Day 3 (expanded)

Henry Gap to Swaim Gap - 8.5 mi

Slow to break camp, had only a couple of miles to go to Neels Gap, our first re-supply, and we were a day ahead of schedule. Climb up Blood Mountain was easier than expected, and we were befuddled to find ourselves at the shelter on the summit before we thought we had even started the "tough part of the climb". Checked out the shelter (one of the oldest still standing on the trail circa 1934) and signed the shelter log. The shelter itself was all stone with a fireplace and had two rooms; every inch of wood beam inside was marked with the signatures of past thru and section hikers and visitors. Though there were no views, all clouds, it was a neat spot. Rushed to Neels Gap, not expecting our mail drop to be there yet, but looking to grab a shower, do some laundry, and eat something we didn't have to carry or make ourselves. We were pleasently surprised when they let us use the shower in the hostel (real shampoo!), treated us to an amazing tuna melt, and told us we could spread our gear out and do our thing for as long as we'd like even though we weren't staying at the hostel (which was way above and beyond - so very appreciated). After we warmed up to the situation a bit we had a good time meeting the other hikers, meeting Miss Janet who was more than willing to attend to our every need, and we had an awesome time talking to Baltimore Jack who imparted us with a ton of useful information and words of encouragement. It was cool to meet them since we had heard and read so much about them and even used some articles written by Baltimore Jack for our preparation. Very nice and generous people. Got all of our chores done by 5:30 and decided to push on and not stay at the hostel overnight, much to the dismay of our new friends. We made some phone calls as we left and hiked another 2 miles to our camp, enjoying nice views with beautiful lighting along the way (stuff the people at the hostel were missing!). Great day filled with great people. Clouds rolled in in the evening and Mike had trouble finding branches to hang the bear bag amongst the clouds/fog. Laura had indigestion from all the amazing food. Still a great day.