Our game plan for the day was to hike from Neel Gap to Unicoi Gap. A total of 21 miles. A big day for us for sure. At Neel Gap is Mountain Crossings. The outdoor outfitter / hostel we checked out briefly the night before when we finished our hike. There were quite a few hikers there. Some stayed in the hostel, others rented cabins down the road, and some slept in tents. It was a cold night for those who slept in tents we heard.
We snapped a few photos from the back stone deck area of Mountain Crossings before grabbing our packs and jumping on the trail. The trail actually goes though a breezeway in the middle of building. As I understand it, it’s the only part of the AT that crosses through a building. We started up the hill behind the building and saw several tents setup flapping and blowing in the wind. It was cold and the wind chill was brutal. I actually had to put my coat hood over my head for the first time. There wasn’t as much snow and ice on the ground and trees as the past few days but it was still cold. The temperature didn’t get above freezing all day.
We met several other thru hikers and hiked and talked to them for a good part of the day. A guy by the name of Alan was a programmer from Raleigh. There was another guy by the name of Jesse that was from Kansas. He lives in FL now (not Kansas) so Larry wanted to call him Toto (IE: we’re not in Kansas anymore). I don’t think Jesse accepted that name though it was kind of funny. Met a butcher from Asheville, NC who had successfully overcome an addiction to pain pills via hiking in nature. Though we had nothing in common we shared information about who we were, why we were there, and got to know each other. He stopped at a shelter as we trekked forward. Met a guy by the name of Brandon (he had a trail name already– Doc). Later in the day we met Jake who was a hospice nurse from Pennsylvania.
We hiked along an old dirt road that appeared to be used for lumbering at some time. The road dipped alongside the mountain so low in several places that they had to build stone bridges along the way. I was amazed at how much hiking I had done this week and how little we stopped for water or for food. After hiking most of the day my feet starting killing me. They felt like they were on fire. Burning more and more with every step I took. Jake was in worse shape though. With a big pack on his back weighing 40-45 lbs and his feet in really bad shape I followed behind him. He kept saying “you can go around me if you’d like”. I told him I was fine and was going to see that he got to his destination that night.
We finally arrived at the shelter Jake was staying that night. It was getting dark already. We both got water. When you slow down you get cold quickly. As we parted ways he thanked me for walking with him. I said “of course, see you tomorrow” and headed up the hill. I was hiking alone now, in the dark, and chill came over me. I stopped again to put on an extra layer. The sun was setting. It was really pretty but I couldn’t stop to enjoy it. I needed to get down the hill as my Dad was waiting to pick us up.
We hiked for 11 hrs. I’ve hiked this distance before though. So I wasn’t sure why my feet were on fire. My boots were good, they were broken in, so I was puzzled. I didn’t want to start popping ibuprofen like so many of the hikers do. Its so common they call it “vitamin I”. One of the books I read about hiking the AT the author took so much “vitamin I” he masked the pain he should have been feeling. This went on for so long he damaged the nerves in his feet to the point where he couldn’t walk. He finished the AT but had to sit out for several weeks to recover. And still has issues today from this. No thank you. Not me. We have to hear what our bodies are telling us. You can’t do that if you’re masking things with pain pills. I knew of some hikers already taking 8 ibuprofen a day– and this was the first week!
I reached the parking lot where my Dad and Larry were waiting for me. It was pitch black. Larry ran down the hill for a few miles as I believe he didn’t want to hike in the dark. My Dad was concerned about me– why it took so long. I felt bad he was worrying. I didn’t realize I had taken so much longer to walk Jake to his shelter. My Dad was just happy to see that I was okay and safe. We got back to the cabin and my Mom had an amazing pot roast and salad waiting on us. It was delicious. We showered and hit the sack.
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