Day 3

Georgia finally gave us a bit more of a challenge today. 

I started off my morning hearing walker outside my tent telling me that everyone was moving. Naturally, I began packing things up. I think the time was slightly past 7 am -- which means I slept pretty good last night.

I went to sleep around 11, woke up briefly at 1245, 2, and 330 -- finally decided to pee, and then slept until slightly after 7.

Our morning began with a 600 foot ascent up blood mountain, that lasted .8 miles. On the Georgia section of the AT, blood mountain is the highest peak, and in good weather, a crown jewel. Although it wasn't a bright blue sky, we had good weather and could see all the surrounding mountains and even the Atlanta skyline 70 miles in the distance!

As we were descending 2 miles down into neels gap, we got our first snow of the trip. Although it didn't stick, the temps dropped low enough for it to flurry for a couple hours today. In general, there was quite the temperature fluctuation throughout the day. We were often taking off and putting back on gear. When it was 30, flurrying, and windy, we needed a rain jacket. But, when it was 45, sunny, and we were going uphill, shorts and a t-shirt worked fine. 

We arrived at neels before 945 and went inside to get our resupply that we had delivered through mail. Our strategy while in the deep south is to avoid the limited resupply options that most places have and instead mail food down instead. 

Roughly 2 hours later, after charging our electronics, reorganizing our bags, and calling family, we continued on.

Strolling out of there only slightly before 12, we knew that we had to go at least 11 miles to low gap shelter -- which meant we needed to get moving. 

As with any sort of resupply and town visit, we immediately noticed the additional weight in our bags when climbing 800 feet out of neels gap. We have several more pounds of food that will last us into Hiawassee.

If we're in a good hiking flow, it's quite normal for us to go 2.5 miles an hour on average. Sometimes it's quicker and closer to 3, or, like today, it was closer to 2 miles per hour. 

Apart from the first and last hour of the day, we kinda just took our time and didn't really go all to fast. We had a lot of small / midrange peaks that we had to ascend and descend, and with there being day hikers out since it's Saturday, there were certainly hours where we just didn't get into the flow. 

To our surprise, around 2:30 we got trail magic again! A couple locals had set up a spot at hogpen gap and they were serving soup and cookies -- a lunch that was deeply appreciated after having gloves on for most of the day. 

Getting back on the trail around 3, we had a minimum of 7 miles left to do before camp. With this goal in mind, we figured we'd be at camp around 530, since the trail conditions looked slightly easier in the second half of the day + we wouldn't have to stop for food anymore.

As the afternoon progressed and as we progressively summited and climbed down mountains, the wind really picked up. We knew the evening and afternoon were going to be cold, but whenever we got to the western side of the mountain, we would just get pounded with wind. By the time we were approaching low gap shelter and campground, I had my sweatshirt, rain jacket, beanie and gloves on! This was all over shorts and a t-shirt of course, but yah, it got cold. 

When we arrived at low gap, we quickly realized that all the camping in the area was either taken or uneven. So, after a quick discussion, I recommended a place that walker and I camped at in 2020, about 2 more miles up the trail. Although it didn't have water at the sight, there was a source before and after, allowing for easy transport up, and an easy fill up in the morning. 

We got to camp just slightly after 6, which means that with all of our breaks, we still hiked a little under 17 miles from 8 to 6 (give or take) -- and that's something I can absolutely live with. 

As always, this campsite doesn't disappoint. It's not on any official maps, so it's never taken, you can watch both the sunrise and sunset on opposite ranges from here, and it has enough level campsites for us all. What more could you ask for? 

Thankfully too, this sight is out of the windstorm that we can hear going up and over the nearby mountain top. Even without getting blasted by that wind, the nighttime feels like temp will be in the teens tonight. I've slept in colder many times before -- but this is the first time in awhile and this trip,  so it'll take some getting used to. 

To resolve any concerns however, we all have really warm gear as I'm writing this now I'm thinking that I might have to take a layer off before trying to sleep -- not sure yet. 

Looking forward, tomorrow we will do at least a 13 mile day, with 3 big climbs; blue, rocky, and tray mountain -- all of which are above 3990 feet. What's great is that you get to climb one, and immediately descend down to the base of the next mountain, just to do it all again.... However, this is what we signed up for!

Daily recap: 

- hiked 16.7 miles

- from mile marker 28.1 to 44.9

- from slaughter creek campsites to an unmarked campsite 2 miles past low gap

- high temp was 45 and blue sky but it snowed on and off and was quite windy

- low temp (morning) 35

- low temp (tonight) 15 to 20

- ascent: 4,039 feet

- descent: 4,341 feet. 

Thanks for tagging along,

Tyler M. 

P.S. 

Absolutely no pressure to do so, but if you'd like to support my hike at any point, feel free to email me at tmcpherson139@gmail.com and we'll set something up. Whether this is sending us 10 bucks to get some food, or driving us somewhere to take a hot shower!