Day 8 - Hiawassee, GA

Trevor called tonight from the Blueberry Patch Hiker Hostel in Hiawassee, GA.  Again, he sounded strong, upbeat, and optimistic!  He said Mountaineer never showed up at the Neels Gap cabin on Thursday night, but Trevor found him there the next day doing laundry.  Apparently the hostel didn’t tell Mountaineer that the guys were expecting him and instead Mountaineer shared a cabin with Moonshine (Sydney from VT who started the trail with Trevor but got separated on the first day).

After doing his laundry and resupplying, Trevor hiked about 6 miles and stayed near the Whitley Gap Shelter.  Rather than hike the extra mile off the trail to the actual shelter, he and Mountaineer decided to pitch their tents and sleep just off the trail.

On Saturday, Trevor hiked 12 miles to the Blue Mountain Shelter.  There he met up with Cotton, Nattie, Mountaineer, Moonshine, and Sherpa.  Sherpa (real name Kate) also started the trail with him last Monday; but, if you remember from my earlier post, they got separated.  I asked Trevor how she got the name Sherpa and he said when she weighed her pack in Neels Gap, it topped the scales at 57 pounds (mind you Trevor’s weighed 32).  The people at Neels Gap helped her trim it down to 45 pounds and I guess they decided a good name for her was Sherpa because she liked to lug a bunch of stuff! 

Saturday was Trevor’s birthday and he said it didn’t even cross his mind until everyone got ready to settle into their tents for the night.  He said someone asked what he was thinking about and Trevor replied, “It’s my birthday”.  With that the entire camp started yelling, “Happy Birthday”.  I’m so glad he didn’t celebrate alone!

On Sunday, Trevor hiked 13 miles, briefly stopping at Tray Mountain to enjoy the view from its 4400 foot summit.   He continued on and stayed overnight at Sassafras Gap where he and Mountaineer tent camped since there was no shelter.  At this point Trevor said Cotton and Nattie decided to get off the trail and hitch to the hospital to get Cotton’s knee checked out.  Apparently it was causing him quite a bit of pain and he thought he might need a rest or some medicine.  Trevor hasn’t heard how that went. 

Today, Trevor, Mountaineer and a guy named Homer hiked 6 miles to Dick’s Creek Gap and from there they hitched a ride to the Blueberry Patch Hiker Hostel.  Trevor said the three of them took a shower while the hostel owner did their laundry.  This hostel is a donation operated Christian based ministry and the owner actually hiked the trail himself in 1991.  After showering the three of them got a ride into town where they ate at Daniel’s buffet for about an hour and a half!  They then shopped at Ingles grocery store to resupply their food and then hitched back to the hostel.  Trevor has NEVER hitched before so I feel much better that he’s doing it with a professional like Mountaineer.  Mountaineer is a recently retired West Virginia State Police Officer, so I think he's in good hands!

Trevor said he experienced his first Trail Angel this past weekend.  Apparently a former hiker left two huge bins of food on the trail.  They were filled with soda, chips, candy, and beef jerky!  What a nice surprise for tired and hungry hikers!

Trevor and Mountaineer plan to cross into North Carolina soon – 1 state down, 13 more to go!  Their next big town is Nantahala, NC at AT mile 133.9, about 67 miles from Hiawassee.  Nantahala has a huge outdoor center with rafting, restaurants, lodging, resupplies, and they hope to arrive sometime Sunday or Monday and I'll post an update when I get one.

As a side note, Trevor said he's been sending signals from his SPOT but I told him they're not coming through.  We went over how to synch it to the GPS satelites, so hopefully he will get it up and running.  If not, he plans to mail it back to us and we will have a replacement mailed out to him.