TRAIL DAY 5 (CONT)
The top of Blood Mountain was an icy rock face presenting me with the only time I would need my Yaktrax. The scenery was frosty winter all about.
The descent from Blood Mountain led, of course, to the next gap – Neel Gap, often called Neels Gap, the home of Mountain Crossings, the first store and outfitter on the trail.
I had been in touch with Mountain Crossings before completing my gear selections and final preparations for the trail and was referred to Trail Tested: A Thru-Hiker’s Guide To Ultralight Hiking And Backpacking by Justin Lichter. I may have gotten a few good tips from this book but remember mainly that it confirmed the value of my many hikes and time in the woods prior to the AT. I long had felt, for example, that stuff sacks are a pain in the neck except to collect lots of loose items, as with food sacks. Why would you stuff your sleeping bag into a compression stuff sack when it serves beautifully to give your backpack shape by just shoving it down into the bottom of your pack in a plastic bag to keep it dry? It compresses naturally as other things are pushed down into the pack after it. It was encouraging to see that the trail-tested Lichter agreed with me.
Well Mountain Crossings was a disappointment. It was an icon to the hiker. They would do a gear shakedown for you, culling what you really didn’t need to be hauling 2,000 miles and sell you anything you did need and mailing home what you jettisoned. I didn’t feel I needed the service but many hikers took advantage of it. It was a win-win situation. I’d learn in time that Shaw’s Hostel in Monson, Maine did the same thing for southbound hikers.
The place had all the feel of a business interested mainly in business. They had places to bunk for the night with towels and showers and, of course, AWOL had a write-up on the accommodations but I had forgotten his “No Pets” comment. I arranged for a room which was promptly canceled when they saw that I had a dog. The guy was matter-of-fact.
“No dogs.”
Turned me off.
Theo didn’t seem to care.
“Any recommendations?”
“Well, you’ve got Wolfpen Gap Country Store in Suches, Georgia.”
I called and they came for me adding shuttle to my tab. I’d stay two nights.
The bunkhouse was above the store accessed via wooden stairs just beyond the leaking diesel fuel pump. Post-trail, I learned diesel fuel doesn’t ignite from a match dropped in it. That’s nice.
At the top of the stairs, you turned left into a hey-this-ain’t-no-Ritz-Carlton-ya-know kind of common room with a microwave and electric outlets, a couch and some uncomfortable chairs about a table, magazines, stuff. . . . A door to the right led to a room with two double-decker bunks and straight back led passed a bathroom on the left to a large room with seven double-decker bunks and one single.
There was an older couple in the bunk to the right as you entered the back room. Incidentally, whenever I use the term “older,” I don’t mean older than me. I mean older than middle-aged. As it turned out, I was the oldest thru-hiker out there in 2016, and one of a group of only 7 who have done a thru-hike at my age or older.
Andrea from Hiker Hostel was on one of the bare-bones bunks of 2x4s and plywood and on another was a guy I met for the first time, “Optimistic Dreamer.” I came to think of him as OD. He was a “YOYO,” a person who thru-hikes in one direction and turns right around to thru-hike back. OD was a SOBO (southbounder) turned NOBO. He was hiking in memory of his deceased father, son and 2 little brothers and carried a sign to that effect.
When I first met Andrea at Hiker Hostel, I learned that she was married and had a business but managed to leave both intact for her adventure. She said she needed to finish by July. Noting the gear she had lying about, I questioned whether she really knew what she was doing and wondered if she could ever finish by her deadline.
As things turned out, OD helped Andrea along the way and, although a fast hiker, I’m sure, he waited on her and provided her with a lot of know-how and direction. I saw her and OD a few times later but heard eventually that they had split. I wonder if Andrea ever finished. More on OD in Maine.
Food at Wolfpen Gap was from a rather large store and consisted of pizza modified for either breakfast, lunch or diner. They weren’t bad. There were tables about, coffee, and resupply goods. There was also an outfitter’s shop attached to the far end of the building.
Well, pizza, shower, brush teeth and bed.
Day #5 Woods Hole Shelter > Neel Gap (Suches) 3.5 miles