Upside Down Gory Blood Mountain – The Trek

55°am

65° pm

14.4 AT Miles, 31.3 Total AT Miles

Early morning

I woke up at 07:00 and enjoyed a very good breakfast (scrambled eggs, hash browns and toast) at Above the Trails Hostel. Confirmed plans with hostel owner to pack up SOBO today, walking from Neel Gap back to Gooch Gap. The shelter took me (along with Grandbee and Willie) to Neel Gap. I visited the Mountain Crossings store in Neel Gap where the AT passes through. The store has everything a backpacker could need. I found a couple of Snickers bars that caught my eye, the store manager told me that for a credit purchase I would need to buy 3 bars, I politely thanked him.

mountain of blood

I started the journey at 08:30. Grandbee and Willie were making the same trip as me, but they stopped at Jarrad Gap and started behind me. As I headed up the trail toward Bloody Mountain, I stopped about a mile off the trail to grab my first Snickers bar, take some photos, and drink some water. Somehow, I turned around and started going back the way I came. After about ten minutes, I ran into a couple I thought I recognized. Suddenly, Grandbee was yelling, «you’re going the wrong way.» Quite embarrassed, I changed course to continue climbing Blood Mountain. Shortly after passing my previous stopping point, the trail suddenly became a scramble of rocks. I got lost twice but the Far Out app corrected me each time. My pace was slow, just an hour an hour. A few days later, I met Chris, who had his arm in a sling from a fall on the rocks at Blood Mountain. When I arrived at Blood Mountain, the views were spectacular! I was surprised to see how big the shelter on Blood Mountain was. I talked to a Maryland section hiker who was hiking south and will soon finish the AT section from Maryland to Georgia. I was enjoying a peanut butter cookie, something I realized I might need to add to my trail food packs in the future.

Easy

For the next twelve miles I found the hike with just a backpack quite pleasant, the sunny weather was warm, there was no wind, and the slopes were manageable. I’m sure the other two Snicker bars helped my disposition. When I passed Jarrad Gap, I didn’t see how close the road was to the gap, I just saw a trail leading out. Filtered water in the afternoon, I met a couple from the hostel while filtering, they also had a good day of hiking. Gradually, as I got closer to Woody Gap, I began to meet several hikers who were out hiking for the day. Then I realized it was Friday and the weekend hikers were showing up. I also met a family of four walking through NOBO; Later I would walk for a while with this family. As I approached Gooch Gap, I noticed the first bump across the trail and realized that people had been working hard to keep the path clear. In several places, you can see broken tree branches that, curiously, are at exactly the same height due to recent wind storms. The only negative I can find on the trail is the brambles crossing it – a real pain, especially when they snag my expensive down jacket. From my ecological point of view, appropriate proportions of gasoline, Roundup or napalm should be used to eradicate this nuisance.

gooch gap

I arrived at Gooch Gap at 16:00 and covered the 14.4 miles easily at a slightly better pace of 2 miles per hour. I was very satisfied with my pace and recognized the difference that carrying loose luggage makes compared to traveling with a backpack.

Last night at Above the Clouds Hostel

The ferry picked me up shortly after arriving at Gooch Gap. I enjoyed my second frozen pizza (with blueberry cobbler). I found peanut butter cookies in the pantry that I quickly added to my food stash while walking. The hostel was completely full with several hikers from the Atlanta weekend section. I met Rebecca (CA), who I would be hiking with for the next two days, Duffy and her dog (who was outside in a pen), and Frosty (TN), who gave me some good information about the trail. I did laundry, showered, filled out paperwork, and made reservations to stay a couple of days at Stanimals Hostel to get out of the way when temperatures are expected to drop to 14° or below. I went to bed at 9:30 p.m. and slept well.

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