Day: 003
Date: Thursday, 27 April 2023
Start: North of Neels Gap (AT Mile 31.8)
Finish: Low Gap Shelter (Off AT Mile 42.8)
Daily Kilometres: 18.5
GPX Track: Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos
Total Kilometres: 73.7
Weather: Cold, occasionally windy and raining all day
Accommodation: Shelter
Nutrition:
Breakfast: Pop tarts/Energy bars
Lunch: Trail mix
Dinner: Dehydrated meals
Aches: Dave very tired; Julie nothing to report
Highlight: Arriving at Low Gap Shelter in mid-afternoon to find there was plenty of room so we could get out of the weather and into some dry clothes. There were two other hikers there, already in their sleeping bags for warmth, having also cut their day short because of the weather.
Lowlight: Too many to choose. Perhaps sitting, saturated, on a log in pouring rain and a cold wind for a much-needed break at Tesnatee Gap, watching motorists, no doubt dry and with the heater going full-blast, pass by.
Pictures: Click here
Map and Position: Click here for Google Map
Journal:
It rained most of the night and was still raining heavily when we woke up at 6:30am. We packed as much as we could inside the tent and then, when the rain eased a little, packed away the tent. Of course, everything was wet, including our clothes and boots, so it didn’t really make that much difference. Our bear barrels were intact, so no bears last night as Julie feared.
We set off soon after 8:00am in the rain with Dave still feeling the fatigue from yesterday’s hike and dragging the anchor with Julie making frequent stops for him to catch up, especially on the hills. The forest was very wet, with the many wildflowers seemingly drooping or sheltering from the downpour and the new foliage being battered by the raindrops which, at times, felt like hail. The trails were under an inch or so of water almost all of the day and were rushing torrents on the ups and downs.
Fairly early on, it became apparent to Dave that he was not going to cover the miles necessary to get to a shelter 18 miles away so, instead, we targeted Low Gap Shelter at a little over 11 miles. With our tent already pretty wet, camping did not seem an option in the rain forecast to continue all day and into tomorrow.
There were some technical ascents and descents but, fortunately, Georgian rocks and mud are not as slippery when wet as their Australian cousins, so it was a little easier than it often looked. In the weather, it was just a case of sploshing on through the watery trails and hoping we didn’t get too cold at the higher altitudes where the wind blew. For most of the day our elevation varied between 3,000’ and 4,000’.
With about four miles to go we crossed a road where we met two hikers sheltering under a sign and deciding whether to continue on in the weather or call for one of the people who offer shuttles to town from the trail for hikers. It was a tempting option. We didn’t take it, but are pretty sure the couple did, because a hiker who arrived later at our shelter said he had not seen them on the trail.
We arrived at Low Gap Shelter in mid-afternoon (see above), both happy to have an early stop and get into some dry clothes.
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