Appalachian Trail Georgia Section Hike: Day 6
Friday, June 13, 2014
7.4 miles to Lance Creek Campsite
I tried to stay up last night but I was falling asleep watching the game. It was nice to sleep in a bed in my own room. I did have a chance to talk to Jenni and the boys las night even though the cell service is week at the Blood Mountain Cabin. It was good to hear their voices. As much as I am loving the trail I do miss the family. I was asleep by 10:45 PM and awake by 6:30.
I checked the weather on my phone before I got out of bed and they are calling for rain again today.
We checked out and made it to Mountain Crossings by 10:30 AM. John and Jeff shipped some gear home. I talked to Jason at Mountain Crossings about my lack of insulation in mu hammock. He showed me some foam pad but I didn’t want to spend the $15 just for three nights. He went to the back of the store and came out with two foam pads about 4 foot long. He said I could have one because they were donated. I chose the blue pad. I had to put it in my pack because it would take on water. It fit perfectly in my pack. We weighed our gear before we left:
Derek: 25.5
Jeff: 26.5
John: 38
The climb up Blood Mountain was enjoyable. It was the highest climb but not the hardest. There were stone steps and a couple of steep switchbacks but I took my time and enjoyed it. Jeff caught up with and we reached the summit together. We passed a really nice view south of the summit, but we hiked on. Jeff took my picture on top of a large rock on the summit. The view was amazing even with the approaching clouds. We dropped our packs in the shelter located right on the top of the mountain and walked back to the spot we saw south and took some more pictures.
We walked back up to the top and ate lunch on the steps going up into the shelter. We had a good conversation with Grong and Lallygag, an older couple hiking North to Damascus, VA. We finished up lunch and I started talking to another hiker, Ronnie, a super fit 51 year-old guy from Florida. We asked him if he had heard about Paul, the missing person we stayed with Sunday night. He knew all about it. He had been a Neel Gap when the authorities were searching for Paul. He also heard Paul was found in North Carolina and returned to his family. It was good news. Ronnie said, “O so you are the guys who made the call.” Apparently we were the only ones to have seen Paul and called in a tip. It is strange how news travels on the trail.
We were going to hike down Blood Mountain when it started to rain. We stayed in the shelter to wait out the storm. We were joined by Adam a day hiker and 4-5 young guys looking to camp out on Blood Mountain. We chatted about our hiking adventures and talked football too. The temperature dropped whole it was raining. I felt like grabbing my rain jacket just to warm up, but the rain stopped and the sun came out. We wishes Adam and the boys well and then we were gone.
The trail down blood mountain was slick but we made our way down without a fall. We continued hiking down to the blue blaze trail for the Wood Hole Shelter. We thought it was .2 off the trail but it turned out to be .5. We turned around before going to far and stopped at the water source for the shelter to fill up on water. When leaving to get back on the AT Jeff slipped while trying to step over a log. He went to his knee and the fell on his shoulder and rolled. He stood up and I asked if everything was still working. He said yes. John waited about 10 seconds before saying, “I watched that in slow motion. It was like a Jeff-alanche!” We all busted out laughing. Jeff included.
We hiked on passing a couple other hikers on our way to Lance Creek. We arrived about 5:00 or so. Jeff and John pitched their tents and I hung my hammock. I drive the last stale into the ground when it started raining. I pulled my pack and all my gear in under the tarp and I laid back in the comfort of my hammock as the rain fell until 6 PM or so. We stayed dry during two rain storms tonight which is a real plus. Hiking in the rain is no fun. John fell asleep in his tent while it was raining.
When the rain stopped, Jeff and rolled out and walked down to the creek and checked out our campsite. We wanted to build a fire but everything is wet at camp. We started cooking supper at 7 PM. I are the gumbo Jeff had given me from Pak-it Gourmet. It had a lot of flavor. I would definitely eat it again. John made banana pudding, also from Pak-it Gourmet and shared some. We talked about our day tomorrow and agreed to hike a 16-mile day to Gooch Mountain Shelter. This will our biggest day.
John went to bed at 9 and Jeff and I stayed up talking until 10 PM.