Springer Mountain to Neels Gap…and a Lil More

Ryan, Parker, and I started our adventure surrounded by family at Springer Mountain parking lot on Saturday, March 20th. Since then, we have been on the trail for 3 days. Our experience thus far has been nothing short of amazing. The days have been full of making new friends and breaking in our trail legs.

Day 1: On our first day on trail we hiked the first couple of miles with family. We parted ways at Long Creek Falls trailhead and headed down the trail to Hawk Mountain Shelter. We met quite a few hikers that we would continue to hike with the next couple of days.

Day 2: After Hawk Mountain, we set off to Gooch Gap for the night. It was a pretty short day. We arrived at the shelter at around 1:00 pm. The hike there had some good climbs, but we welcomed the short day. Parker has been getting used to the trail life and is absolutely thriving. She earned her trail name “Burger” after Cronos misheard her name. One of my biggest concerns was Parker not eating enough, but she has been chowing down every time we put food in front of her.

Day 3: A lot of our new trail friends got off trail at Woody’s Gap for hot showers at ‘Above the Clouds’ Hostel. Ryan, Parker (Burger), and I pushed on to Woods Hole Shelter – 12.1 miles. We had a quaint group at the shelter compared to the 2 previous nights. Our plans for tomorrow include making it to Neels Gap for a shower and resupply at Mountain Crossings. Today was the first day that I started to feel some soreness after pushing through the 12.1 miles today.

Day 4: From Woods Hole Shelter we hiked to Neels Gap. We had a shower, did some laundry, and ate some delicious pizza. After resupplying, we got back on trail and hiked to Baggs Creek Gap campsite for the night. Today is supposed to be our last day of good weather for a while. We have been so lucky with the weather thus far.

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Comments 1

  • Linda B : Apr 1st

    Love how you decided (or maybe it was never an option) to take Parker aka Burger with you. Please include him in all your posts! Good luck to all 3 of you. Happy hiking.

    Reply

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