Day 4

Swaim Gap to Chatahoochie Gap - 13.5 mi

Woke up in clouds and cursed Baltimore Jack for telling us yesterday that today and the next three were supposed to be all sunny and up to 80*. Soon enough the clouds moved out and/or burned up and, along with our breakfast, we were quickly eating our words. Weather was clear, cool, and breezy but with nice warm sun. Enjoyed many nice views on the way up Cowrock Mtn. Had a good chat with a hiker named Matt, a marine back from his 2nd tour of duty in Iraq, who had become disillusioned with the entrapments of daily life and consumer society so he grabbed his dog Amos, wrote a note, and got a ride to the trailhead with one intention - of walking north until he didn't want to anymore. Great guy, incredible story. Took a break on Cowrock for the views and a snack. Headed off with our next intended stop to be a water fill up at a stream. As we reached Tesnatee (or Tes-Nasty as Mike keeps mistakenly saying) Gap we were greeted by 3 people from a local Baptist church, a guy by the name of King Tut among them, who gave us trail magic in the form of Fanta sodas, candy, chips, cream pies, and new toothpaste! (Oh yeah, and a trashcan!) Chatted and signed their trail registry, said goodbye, and kept on in search of water not wanting to take all of Tut's water supply. Stopped one mile later at Hogpen Gap, got our liquid, and headed on with the intention of camping somewhere right around Low Gap Shelter a little over 4 miles away. In no time we reached the shelter and yet again it was pretty packed and we weren't ready to stop. Just past the shelter the trail merged for a while with an old roadbed which made for a nice grade and easy mileage. We passed a couple of spots, unfortunately taken, and kept walking. Before we knew it we were watching the sun set from a mountain ridgeline and happened then to come upon Chattahoochie Gap where we decided to make camp. We spotted the roadbed again that we had been following earlier, tucked away to the southeast beside the trail, followed it for a short distance and found a discreet campsite.