Make it count: Day #4

Day #4 - Monday, March 16th

Miles Hiked Today - 15.6
Total Miles on AT - 31.3/2,193
Gooch Mountain Shelter to Neels Gap (overnight at Blood Mountain Cabin)
Total ascent- 3,950’
Total descent - 3,415’

I made it to Neels Gap!! And — I didn’t toss my shoes into the tree and call it quits. Bonus!! Overall - today was a really good day. It helped build some confidence doing nearly16 miles - through rainy conditions and up the largest mountain in Georgia (Blood Mountain) on the AT. When I was training for this hike - I regularly did 6-10 miles a day - pushing 12 miles a couple times. I wanted to have a strong base coming in. When I read about people knocking out 20+ mile days - J couldn’t fathom this. It seemed sort of unrealistic. After doing 10, 13, and 16 miles respectively each of the past 3 days — I certainly think it’s doable now. If I can do 16 on Day 4 in the rain and mountains of Georgia - hopefully I can have some 20+ mile days in the flatter states that make up the middle third of the trail. My projected schedule represents a bell curve with shorter mileage weeks at the beginning and end of the hike in the more mountainous states.

Today started really early for me with a 5:25am alarm (I was up already - still not sleeping soundly through the night). I wanted to get a jump on my biggest mileage day yet. Sunrise is only around 7:40am - so I had to disassemble the tent and do the morning chores in the pitch black ( with headlamp). I was on the trail by 6:45 am. It was a REALLY foggy, rainy morning. It was like a seen from Friday the 13th walking through the dark woods in a see of fog. I haven’t night hiked by myself before - a little spooky. (There were a few people that were out earlier than me and many to follow - so I wasn’t too worried

Around Mile #5 - I came upon my very first Trail Magic!! 2 ladies were parked in a lot we had to cross with breakfast burritos and Capri juices. This has been sort of a tradition on the AT Trail that people just show up out of the kindest in their hearts with food and drinks for AT hikers. The act is “Trail Magic” and the people doing it are “Trail Angels”. These women were actually on vacation and were doing Trail Magic for the very first time. Truly amazing! I will do Trail Magic at some point in my future. I love this - helping people out and making a monumental difference in the day of each of the hikers that came through. (Everybody was talking about this after the hike today)

The toughest part of today came at the very end. Blood Mountain (4,459’) ascends nearly 1000’ in less than a mile. And coming down the backside of the mountain was met with tall steps - often times from boulder to boulder. I made it through unscathed thankfully. The day ended at the Mountain Crossings Outfitter at Neels Gap. I was able to resupply for a few more days. The added bonus of Neels Gap - they have both a hostel and a few cabins. In order to try to get a good nights rest - I opted for the cabin. Showered, laundry completed, some good food - things are looking up

Here’s to a good night and a healthy, safe Tuesday!!