Day 4: April 7, 2021

Jarrard Gap to Baggs Creek Gap – 9 miles

Camp life in the mornings was always pretty much the same. You wake up, you pack your things, eat, stretch, and leave. The big news of the day was the hike up Blood Mountain and the resupply at Neel Gap. I may have mentioned it earlier, but a resupply is when you buy more food for the next section of your hike. Typically, you only buy as much as you need to get you to the next resupply; that way you aren’t carrying excess weight. It takes a lot of practice and trial and error to figure out how much food to buy. Since I was so new to the trail, I hadn’t yet figured out a system for resupplying so I can shed some more light on that once I get further in the trail.

Carter was excited to get to Neel Gap because he had a package waiting for him from his mom. He was hiking with one of his friends named Warran; they had planned to do the first week together before Warran went back home. It was nice getting to meet so many people, and I was happy to have the same people around each day.

The hike up Blood Mountain was exhausting. Jarrard Gap was at the bottom of the mountain. There was no time to loosen up and get ready for the climb; I was thrown right in it. The lack of switchbacks made the trail feel like it was never ending.

Blood Mountain is the highest point of the Georgia section of the Appalachian Trail at an elevation of 4,442 ft. On the top of the peak, there is a stone shelter that hikers are welcome to stay at, as long as they have a personal bear canister. This rule is because there is not a metal bear box supplied to hikers like there was at the first two shelters.  

Next to the shelter was a steep stone path that scrambled its way to the top of some boulders. At the top, I was met with a beautiful view of the mountains. Analis, and a young man I don’t remember meeting yet, were sitting on top enjoying the sight. The man introduced himself and I could have sworn he said his name was Kristen. That’s such a weird name for a boy, there’s no way I heard that right. I should have asked him to say it again, but I didn’t so he was named Kristen for the time being. I even called him that to his face and he didn’t correct me.

The three of us stayed together as we hiked down the mountain toward Neel Gap. Kristen said he was from Wyoming. Most of the people I had met so far were from the East or the Midwest, so it was nice to talk to someone who was from the same area as me. We chatted about how different these mountains were compared to the Rocky Mountains back home and how ridiculous it was that there weren’t any switchbacks. (If you couldn’t tell by how often I’ve brought it up, it was a big deal!)

I hiked very slowly down Blood Mountain; my knees were still bugging me a lot. Kristen got a knee brace out of his backpack and insisted I wear it to see if it helped. The brace immediately supported my knee and relieved a lot of the pressure. I made a mental note to buy one for myself whenever I was able to.

The trail was littered with rocks and roots, but one root caught my eye. It was tiny and black and…it moved! I bent down quickly to grab the small snake before it could hide. I remembered learning about this species in my Herpetology class in college. Herpetology is the study of reptiles and amphibians, and it was one of my favorite classes. This was a ring-necked snake, probably no longer than four inches so it was just a baby. It was jet black on top except for a small yellow band that wrapped around the back of its neck. Its belly scales were a bright orange-yellow color that shocked me; it was such a stark contrast to its back. I showed Kristen and Analis the cute baby before letting it go on its way.

It was surreal hiking up to Neel Gap. I had seen so many pictures and videos in my research, I couldn’t believe I was there. The first thing that caught my eye was the massive tree out front that was decorated with shoes and boots. As I understood it at the time, the shoes in the tree were a sign of quitting a thru hike. Those that bail, tie their shoes together and throw them up in the tree. While writing this entry though, I did a bit of research to see if I was right, and I was not. Apparently, Southbound thru hikers add their shoes to the tree to celebrate finishing their thru hike. I like that story a lot better.

Along with the iconic tree, there is also a store called Mountain Crossings. It is a neat little outdoor gear shop staffed by thru hikers. While there you can resupply, buy new gear, shower, and eat “real” food instead of freeze-dried or dehydrated stuff.

I joined my friends sitting out front of the store. Sweet Water wasn’t there though but I learned that he had hitched a ride into town for some reason.

Analis and I each bought a shower pass. Included with the shower was a small piece of a bar of soap and a towel. The only water that had touched my body in the last three days was the cold stream water I rinsed off with every night, so I was eager to stand under a hot shower. When I got under the water, I let out a sigh of relief at how good it felt. Analis was cheering in the stall next to me, clearly enjoying her time as well.

“This feels so good,” she proclaimed “I’m gonna wash my goodies TWICE!”

I used my small fragment of soap to wash my body and hair before grabbing my underwear and socks to wash them too.  

After the shower, Analis and I joined the guys at the table again. Stache had gotten a pizza while we were gone. He lifted a drooping slice up to his mouth and went to take a bite when he fumbled it, and it plummeted to the ground landing cheese side down. He picked it up as fast as he could but couldn’t hide the grimace on his face as he flipped it over.

“Why is it always topping side down,” he said as he brushed off the dirt and gravel from the marinara sauce. With a shrug, he took a bite.

Pretty soon, everyone was enjoying pizza. No one was too eager to get back to hiking, so we decided to wait out the hottest part of the day and take our time. I went into the store to resupply and made sure to get enough food to last me for the next few days.

Sweet Water came back from his trip to town with a bag of cigarettes and a case of PBR. Apparently, Mountain Crossings didn’t sell either of these vices, so that’s why he had gone on his quest. I was shocked by how many of my friends were smokers. I never really thought that smoking and hiking would go hand in hand; needless to say, I was more excited about the beer. In the time we were all hanging out, I learned that Kristen’s name was actually Tristan, which made a lot more sense.

In addition to all the other amenities at Mountain Crossings, it is also a great place for a pack shakedown. The staff at the store will go through your pack with you and pinpoint items that aren’t necessary or are too heavy and they will send them home for you. I mentioned in one of my earlier posts “packing your fears,” this is a good way to try to cut those down. Common items hikers bring at the beginning of a thru hike include chairs, books, kindles, pillows, heavy clothes, and deodorant. None of these things are necessary pieces of gear to have; they just take up space in your pack and make your load heavier. The three to four days it takes to get to Neel Gap from Springer Mountain gives you a taste of what it is like to carry all your things on your back. By the time you get there, you take pack weight a little more seriously. None of my friends had a shakedown, but we all weighed our packs. Mine weighed in at 25.8 pounds. I was very proud of myself for having such a light pack, I think I may have had the lowest weight of all my friends. Sweet Water’s pack was amongst the heaviest.

After staying at Neel Gap for four hours, we finally hiked on. It was only four more miles until the campsite we wanted to stay at for the night. Tristan and I hiked together for most of it, and I had a really nice time talking with him.

Once I arrived at camp, I went through my usual routine of finding my space and setting up my tent. I also usually took off my hiking shoes and changed into my sandals, that was one of my favorite parts of the day. I got my food bag and joined my friends. Sweet Water gladly announced to everyone that dinner was on him. He pulled his food bag out, which looked like it was the size of his entire backpack, it was so big. He rummaged around the bag and pulled out multiple cans of vegetables.

“No, seriously you guys…dinner is on me tonight, please eat my food. My pack weighs so much,” he begged.

“Oh my God! You seriously brought canned vegetables out here?” I asked him.

“I was worried I wouldn’t be able to eat healthy. What do you say Chicken Little, do you want some green beans?” he said waving a can around with a smile.

“For the last time stop calling me Chicken Little. That is not my name,” I said sternly.

“Geez Ella, you’re such a pain in my ass. I should just start calling you Feisty instead.”

I paused for a moment, “I like the sound of that,” I said happily.

“Yeah? Then that’s your name,” he said. From that moment on, I was Feisty. I did it! I had a trail name, and it’s so cool! I grinned ear to ear, unable to contain my joy.

After spending a lot of time with one another, we were all starting to get pretty close. We picked up on each other’s quirks, personalities, and trail routines. I was not the only one who got named that day.

I came up with a name for Wil. He had a unique piece of gear to help him put tent stakes in the ground, a small PVC pipe cap. He would put this cap over the end of his tent stakes and use it to push them into the ground so he wouldn’t hurt his hand. It reminded me of a sewing thimble, so I suggested we name him Thimble.

Zac officially became Stache. I had been calling him that for a couple of days now, but there were still a few people that were using his “government name.” He happily approved of the trail name.

Carter was named Freshly Baked because the package his mom sent to him was full of fresh baked bread and cookies. Warran became Short Trek because he was only hiking for about a week.

We all wanted Analis to be named Pickles because of her incessant cravings. She talked about them so much while we were at Mountain Crossings. She tried to oppose the name a little bit, saying she wished she had a better one. As we sat down for dinner, we all tried to think of a different name for her, one that would make her happy.

“Can I borrow someone’s lighter? I don’t know where mine went,” someone asked.

Analis was glad to help and handed her lighter over. Sweet Water roared with laughter as he caught a glimpse of the picture on the lighter…it was a pickle. Analis couldn’t fight it anymore and accepted the name Pickles.

Sweet Water decided our tramily needed a name too. He started calling us “The Fuckin’ A Team” but it sounded more like “The Fahkin’ A Team” because of his thick Boston accent. We all loved it when he said that, mostly because it sounded funny, but also because we knew that we were a group full of very strong hikers.

I went to sleep happy that night, surrounded by my friends who had quickly become family.

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Next time on Packing it in: I spent my first full day as Feisty and make a funny mistake that stayed with me for the rest of the trail.

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