Day eight

Monday March 6, 2017

The rain came sometime in the wee hours before dawn, light but steady on my tent. It had lessened to intermittent showers by the time I was packed up and headed down Blue Mountain for Unicoi Gap. The descent was again rocky in places and certainly not easy but I knew that I was hiking down to a hot shower, a hot meal, and clean clothes, so the descent was a breeze.

So I am now in Helen, GA. where I will take my first zero day tomorrow. I have not been eating as I should on the trail. When you hike all day every day, with a 30 lb. pack on your back, food is fuel, and I have not been getting enough fuel. Without fuel you will soon stop. So my stay here in Helen is not so much for the shower and warm bed but to EAT  and rest. Tonight I had a steak, baked potato, and green salad. And over on the counter is a piece of cheesecake and milk for after I post this. Tomorrow I will see how many calories I can consume. I will also go through my pack to see what I can give away or throw away. My yoga mat was given away a few days ago to a women whose sleeping pad developed a leak. This afternoon I gave away a nice little flashlight to a young woman from Switzerland. I also bought her her first restaurant meal in America.

Helen, GA. A strange little place and to me a little creepy. It’s as if someone dropped this little make-believe Bavarian town into the mountains of North Georgia. It is mostly deserted this time of year and to me, like something out of an old Twilight Zone episode. 

52.6 miles down      2137.2 miles to go