Day 4

15 miles ish

Woke up to an incredibly cold morning again. I started a fire while Yahtzee and Mulligan make blueberry pancakes, sausage, and coffee. Who said this hiking stuff is hard? It’s really people like Yahtzee and Mulligan that make the trail bareable. While thru hiking you are often more uncomfortable than not. It’s either too hot or too cold. You’re feet hurt or your knees hurt. Sometimes it’s all of them combined. But walking around a corner in a freezing Georgia morning and being greeting with kindness and food, what more could you ask for. It really is the little things in life.

After reluctantly parting warm drinks and new friends we hiked from Gooch Gap to Neels Gap where I had 2 packages waiting for Max and I. Our premetherin treated clothing and a rain jacket. The last of my gear I needed for this journey.

Neels Gap is home to Mountain Crossings outdoor store where they often give newcomers shakedowns of their overweight packs and are chalk full of memorabilia and food for resupply. Walking into Neels Gap you’ll see hikers and their packs exploded all over picnic tables and an old tree out front that has hundreds of pairs of shoes hanging from its dead branches. These are what remain of all the hikers that quit in these first few miles over the years. Like a graveyard of the hopes and dreams that were given up after they crossed the road.

We camped behind the store with a few others and chatted until hiker midnight. Roughly 9pm.