| Trip Report: |
Me and Kimi woke early in the morning before the others at the Hawk mountain shelter. We packed our gear and then I called a shuttle service to see if I could arrange a ride once we reached our destination of Woodys gap. We ate a quick a couple of granola bars and then decided to head out for a long day of hiking. Shortly after the shelter we crossed a stream where we filled all three of our water bottles before continuing on to hightower gap because I noticed in the AT trail guide book that there was no water sources listed for the next four miles. From the shelter to Horse gap we made very good time because it was mostly down hill. Once we got to Horse gap we ran into a couple of brothers from north carolina that we had seen on springer mountain. We decided to chat a bit and laughed that I had a dream there was a bear out side my tent that night but luckily never saw one. Then one of the brothers told me they had seen a momma bear that same day halfway up springer mountain. So now I do not know if it was really a bear I heard outside my tent or a dream. That is why it was fitting when they gave me and my daughter Kimi the trail names of mamma bear and cub. So in turn we gave them the trail names of white wolf and lone wolf because one was more social than the other. While talking Kimi took my cell phone out of my pack to see what time it was and latter on towards the end of the day we realized she had laid down beside the tree I was sitting next to and that we walked off and obviously left it but we did not have time to hike the five miles back to retrieve it. When we got to coopers gap I realized that three bottles of water just was not enough for me and wished I had carried more because it was a heck of a hike up and down to this point. However, I am thankful that a local trail angel had left six gallon jugs of water by a tree at the road intersection for hikers like me that did not plan well enough because it was about two more miles before the next water source. By the time we hit the Gooch mountain shelter I was begining to get tired and seriously thinking about calling it a day but I had already called for a ride back to our car to be picked up about 9pm that night at woody's gap and since I had lost my phone and kimi's phone was dead I decided we needed to press on. It would be four more miles across a road bed and ramrock mountain and by now my legs were cramping from not drinking enough water and being out of shape but by the grace of God we made it to the parking area about 8:45 pm. When our shuttle arrived I told the driver about leaving my phone at the horse gap crossing and he said he would go by the next morning to look and see if it was still there. We got to our car and I could hardly walk my legs were screaming and I was exhausted by yet somehow still happy to have had the experience of hiking a section on the AT trail. There is just something special about this trail that you will never understand until you do it for yourself. It is as if God challenges you to push yourself and test you but yet never ceases to amaze you with the kindness of others and the spirit which surrounds you with love even when it gets hard. Believe it or not the shuttle drive called me after I got home and told me he found my phone and would send it to me. Now that is a true blessing. |
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