so its really not going to have any sort of format. Today was good. I hiked mostly by myself, but I ran into about twenty or so people on the trail. Lets just say that its busy on the GA AT! Breakfast consisted of oatmeal with Peanut Butter. Very Tasty (and fulfilling), I got underway at 0835 (did I just say this?) I made the Hawk Mt. Shelter for lunch around 1050. That is about 2mi/hr, which is cranking for the first day's speed. Van took off about 30 minutes before me and I caught up to him just before Hawk Mt. Shelter. I stopped there for a hot lunch consisting of Macaroni and Cheese. Yum! The weather was raw, so didn't stay there long. at 1215, I got back on the trail and headed down to Hightower Gap and to Sassafrass Mt. That ascent was a b**** but still nothing compared to Pu'u Manamana or Olamana. Hiking in Hawaii really set the bar for me. I just put that iPod on, threw on some rock, and I was cruisin'.
I would like to make Neel's Gap tomorrow, but that's 15 miles away with Blood Mt and a 1200 foot ascent between me and the Gap. At worst, I will stay at Slaughter Creek Camp site at the base of Blood Mt. There's no water on the summit, so I'll camel up and pound it out either late today or early tomorrow. If I stay one more night (which I'm well provisioned to do), I can have a better chance of getting hostel space since I'll be arriving in the morning. I wouldn't want to get there late in the day to find no available space.
My gear is working out really well. I'm hoping to drop a few pounds and get my total pack weight down to 30 pounds by the time I leave Neel's Gap.
Things I learned today:
1. Denatured Alcohol burning is VERY hard to see during the day. While putting more fuel into what I thought was an extinguished stove, i nearly blew my face off and my Camelbak bladder sustained a heavy casualty and started leaking. Leak rate was about 2 drops per minute, but I feel its enough to make my pack bottom wet. Yay. I patched it with some super glue, but I am not hopeful.
2. The trail is the destination
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