Packed up and got an early start at 7:45 am. Hit Woody Gap (US 60) at 9:30 am w/ walk thru mostly easy terrain. Woody Gap is a very nice picnic/parking/trailhead area w/nice privvys but no water. Though we were able to dispose of trash - always nice to be able to lighten the load!
For today's hike I switched back to my NF pack and Squeaky took back her Gregory pack. We've been slowly equalizing the pack weights the whole trip (since departing Len Foote). Between this and consumption of food my pack weight is probably less than 45 lbs now and feeling a bit less onerous.
Hiked up Big Cedar Mtn, perhaps the steepest part of this section. Met Kiwi at a rocky overlook (see picture above) about 3/4 of the way up. Kiwi was daypacking with a friend. Kiwi completed a N-S thruhike on 9-11-07 and shared many tips with me on gear, pack weight, nutrition, etc.
Lots of easy terrain to Jarrad Gap where we found water unexpectedly and made our first coffee of the day. After that we started the long, slow climb up Blood Mountain. I needed to poop from the coffee but I wanted to wait for the next shelter. It seemed like it took forever to get to Woods Hole Shelter and when we did it was 1/2 mile off the AT.
As it was now Saturday, we ran into more and more people as the day went on. At WH Shelter we ran into a group of about 8 who were on an overnight hike. They were complete rookies. In less than 5 miles they had already lost 1 person and had another who was 'sick' a couple of miles back down the trail. Squeaky and I did our business and moved on quickly. From Woods Hole on we encountered more and more folks on this beautiful afternoon. We ran into Kiwi and his friend again and had another nice chat. We also met a young woman and her pack dog that were completing a SB thru-hike!
The trail got steeper from Woods Hole the rest of the way up Blood Mountain, but I still felt good. I still lagged behind Squeaky (I swear she has legs of steel!) and stopped to rest frequently, but I never felt tapped out like I did the day before. I got to the Blood Mountain Shelter at about 4:30 pm. Squeaky had arrived about 10 minutes earlier and had already staked out a place for the night (per our original plan). But there were so MANY people up there and I had a lot of energy left and the weather was great, so I wanted to move on. It was only about 3 miles or so to Neel's Gap and it was all down hill.
So down the mountain we went. And oh, what a view!!! There is a reason why Blood Mountain is the most visited spot on the AT in Georgia (as well as one of the most popular parks in Georgia). Unfortunately, I forgot to put a memory card in the camera and was out of space for photos by the time we got there. But I'm sure we'll go back - I plan to climb that mountain with my granddaughter some day. Truly spectacular 360 degree vistas that rival the best I've seen in Smokey Mountain Park.
It was a tough scramble down Blood Mountain, but all downhill, so not so bad. We hit Neel's Gap and Walasi-Yi at 6:30 pm. This finished my shake-down. With a 13.5 mile effort on the last day and a total of 41 over 3.5 days, I feel prepared for the big show come spring.
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