Day 4: Strange Encounters on Blood Mountain

Blood Mountain

Blood Mountain is the Georgia AT’s big dog. It’s named for a (locally) famous Indian battle after which its streams supposedly ran red with blood. Ew. More to the point, it’s the highest point on the AT in Georgia. The 5-mile climb gains just under 2,000 feet with an average grade of 10%. The last mile gains about 800 feet (~15%). The mountain also boasts some of the most troublesome bears in Georgia. If you camp in the Blood Mountain Wilderness, you have to carry a bear-proof food canister.

Not coincidentally, about 10% of AT thru-hiker wannabees drop out at Neels Gap, the first road crossing after Blood Mountain.

For me, my climb up Blood Mountain came at the end of my day, boosting the difficulty a little. But frankly, it wasn’t as steep and punishing as my training loop back home. Plus, the AT is a whole lot softer on the feet than the rocky trails I use in Phoenix. The descent was tougher than the climb, and my Achilles tendons were barking by the time I climbed back down to Neels Gap.

The views made the climb worthwhile. I’ve heard that on a clear day you can see Atlanta from the peak. I’ve been to Atlanta, so given today’s clear skies, I looked the other way. The tree-covered southern Appalachian vistas I took in were spectacular.

Thru Hiker Encounters

I only saw three thru hikers on the trail today. None of them were particularly friendly and none offered more than the most perfunctory responses to my greetings. I blame headphones for the first one, and the potentially creepy old man*/skittish young woman dynamic for the other. The third was someone I met yesterday, and he’s just not a talker. The encounters left me a little depressed and lonely.

(* To be clear, I am the old man in this scenario. Some readers thought I was dissing someone else.  Nope. I’m old.  But read the next post for more…)

I passed the first two at the start of the 5-mile climb out the Lance Creek Restoration Area. I might have been a little amped up because I’d just seen an incredibly colorful pileated woodpecker and a huge grove of giant white trillium. Perhaps my enthusiasm was a little off-putting. Do trillium grow in groves? The point is, there were acres of them.

They leapfrogged me after I stopped to take a break. When I started hiking again, I found a knit hat on the trail, so I hurried along to catch them. Headphone guy said it wasn’t his. When I caught Ms. Skittish said she thought she knew who it belonged to and that she had carried it for a while, but didn’t really care if it fell out. But then she took it from me and stuffed it into the same too-small pouch on her hip belt she’d used before. Well, I wasn’t going to fight her for it, but I’m pretty sure Ms. Skittish’s friend will have a cold head tonight.

Day Hiker Encounters

The Georgia Mountain Hiking Club was climbing the other, steeper side of Blood Mountain as I was descending. Their demographic matches mine, and I found them to be friendlier than the morning’s thru-hiker crowd. The last bunch of them I passed stopped me to ask about Roux, so we chatted about dogs, the weather, and our respective hikes.

Then one of the ladies asked me if I did something special “to make my hair so thick and lustrous.” I laughed out loud. I haven’t used a comb or brush on my hair in decades. My choice of shampoo is whatever brand Mrs. The Incident doesn’t want anymore and has left in the shower.

Sure, if by “special” you mean not washing it for a week. In fact, not wanting to waste the water I’d poured into Roux’s dish atop Blood Mountain, I’d just poured her drool-y leftovers on my head to cool off. Maybe I’ve stumbled onto a secret hair tonic formula – doodle drool. Her hiking companion’s dome was of the shiny variety, so perhaps it was just the relative difference that caught her attention. He laughed along, saying he was considering a hair transplant from his ears. (For the younger readers, bizarrely fast-growing ear hair is coming for you. Just wait.)

I chuckled over that the rest of the way down to Neels Gap.

Welcome to Mountain Crossings

A crowd of 20 hikers milled about the deck at Mountain Crossings, the outfitter store at Neels Gap. As I walked up, I saw many of the same faces I’d seen at the Gaps over the past three days. Tramilies are starting to form and people were clustered up.

Walmart saw me and called out, “Hey, Incident! Welcome.” And for the first time on the trail, I felt like I belonged.

It was a good day.

Daily Stats:

• Start: Woody Gap (Mile 20.5)
• End: Neels Gap (Mile 31.3)
• Weather: Same ol’ same ol’ … perfect
• Earworm: Folsom Prison Blues
• Meditation: Jn 6:44
• Best Thing: Pileated Woodpecker & Trillium Grove
• Worst Thing: Broken Toe?

Postscript

When I pulled off my socks, I discovered that my left middle toe was severely bruised. It had been hurting since mid-morning, but I thought it was a blister hot spot. I remember stubbing it on a root (I swear that root jumped up to get me), but hardly for the first time on this hike. Let’s hope it’s not broken. I’ll be soaking it in the creek we’re camped by tonight.