Starting location: Gooch Mt Shelter
Ending location: Neels Gap
Miles today: 15.6
Miles total: 30.7
Like our wedding day, our first wedding anniversary was in the rain. Today we woke up to the sound of rain hitting our rain fly around 6:30am. The sound is actually kind of soothing, so we stayed in our warm bags until 7am.
Word travels pretty well on the trail, so we knew today could be a pretty tough day with rain. Sure enough it rained almost the entire day with temperature in the low 40s.
We orginally planned to stop at Woodhole Shelter, but Kristen and I both had a hot shower on our mind. We knew if we could push up the difficult Blood Mountain and go the additional 3 miles, we could reach Neels Gap. Neels Gap is has a hiker hostel and other great resources for hikers.
Today was our first true test on the trail. The rain, cold temperatures, and high milage made it for a difficult day. Needless to say, we were overjoyed when we saw Neels Gap after the very steep descent from the summit of Blood Mt. Due to the poor weather, all 16 spots at the hiker hostel were full but the owner made a call to some nearby cabins. We were told that the cabin had a kitchen so we pick up some frozen pizzas, and some airheads and skittles for good measure. The cabin was great with a big living room, a fireplace, and a bear rug on the wall (which is just awesome)
We were very thankful for laundry and our first shower in 3 days. The trail will make you appreciate the smallest of things. We had a great wedding aniversary and are looking forward to tomorrow.
Kristen outside of Blood Mt Shelter
On the summit of Blood Mt
Jason + Kristen
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