Day 5 - Chattahoochee Gap to Blue Mtn - 3 mi

Before we went to bed last night we decided that we would take a "near-o" day today (a day when you do little hiking and just relax; one step up from a zero day). We woke up whenever we felt like and spent most of the afternoon relaxing and catching up on chores (washing our dishes, writing in the log, etc). The sun was out and the wind was blocked due to us being on the eastern side of the mountain. Eventually we were hot and sweating - our Campmor keychain thermometer read 90* in the sun - which didn't go unnoticed by the insects... they were out in full force. Spring has started. In the late afternoon, after noticing numerous wolf spiders running around in the leaves we were camped in and then found a wood tick on our tent, we decided to pack up and get the heck out of there. (Oh and there were flies. Lots of them). We hiked a leisurely 3 miles to Blue Mtn. Shelter where we were suprised to find Baltimore Jack. He gave us advice and a tip on a campsite where we eventually decided to spend the night. Lots of flying bugs but otherwise pretty awesome. We basically have a 360* view of mountains and the night is clear and not too cold. We built a fire earlier in the evening, thought ahead to hang a bear bag (before it got dark), and tried out the beef stew that 
Mike's sister and her boyfriend Joe bought for us (which turned out to be somewhat lacking in... goodness. Mike ate it all, with the aide of hot sauce. Saw lots of stars and went to bed.

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.

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. 

Day 3

Neels Gap

Whew... 4 days in and it's still awesome! Reached Neels Gap at around 2pm, stopped to shower, do some laundry, and pick up some supplies (thanks Sooze and Alan), then headed back out into the clouds. Next town stop is Hiawassee, in 3-4 days. More updates soon/ as we're able. Thanks to everybody for your support, and we'll check back in asap.

Day 2

Sassafras Mtn to Henry Gap - 13 mi

Woke up to the sound of rain. Opened the tent and found ourselves in the clouds. Hiked 2.5 miles to Justus Creek to find Nate and Tyler (a hiker we'd met yesterday) stopped there. We chatted, pumped water, brushed our teeth, and parted ways. Stopped at Gooch Mtn Shelter to eat some snacks out of the rain and found 3 other hikers there. Two were teachers and one was a local that had thru-hiked last year but since had pretty much just lived on the trail. He lectured us for a little while about the importance of having the right gear (an area we are confident in) while offering to take some of our food for himself. We left. Stopped later at Woody Gap for lunch in the clouds in a parking lot. There we found Nate and Tyler with the guy who offered to eat our food whose name we found out was Moose. Headed up and out to Big Cedar Mtn where we got the first good view all day as the clouds broke, then rolled back in. 2 miles later we made camp at Henry Gap. 

Day 1

Black Gap Shelter to Sassafras Mtn - (1.5)+11 mi

Clear, cold, and very windy as we woke up and started hiking.  1.5 miles to the top of Springer, met a nice southern guy named Sam on the way up. There were tons of people at the top, maybe 15, all different kinds of people. We signed in with an older man named Many Sleeps who spends a couple days a week camping up there and signing people in. Headed down at 11am and were surprised by our first bit of trail magic a mile later in the FS42 parking lot. Mountain Squid gave us Huggie drinks (the little plastic barrells of "juice") and cream pies (mike's new favorite) and we signed in (yet again) with him. Spent a little time walking with Nate and getting to know him better then 3 miles then to Three Forks for lunch. Found a beautiful spot off-trail by the creek and had an awesome lunch of steak fajitas. Stopped in at Hawk Mountain Shelter 4.5 miles later to get water and decided to keep hiking and not stay the night since there were so many people there (people= noise, no privacy, and rodents). We made it 3.5 more miles to a nice secluded spot on top of Sassafras Mtn. just in time for the sunset. We made a little fire but it ended up being really smoky due to wet wood and lots of wind. Sat under a million stars and watched the trees above us sway in the heavy wind.

The Start (Approach Trail- Amicalola State Park, GA)

Start - Approach Trail to Black Gap Shelter - (7.3 mi)
Dad dropped us off, we signed in and weighed our packs (only 33lbs each!), took pictures, and said goodbye. Set off and immediately met a guy named Nate from Connecticut. Nice guy, we'll probably be seeing lots of him. Climbed a ridiculous amount of stairs to the top of Amicalola Falls and felt as if our thighs were made of jello. At least we're starting off knowing who's boss. Hiked one or two miles and took a break to let it all settle in. Continued another ~5mi to Black Gap Shelter. On the way there we got our first glimpse of Springer (the start of the AT) all shrouded in clouds. It was cold and windy and clear where we were. Tented near the shelter and called it an early night.