Springer Mtn, GA to Fontana Dam, NC

Day 5, Saturday, May 27

Woods Hole Shelter to Neels Gap, GA, 4.1 miles

Breeze is kicking up this morning. The temperature is in the mid 50's. Cool, refreshing, but a little damp. I wake up a few minutes before seven and roll out of the sack at 7:15 AM. No hurries this morning. The sky looks like it is going to be blue today when it wakes up.

My blisters look bad. I need to treat them a little this morning to keep them from getting infected. I pick up the shelter journal and enter:

"5/27 Great night last night. Beautiful shelter and spring. The new standard for the AT? Fourth night of Mousecapades. Need to invent portable (battery powered) ultrasonic mouse chaser outer. They chewed a hole in Aaron's tube of Neosporin. Hope that tasted good.

Love the porta-pipe at the spring. Great water. Short day today to Neels Gap. Ice cream, shower, clean clothes, can't wait. Thinking about changing my trail name from "Red Shirt" to "Mr. Blister". Feet look like (and feel like) hell."

Steve "Red Shirt" Snuffy Smith.

The top of Blood Mountain is shrouded in mist this morning. It's brooding, waiting...I put some water on the stove to make grits and oatmeal. Two packs of grits and a cup of water. Perfect. We pack up and I leave the shelter at 9:10 AM. Stop for water at the spring. Aaron catches up and we get water. Together, we walk back up the shelter trail toward the AT and turn left toward Blood Mountain. A mother and son approach from the right on the Freeman Trail, which cuts around the base of Blood Mountain. We let them pass by us and we fall in behind them headed up the mountain. Billy catches up shortly.

The mist swirls around us and the breeze builds as we climb the mountain. Thank God for switchbacks. We climb the whole way without stopping. Billy drops back. I guess he wants to be alone this morning. Rhododendron and flame azalea are blooming as we climb. Suddenly, Aaron and I see the stone shelter. We've made it to the top. 10:20 AM. Not bad. I shed my pack and take pictures of the shelter and the view. The clouds have cleared and the view is great. I sit down on a rock and take my boots off. Billy comes up.

We meet Monty and Lydia Moore from Kentucky. They're thru-hiking. Monty is a youth minister at a church in Cynthiana, Kentucky. He just graduated from Asbury Seminary in Nicholasville, KY last week. Lydia is a hospice nurse. They're taking a five-month sabbatical. Hiking to Pearisburg, VA, and then flip-flopping. They've been married for eight years after meeting as undergraduates at Berea College in Kentucky.

Lydia asks me if I'm keeping a journal. I say yes. She asks Aaron siting beside me if he is keeping one. He says "Not yet". Aaron brought a small tape recorder with him, but no tapes. He tells Lydia about it. Monty walks over and asks Aaron if he would like some tapes. I've never heard Aaron say anything other than "Shore" in his New Hampshire accent. He doesn't disappoint me now. Monty fishes two tapes out of his pack and gives them to Aaron. Our first trail magic. Monty tells Aaron that they are old seminary lectures he's taped and is reusing the tapes. Now Aaron can't decide whether to listen to the tapes or not.

I rest until 11:15 AM. Then downhill! I stop three-fourths of the way down at noon to rest and let my feet dry out. This is miserable. I spread out on a shady spot on a huge rock surface and watch as day-hikers stream past. A lady in an orange Moo-Moo passes by. I can smell her fragrance as she passes. Wonder if she can smell mine?

I limp into the Walasi-Yi Center at 12:30 PM expecting a triumphant welcome. No red carpet, but I do see Ken, Monty and Lydia. Ken (UNCA basketball player) has decided to stop. Roger, Doug, and Penny have gone on Unicoi Gap. I head into Walasi-Yi to look around. Monty and Lydia are going to Goose Creek Cabins as well and they've already called the shuttle. Jeff Hansen seems more intent on doing his paperwork than helping customers. I decide not to bother him. I ask Dorothy Hansen if she can help me with my water filter. She readily helps, although she says Jeff is the expert. We look at it for a few minutes, and then consult with Jeff who basically says that the problem I'm having is a problem that everyone with a water filter has. He is not much help. I decide to buy a new cartridge. I've owned this water filter for two years or so. It worked well the first time I used it, but has been a pain since. It seems to prime when it wants to, instead of when I want it to. Jeff says it's just the nature of a water filter. We figure the cartridge must be the problem. I also buy a new hiking shirt, some moleskin, tape and batteries. I should be set.

As I said earlier, I've done a lot of day-hiking and a fair amount of short backpacking. I've always used cotton t-shirts, but this trip has made a believer out of me on using the polyester hiking shirts. They dry so quickly when you stop hiking and stay lightweight. I own two of them, a black one and a white one. Not much was available in color selection when I bought them last year. I brought the white one with me, figuring the black one would be too hot. Now that I've bought another shirt, I'll send some of the cotton ones home.

The shuttle to Goose Creek shows up at 1:30 PM. Keith Bailey is driving and Gary is riding shotgun. Gary is Keith's brother-in-law from Covington, GA and is spending the Memorial Day Weekend at the campground. They help us load our gear in the back of the van and the five of us (Billy, Aaron, Monty, Lydia, and me) pile in. We drive the three miles or so down the mountain to Goose Creek Campground and Cabins. I ask him if he picked up Tom last night. He says he came up to pick him up, but Tom didn't want to wait until 8:30 AM the next morning for the shuttle, so he hiked on. Tom is on a schedule and I guess he wanted to hike instead of rest. Me? I vote rest. Keith gets us checked in, and brings me the supply package that I mailed to the campground before I left. He tells us about the laundry service and the shuttle to the Riverside Restaurant that evening.

I've reserved a one-room cabin; the others are going to camp beside it. The cabin is very rustic. There is a deck on the back of the cabin with a small creek that runs almost under the deck. I spend a few minutes sorting out my gear. I put my sleeping bag and liner on the deck to sun along with my boots, etc. I shower and then take my dirty clothes down to the office to be washed. Keith and his wife Reeter wash your clothes for five dollars. It's not a bad deal.

When I get back to my cabin, I change out the cartridge in my water filter. Monty comes up and tells me he is having the same problem with his water filter. We discuss remedies for a few minutes. I tell him what I've tried and he works on his filter as well. I take my filter apart and clean all of the o-rings. They're dirty and probably are contributing to the problem. Then I head to the creek to soak my feet in the cold water. I sit on a big rock in the sun and write in my journal. The cold water feels good on my feet. Aaron and I talk about hitchhiking into Blairsville in search of flip-flops, but finally decide we can try to find some when we head out for dinner.

After a while I go back to the cabin and finish sorting out my gear. I plan to send some of it home. After five days on the trail, you begin to sense what you need and what you don't. You get rid of the excess weight. It's 6:15 PM before I know it. I walk back down to the office to see if my laundry is ready yet and check on the 6:30 PM shuttle to the restaurant. Monty and Lydia have decided not to go to the restaurant for supper. So it looks like it will be just the three of us, Billy, Aaron, and me. Lydia asks me to bring them back a salad.

My laundry isn't quite ready yet. We wait for Keith to finish registering a guest. It's cooler outside than inside the office, so we wait on the porch. Gary, the brother-in-law, is outside in a rocking chair. He offers a cold Budweiser, which we accept. First cold beer I've had in weeks. It goes down fast.

Gary married Keith's sister. They live near Covington, GA and are visiting for the Memorial Day weekend. Gary is in charge of the fireworks show tonight for Memorial Day and he has a big one planned. Gary's a Vietnam veteran, three purple hearts and a Navy Cross.

Gary offers another beer, but I decline. It's time for Keith to drive us over to the Riverside. We make one stop along the way to check for flip-flops. The place has worms, crickets, fishing licenses, and everything else including produce and milk, but no flip-flops. I buy some coffee filters for Monty to use with his water filter. Since he's having the same problem with his water filter that I'm having, we're going to use coffee filters as a backup pre-filter if we have to. I also buy a pack of cigars. I forgot to get one for Springer, but I'll have one for Fontana.

Aaron and Billy take longer. They buy some spaghetti, macaroni and cheese, Ramen noodles, etc. Keith patiently waits in the van for us to finish. He picks up another rider while we're waiting. After he drops the rider off at the Nottely River campground, he takes us to the Riverfront. We have an hour-and-a-half wait, but the food is great, and we're hungry by the time we get seated. I introduce Billy and Aaron to barbecue and fried okra. There is a twosome playing a banjo and guitar for entertainment. Just like in the movies.

Keith picks us up after we finish and has some not so good news. Severe thunderstorms are headed our way tonight, and Gary has already started his Memorial Day fireworks show. We make a final stop at the Citgo Convenience Store. No flip-flops. Keith comes in and tells the two girls behind the register that "Those two are from New Hampshire, and he's from North Carolina" pointing at me. They seem impressed. Must be a slow night. Billy and Aaron buy some more stuff and soon we're headed back to Goose Creek.

I ask Keith why the place is named Goose Creek. All we've seen are mallard ducks at the pond in front of the office. He says he used to have two geese. One flew away, and the other got run over on the highway. Makes sense to me. We get back to Goose Creek. Gary's show is over and the air is heavy with smoke and sulfur. He's sitting proudly on the porch in the rocker with his fans lined around him. He's finished the fireworks and the cooler of Budweiser and is now holding court. I tell him that I'm sorry we missed his show. He grins and says, "I blew the shit out of 'em". I can tell by the smoke still hovering around the pond.

I take Monty and Lydia their coffee filters and the take-out salads they asked me to bring back from the restaurant. Aaron brings my laundry, which now smells much better than when I left it. I walk back down to the office to check messages and see the Weather Channel predicting bad weather for us. As I head back up to the cabin, raindrops begin to fall. I stop to tell Billy and Aaron, and Monty and Lydia to come into my cabin if the weather gets bad.

As the first heavy raindrops begin to fall, Aaron bursts into the room with his sleeping bag. He forgot to put the fly over his one-man tent earlier, and now everything he has is wet. He heads for the floor beside my bed. Two minutes later in heavier rain Billy shows up and beds down on the porch. The rainstorm is heavy for a few minutes, but then begins to taper off into a slow steady rain. It cools everything down to comfortable, but tomorrow is going to be sloppy.

I Neosporin my blisters for the night, repack my pack, pack a small box of send-homes, light a cigar and head for the porch. I write until almost 12:45 AM before turning in. My cabin now looks like hell. Equipment everywhere, sleeping bags, backpacks, clothes, and wet tents are spread out on everything. Monty and Lydia's packs are behind the door. I told them to put their packs in my room in case of rain. They did and it did.