Woody Gap to Unicom Gap.. MAGIC EVERYWHERE!

Helen, GA - Mile 52.6 - Mar 21_st, 2017

SO MUCH TRAIL MAGIC ALREADY. Wow. Where to even begin...

Hiked out of Woody Gap early and ran into our friend Keith we've been leap frogging with since Springer. Keith is planning to hike the whole AT and his wife Cindy is hiking with him until our next stop and resupply which is Neels Gap, our destination for the day (also where 20% of hikers attempting to thru hike the AT drop out). Keith and Cindy are empty nesters from Ohio and have been super nice and really fun to hike with. They invited us to stay at their cabin in Neels Gap for a night of pizza and showers and laundry... also Cindy is a PT so she took great care of our legs and feet! So awesome. We woke up refreshed and took our time packing up. We had been brainstorming ideas for a trailname for Keith, and we came up with Tigger. Super energetic and funny, very fitting. We hiked out of the cabin around 8:30 and headed for Low Gap Shelter.. a little under 12 miles away.

On our hike we caught up with Patch, Oh Well, Chili Dog, and Kitchen Sink. It was this day that we decided that instead of going by Ginkgo, I would ultimately go by the name Jukebox. I'd been singing and joking that I'd start charging by the tune.. so there ya have it....

Got some more trail magic. Patch kicked down a knee brace to me because my left knee had been bothering me after the super rocky ascent from Blood Mountain the day before. Got to Hogpen Gap and some angels were there with cold beer, soda, fresh fruit, snacks, omg and PB TASTYCAKES! Native to PA .. super happy about that. Also had my first Strawberry Yoo-hoo.. it was interesting. Oh and a free bandana!

Got to low Gap Shelter around 4. I was feeling pretty beat from all of the ups and downs of the day. Cooked up some chili Ramen and Thai tuna (so bomb) and then hung out with a bunch of cool people at the campsite. It was the best night of sleep I've had so far camping. No wind, not cold, it was perfect.

Woke up early and made plans with some other hikers to split a motel in Helen, GA to dip out on the thunderstorm that was about to roll in. I know rain on the AT is inevitable (aka no rain, no pain, no Maine) but I'd rather not set up or breakdown my tent in the pouring rain if there are other options.

All in all the first 50 miles have been full of magic, laughs, blisters, bugs, falls, friends, tears, blood, and sunshine, and I'm loving every single day spent on the trail. Sure it's tough but it sure doesn't suck.

ALSO. I cannot believe how many people pledged so far!!! So overwhelming. Makes me so happy and definatly lifts my spirits. I really appreciate all of the love!!!

Cheers!

Jukebox