Blood Mountain Shelter to Low Gap Shelter

Appalachian Trail, 13.0 miles

Today I got up and started early because I was anxious to get to Neels Gap, two and a half miles down the mountain. There, I picked up mail from Jay and the kids, Janet, Eva, and a few others -- it made me cry and I miss everyone terribly. I don't know where my head was when I thought I could backpack alone for an entire month, let alone the week that I am undertaking right now.

It drizzled all day and started getting cold. I was the first at the shelter so I took Louie's advice and dunked my feet in the small creek running past the shelter. It helped tame a couple small blisters forming on the sides of each big toe. As I was standing in the creek in my undies (!) two thru-hikers arrived -- how embarrassing! Once I put myself back together, they introduced themselves as "Coyote" and "Ishmael." I hope those are their trail names and not their real names.

Keith and Louie showed up soon after, then Carl and Mike. So seven of us squeezed into the shelter! Once again, evening excitement: a small finch (which we at first thought was another bat) started flying at Louie's headlamp! Then there was a second one -- very bizarre! They both flopped around in the shelter, landing in turn on each of us, before Louie flung them underneath the shelter.

It rained hard from about midnight on.