Day 5 – Zero Day at Neel Gap

“Be careful what you wish for, you might just get it.”

Today’s weather is amazing. Mid 70s, low humidity, clear, breezy. Great day to chill, catch up on blogs, and get ready for the next section of the trail. My body needs some rest.

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Up at 7:30. Great sleep in a real bed. Zero day. Mike and I said goodbye to Eric about 8:30. He has people to meet in a few days further north. I should cross paths with him again around Franklin if not before.

Eating like a college student again…hot pocket in the cabin microwave for breakfast along with a Body Armor to wash it down. 

I sorted my remaining food so I could plan out my resupply. I only need to pick up two dinners, three breakfasts, and electrolytes. The lesson learned on food is that I’m really not eating lunch. Just breakfast, second breakfast, two mid-day snacks, and dinner. I need to replan accordingly. 

We walked to Blood Mountain Cabins store to pay for the cabin. Apparently, we missed seeing a bear walk right down the gravel road by the store this morning. There were very minimal supplies at the store. I may pick up coffee for tomorrow morning, but all else will be shopped at Mountain Crossings.

I walked up to Mountain Crossings to do laundry. It takes  about 90 minutes. They do it for $8 per load. I am thinking about shuttling into town for early dinner around 4:00 ish. I picked up my resupply as well as some junk food for later tonight. 

I took the supplies back to the cabin, then walked back to the office/store, bought a cup of coffee, and finalized the text and pics for my blogs while sitting in a rocking chair on the store’s porch using their Wi-Fi. It took a couple of hours. Mike found us a shuttle into town at 4:30.

Hiked back up the hill to Mountain Crossings to pick up our laundry and deposit it back at the cabin. Since I was washing all my worn clothes, all I had to wear most of the day was a pair of black thermal underwear, a blaze orange thermal long-sleeve, and light gray shorts, and my baby blue Speedgoat shoes. Dana is making me share….

Changed into semi-normal clean clothes and hiked back uphill to Mountain Crossings to catch our shuttle into town. 20-minute drive and some good conversation with our driver. 

Mike and I shuttled into Blairsville, GA, for dinner at Blairsville Restaurant Grits & Greens. Good southern food. Country fried steak and green beans. And tater tots. Walked around town square then popped into Blairsville Brewing for a nice porter. Got a shuttle home about 7:00.

Wrestled with getting four days of blogs uploaded till 9:30. Ugh! Had technical issues with the photos being over the allowed image  size for the site. Pain in the ass to fix one by one and could not fix them all. Finally got things uploaded and notices sent to Facebook. Modified my camera settings since I won’t have this problem again. 

Got back to the cabin around 9:30. Mike was wooed I had been eaten by a bear as I was gone so long. Prepped gear for tomorrow so we can move out early. 

Called Dana at 10:30. Long talk about lots of things and not just my hike. Miss her and the dogs. Could not sleep so read till almost midnight.

Retrospective

This shit is hard! Harder than I expected. The mountains are big and numerous. We skipped spring and jumped right into summer…at least for now. I’m two full days behind where I expected to be and taking my first zero on day 5 instead of day 14. Will lose at least one more day before Fontana. Seriously doubt I’ll be able to hook up with Eric Hanson in June due to our schedules not aligning.

I should not have made any firm reservations or decisions (one hostel reservation in Hiawassee, GA, and a 2-night hotel reservation in Fontana, NC). I need to stay more flexible and only plan ahead 2-3 days in general. Stop thinking in terms of schedules.

I’m eating surprisingly well. I had trouble eating on the trail last year. Glad I got over that!

I’m  lucky that I have clicked with Eric and especially Mike. We keep each other moving and we reign each other in….like me pushing for an early zero day. Good to have company at camp and on the trail. Not sure how long this partnership will last as Mike needs to finish a month before I plan to finish. He starts a new job on September 2. I’m hoping we can keep pace with each other at least until after the Smoky Mountains. But at some point, he will need to really push big miles day after day to meet his schedule. I don’t think I’m up for that. Will see what happens as time progresses. 

Mentally, day 1 was hard. My mind wandered a lot about emotional topics. By day 2 and later, I was mainly focused on the physical challenges.  Left, right, left, right, climb, descend, repeat. How much water do I have and how far to the next water? Can the sun please go behind the clouds and where is a breeze when you need it?

I have been lucky to not have any cold, rainy days yet. That helps the mental game immensely. Worried a bit about what days alone on the trail will be like later on.

Will revisit all this next time I take a zero. Either in Franklin or Fontana.

Technical Notes

• Ham n cheese hot pocket 270
• Tea 0
• Body armor lyte 20
• Twix 250
• Body armor lyte 20
• KitKat 250
• Pretzel bites 200
• Country fried steak 700
• Tater tots 550
• Green beans: 60
• Porter: 220
• Body Armor Lyte: 20
• Pringles: 100
• Pringles 100
• Miles: 4.54
• Time: 0
• Elevation gain: 500
• Calories consumed: 3000
• Calories burned: 2500