Georgia Snow

The rain started about 3AM Saturday morning. It was light and we were sheltered from the wind, so had a comfortable sleep. We packed up in a break of the rain, but we were surrounded by mist and fog as if camping in a cloud. Everything was getting gradually wet. The rain stopped by noon, and we continued our day's walk in the fog. The afternoon turned into a nice walk. Most of the thru's we met were going to Low Gap shelter from Neel's Gap, but we just stopped there for water and kept going along easy logging roads for another 4 miles to Cold Springs Gap where we camped for the night. 12.5 mi for the day.

I thought we had a good spot at Cold Springs Gap, but soon after dark the wind picked up and it rained off and on all night. Everything was damp and again it was like being in a cloud. Even though we had tarps suspended over our hammocks, the wind blew the rain and mist horizontally, getting everything underneath wet. My hiking clothes blew down from the clothesline overhead and I collected them and put them under my knees to warm up inside my hammock and hopefully dry out. I started to get worried about our sleeping bags, as their outsides were getting progressively wetter from the blowing mist. At one point I wrapped my rain poncho over one end of the hammock in a futile attempt to protect it from the dampness. We both faced similar conditions but at least slept warm despite it all.

In the morning we found ourselves out of water and decided to go to Blue Mountain shelter before having breakfast. We packed up, leaving our sleeping bags until the last to allow them to dry if possible. We started the morning cold and wet, and walked 3 miles before finding water. The shelter was a little further, but offered no real protection from the constant wind. Starving, we ate breakfast there anyway. This day contained our first series of 1000 ft ups and downs. After breakfast we had a 1000 ft down, up, down, and up. We stopped at the Cheese Factory site for the day in favor of its lower elevation and set up camp over the crest of the ridge to escape the wind. We angled our tarps sharply downward to protect our hammocks from any wind. Our gear and clothes were spread out in an attempt to get them to dry. Our sleeping bags were surprisingly dry when we unpacked them and we both got to bed early to get warm and off our feet. Again, I slept with my hiking clothes under my knees to keep them warm and get them to dry out. 9.5 mi for the day.

There was occasional rain overnight, and at dawn it began to snow. Our water bottles were frozen, and the rain soaked hammock straps were frozen to the trees. Having dry clothes made breaking camp more pleasant even though the wind had picked up. As we were breaking camp, Georgia Bulldog walked by on his way to get water. We had met him the first day on Springer and had been leap frogging each other since then. Bulldog had camped on the top of the ridge and complained of his frozen tent that morning. He was ready to go and we started the trail not far behind him. We had Tray Mountain to get over first thing, and we basically tried to eat some breakfast bars as we walked because it was too cold to stop in the wind. Kelly Knob was another good climb later in the day. We walked through blowing snow and wind, but we agreed that it was more pleasant than yesterday's rain. Our original plan was to camp close to Dick's Creek Gap and hitch into Hiawasee in the morning for a zero day and resupply. As the day wore on, however, the constant wind took its toll and we decided to try to get into town that night. A long downhill led us to the road crossing, and after not more than 15 minutes we had a ride. Bulldog had arrived with us to the road, and we found room for all three of us and our packs. The first two motel choices were full, so we had to go to the Holiday Inn Express. We shared a room with Bulldog and were relieved to get out of the wind. We ordered pizza and didn't leave the room for the night. 13 mi for the day.

Unfortunately we turned the heat up too high, and in the middle of the night it was way too dry in the room and my sinuses were complaining. We were all having trouble sleeping. Hearing voices outside, Bulldog left the room and came back with Wrong Way and Hammy, two other thrus we had met on the trail. It was Wrong Way's 21st birthday and they were both still celebrating. Now the party was in our room. We turned the heat down and after visiting for an hour I actually felt better. Our company left and we went back to sleep.

Tuesday was spent doing laundry, unpacking our food resupply box from home, and buying a few things from the grocery. And eating. Food. Any food. We went to an all you can eat for dinner, and have a shuttle arranged for 9AM Wednesday morning to take us back to the trail. The weather is supposed to clear up and hopefully the rest of the week will be nice.

We are at mile 69.6, Hiawasee GA
Our goal for this next stage is to get to Fontana Dam, entrance to the Smokies. It should take about 8 days.

Pic of Hammy, Wrong Way, Bulldog, and Packrat.