This morning when I woke up, I had a terrible headache and was very dizzy. Every time I stood up or bent over too quickly, I almost fell over. Took some Tylenol and the headache went away, but the dizziness was with me most of the day. Not positive what caused it, but have a sneaking suspicion that it was caffeine withdrawal. For the last few weeks, I’ve been drinking more coffee than usual, since I was home during the day. Yesterday was the first day I didn’t have any coffee. Who knows, but I’m glad it’s over now.

The sky was very cloudy this morning, and it got foggier as we went along. Left camp about 8:00 and wandered through mountain laurels and rhodies even more dense than yesterday. We crossed over Blackwell Creek, then up to the ridge toward Gooch Gap Shelter and Gooch Gap. Didn’t stop at the shelter, since it was on a side trail, and we’d heard it pretty trashy anyway. We took a quick break at Gooch Gap and dumped our trash in the can by the road.

Continued on with several small ascents and descents past Grassy Gap, Liss Gap, over Ramrock Mt., then down to Woody Gap. (A morning of many gaps.) We were out of the dense laurel now, and into an area of lush ferns and tall, straight pines. The trail through that area took on an air of mystery in the fog. Two movies come to mind, "A Walk in the Clouds", and "Gorillas in the Mist", not so much for their content, but for the imagery conjured up by the titles. It was like walking through the forest primeval.

Georgia Hwy. 60 crosses at Woody Gap, and we stopped for lunch at the picnic ground there. The fog was so dense, you could hardly see across the road. Also chatted with two older men out for a few days. They were brothers from South Carolina and North Carolina, and man, were they loaded down! They had stuff hanging down all over their packs, which were crammed full already. They also had metal hiking staffs with large, noisy "bear bells" on them. No missing these guys on the trail!

Our original schedule had us stopping near Woody Gap, but it was only noon, and we were feeling good, so decided to go on. That will make a short day into Neel’s Gap tomorrow. We had several more climbs in the afternoon over Big Cedar, Granny Top and Burnett Field mountains. We found a decent campsite at Jarrard Gap, so called it a day at 3:30. No lovely stream tonight, but I guess we can’t expect that all the time.

After setting up camp, we all settled in for a quick nap. Ronald had gotten chilled when we stopped, so he stayed in his bag to keep warm while Brandon and I went to get water. It was back up the trail a few hundred yards, but was faster without packs. The Sweetwater pump works much better now that we figured out you just have to clean it more often. The silty water gunks up the filter quickly, but it only takes a couple minutes to clean.

Tonight we cooked our creamed chicken and veggies with rice for dinner. We have a winner here! This is going to be my favorite trail dinner, because it tastes great, takes the least amount of fuel, and makes the least mess! You just have to remember to start soaking the veggies and chicken in the afternoon, so they don’t taste like gravel. We dried all our dinners at home, so are prepared with a small, water-tight container, which doubles as a dinner re-hydrator and pudding maker.

After dinner, Ronald had finally warmed up, so he went out to explore and stretch his leg. He came back and said he’d found a spring nearby on a blue-blazed trail, so we all went down to see it. Since we left Springer we’ve had a running bet that the first person to take a fall has to buy ice cream at Neel’s Gap. I just assumed it would be me. We’ve all slipped or tripped a few times, but so far, no real falls. Well, as we were walking down to the spring, Ronald pointed out that it was muddy and slippery, and he just finished saying, "If you fall here, it still counts," when, whoops! Down he went, right on his backside. The only thing hurt was his pride, so it was okay to laugh. Looks like the Ben & Jerry’s is on Ronald tomorrow.

I’m looking forward to being clean tomorrow, too. We’re all getting pretty ripe, even with rinsing out clothes and washing off in streams.

No rain fell during the night, allowing us to pack a dry tarp. The sunshine from yesterday has been replaced with clouds. We spent all day hiking in the fog. It was a thoroughly pleasurable experience. For one it kept the dreaded heat at bay. Second it gave the forest a sort of a medieval look. Tall dark tress shrouded in fog.

Much of this morning we walked along green tunnels cut into thick stands of Laural and Rhododendron. Along side the tunnel flowed a brook with the sound of babbling water. For a long time I hiked along trying to envision how to transport this seen of serenity to the confines of my back yard. I'm definitely going to have to work at it this winter.

The Laural along the trail is in full bloom with small pink flowers. The first time I picked one of the flowers up off the ground, it seemed to be stamped from some machine it was so perfectly formed. As if molded from pink plastic, hundreds of them were scattered along the footpath.

When not hiking in green tunnels, we hiked in a world of white. At those few places where there were possibilities of a view, a wall of white greeted us. We stopped for lunch at Woody Gap with a couple of brothers doing a section hike. They were planning to hike to Franklin and were carrying all of their food. All that food made their packs so heavy they were hiking slowly. It is doubtful they will make their goal. They're having fun so it doesn't make any difference anyway.

So far we've been very surprised with the trail. The climbs have not been nearly as hard as expected and the trail itself has been beautifully maintained.

As we hiked along today, we made elaborate rules about how we would score when one of us takes a header. So far no one has fallen, but we knew that wouldn't last long. I think it's impossible to hike without hugging the earth a time or two. We decided that the first one to fall would buy the others ice cream when we hit town. Well, when walking down to the spring at Jarrard Gap I slipped on the mud and landed on my butt. So now I have to buy the ice cream tomorrow.

Today we woke up around 6:30 and I made oatmeal (I boiled the water). We had to pump some more water from the stream the night before to have enough water for this morning. We broke camp around 8:00 and started hiking. On our way to Jarrard Gap we passed Gooch Gap (the place we were trying to get to last night) around 10:00 and continued on. We had lunch at Wind Gap. Lunch consisted of bagels, meat and cheese like everyday. From there we hiked for awhile until we got to Jarrard Gap and decided to stop for the night. We had passed some water about a quarter mile back up the trail and there was none in the gap. So mom and I went back up and pumped some water. When we go back, dad was asleep in the tent. But he woke up after he heard us come back. Dad decided to go for a walk and when he go back he told us of some closer water he had found. We all went down to the spring. When we got there dad slipped. That meant that he had to buy everyone ice cream (it was a bet). We all went back to the tent and I read for an hour then went to sleep.