DAY ONE. "ALONE"
by
, 08-19-2016 at 12:57 (3364 Views)
ALONE....... That's the way I prefer it! I'm not anti-social, however I like my alone time. I get to think about whatever I want without distractions. I don't have people ask stupid questions, when usually the answer is in the question. I think some people just babble to hear themselves.
ALONE at last.... I'm on the trail, hiking from Neels Gap Ga. to Damascus Va. Time means nothing, I have all the time in the world.
Late yesterday afternoon I got dropped off at Neels Gap by a friend of mine. He was coming home from a trip in Florida and I grabbed a ride from him. He lives 13 miles from Neels Gap. That made that part of my trip easy. Now I'm alone hiking the AT. Funny thing, he won the first episode of "ALONE" on the History Channel. So... Now I get to have a month of being ALONE in the somewhat wilderness, or so I though!
3 miles into my trip, I'm soaked in sweat. It's not even hot, but the humidity is extremely high! Coming out into a rock clearing I finally get out of the green tunnel, and my first great view. Stopping for a few minutes, I grab a few photos and videos. I sit and admire the view these mountains provide. Thinking about the trip ahead. I've been itching bad to get back on the trail, and now I'm here.... Alone. Life is great!!!
Setting back out on the trail, I'm back in the tunnel of green. My first night, Low Gap Shelter. I'm heading that way, around 10.5 miles. Walking North I only pass a few hikers heading the other way. I'm thinking my night will be, alone. I'm looking forward to it.
Hog pen Gap is a steep climb with switchbacks. But I navigate them easily, it's the downhills that wreak havoc on my knees. The pain starts. I stop at a water source just to see its not flowing. I decide to continue on, I'm over halfway to Low Gap. The last few miles before Low Gap are fairly easy. Approaching the shelter at Low Gap, I see it.. Another hiker setting up a tent. And a female at that. After getting my tent set up and a change of cloths we sit and talk at the shelter. I'm not "alone" anymore. I found out she's a teacher near Atlanta. She's a older lady and actually pretty cool!! I'll call her "teach" although she never had a real trail name. Then another woman shows up. A ER nurse from SoCal. She's pretty cool also. I gave her the trail name of "timex" as she had a watch and we always asked her the time. I would hike with these two for the next 4 days into NC. They turned out to be great friends and we still communicate. I'm not alone anymore, buts that's fine. They both tell me of a "creepy" guy hanging around and that they are happy I'm there with them. Teach's tent is a few sites away from mine. We are both about 50 yards from the shelter. Timex set her tent up in the shelter. That proved to be a good idea. Around 3 am the rain started. It lasted about a hour, then quit. My first night I'm not alone and it rained. I hope this isn't an indication of what's to come. Either way around it I'm glad I'm hiking with Teach and Timex. I will only see them for 4 days, but I will never forget them. The "trail" does funny things, and memories it provides.