Day 4 (Wednesday, April 16th) - Lance Creek to Neels Gap

Today's Miles: 6.80  
Trip Miles: 30.90

We had a little snow last night, temps in the 20's and howling winds, but slept warm in our bags. There were some strange noises in the night, however, that kept us up. What we thought at first were the growls of animals unknown, turned out to be the snores of tired hikers. Parvan, a section hiker, was the champ, rolling out deep grrrs with every breath. When we got up, Tim and Dan, father and son hikers from Maine, said they thought it was Tracy who was camped next to them and were shocked to realize it was Parvan 50 yards away.

Once the sun rose over the mountain tops, the air started to warm. We all broke camp and headed, each at his place own pace, toward Blood Mountain and Neels Gap beyond. It was a beautiful day for hiking. Quite a change from yesterday.  We finally had some spectacular views. 

Everyone was a bit leery of Blood's reputation. Word was it was a very tough climb, but I think because we had all suffered through yesterday's hike it didn't seem bad at all. We took an hour at the summit enjoying the views and the old stone shelter. While taking our break, Wayne, Tracy, Mike and I decided we would share a cabin at Neels Gap. $60 a cabin at Blood Mountain Cabins. Great deal.

Baltimore Jack

We got to the outfitters at the gap around 2, and went inside to grab some snacks. There was a guy in there with a Red Sox hat on, Baltimore Jack, a past thru-hiker who's well known in the hiker community. Being that he's a Bostonian via Cambridge, when he heard my accent, he knew instinctively that this Bostonian via Quincy could use a beer and he presented me with a frosty. Thanks Jack!

We said goodbye to Tim and Dan who were moving on and headed toward the cabins. After settling in, we paired up and hitchhiked to Blairsville to resupply and get some pizza. I didn't realize it at the time but, Mike, Wayne and Tracy were all virgin hitchhikers. It seemed strange to me because hitchhiking had been my primary mode of transportation when I was a kid. I forgot how dangerous the world had become in forty years. We went to The Pizza Company next to the Hi Lo grocery in Blairsville, all you can eat buffet $5.36, sodas and ice tea free for thru-hikers. Yes! We hitched back to the cabins and were up past 10, late for us. 

A special thanks to those who gave us rides in and out of town. Good luck to George, thru class 2009 on her upcoming wedding. She dropped Mike and me off at our cabin door. She works at Mountain Crossings in Neels Gap, so we'll thank her again in the morning.

Special note to Kay:

Tracy is doing great and it's been a pleasure to have met such a remarkable young woman.