Thursday, March 13th (I think)

Well, I ended up feeling ambitious this morning, but first I will tell you about the morning.

Picture this: the day’s first light peeks into my bivy to wake me. I slowly open my eyes and am pleased to find very little condensation. My down bag is sensitive to any moisture, and I have it drawn up tight around my neck, so I am plenty warm. Usually, I wake up a few times each night, but I know this one means it is time to start the day, and I think of the things I have to take care of before leaving camp:
-get my food bags down from where they are hanging
-eat
-pack up my bivy tent, sleeping pad, sleeping bag, tarp, and the rest of my gear
-refill water if I feel like it

That sounds like a good list, so I wiggle out of my sleeping bag and unzip the bivy and suddenly have a flashback to my Michigan days. It is certainly below freezing, which complicates things quite a bit.

The good news is that it didn’t rain. The bad news is that I did get precipitation.

Being below freezing may not seem so bad, especially since it was well above zero. Had I taken certain precautions, it would not have been as bad, but as they say, “Learn from losing.”

I went to get my food bags and gear and brought them to my campsite and quickly put on my gloves and another pair of socks. The sun was not over the mountain horizon, so I guessed the time to be 9:00 or so. Pulling my phone from the zippered pocket in my backpack, I pressed a button to confirm the time, and the battery died instantly. I knew the battery was 45% last night, but then I remembered where my phone had slept. Apparently, all phone batteries made a pact that I was unaware of to be at 0% if they did not feel warm enough.

Ah, well. I decided to eat, since My stomach was feeling impatient with all the technology fuss. I brought out my pot for oatmeal and grabbed one of the water bottles from my backpack, yet it felt oddly stiff. The water was of course no longer water but ice. Not entirely ice, fortunately, but it was icy enough to make cooking a challenge. My water filter was also a bit frozen, and between the two, it was difficult to filter the water. I decided to boil the water, which would take longer most days, but it was likely a lot shorter today. I shivered to pass the time.

It was a cold morning, but in all honesty, Michigan weather prepared me for it quite well. Once I regained feeling in my frigid digits (I paced while eating my four instant oatmeals), I felt alright.

After packing up, I was feeling a sort of strange ambition for the day ahead. I was 14.4 in the trail that morning, and I trekked 17.3 miles to get to Neel’s Gap (at 31 miles, some math skills for you). The morning went quite smoothly. It was cold and windy for some time, but I was prepared and moving quickly enough. For some stretches, especially downhill, I brought my pace up to a jog. I met up with Chance, who was Slack-packing for the day (this means he was carrying a light pack, usually this happens when a friend takes your heavier gear and meets you again for the night). Because of this, he had a pretty grueling pace, but I was keeping up with him for a while.

Finally, my water bottles thawed out, and I was able to drink and refill on water. Soon after, I caught up to Truck. He ha stayed the previous night with many hikers at the shelter just ahead of where I had camped. After catching up, we agreed to head for Neel’s Gap. Maybe it is because I am young, but I just felt like going for it.

On the way, we had to conquer a significant obstacle: Blood Mountain. It is not terribly difficult but more so than the slopes I had climbed, and my legs were pretty tired from the morning. Tired or not, we pushed our way to the top (with motivations of a potential pizza at Neel’s Gap). The climb was worth it for the view alone. Pictures won’t really do it justice, as they cannot provide the perspective and detail of the moment, but fret not. I will still post them.

The walk actually proved to be mostly enjoyable. As it turns out, my new friend Truck shares interests of writing and reading, so we discussed our favorite authors during the hours of walking. Not a bad afternoon.

We finally made it to Neel’s Gap by the evening, and just in time too, as there were only a few remaining spots at the hostel. I feel good about making it here, as the word is that a third of the people quit by Neel’s Gap, so it felt deserved to spend the night at the hostel. Not that sleeping outside would be all bad, but a bed and shower sounded pretty good too.

When we arrived, a church group was providing dinner. We were a bit disappointed about our pizza idea’s not coming to fruition, but that only lasted until we smelled the delicious dishes that had been prepared just for us. I felt so thankful. The food was so good, and the people were very kind and easy to talk to. It was also fun reuniting and uniting with other hikers. After dinner, we watched Shawshank Redemption and chatted.

So far, it has been so great. I have seen so much kindness and met interesting people. It has been so much more than walking through the woods on so many levels. I look forward to my next adventures.

I even found some literature in the restroom here!