unicoi gap to deep gap shelter
23 March 2020 — 2 min read
miles: 13.1
slept very well in the budget inn. the beds were flat and dry, what more do i really need? clothes, socks and shoes: dry. weather check via window: very rainy. a quick cold breakfast of left over pizza, pack and waited for the 09:00 shuttle. last night it occurred that i should be taking more photos of places i am rather than just the woods. stepped in a huge deep puddle getting this one.
socks and shoes no longer dry. hopped in the shuttle up to unicoi gap. a very rainy, cold, and windy day, so not much to see. all the views were just white out.
stopped at tray mountain shelter for lunch where i expected to run into “noodle slime”. she had texted just before we got to unicoi gap to say that she was zeroing there, but that also there were two really sketchy guys who had tarped off the shelter. as i got to the shelter the last person was leaving. seemed the conspiracy theory sort of guy. the tarps were still on the shelter.
it was pretty cold, so i didn’t want to stopfor long. i downed a 1/2# bar of cheese and put on my puffy under my rain jacket. as i was leaving, ian showed up. a brief chat with him and i was shivering. time to motor.
i hit the trail practically at a run, put my gloves on and was pumping my hands open and closed as i walked. it took about a mile before i felt warm, maybe two before my hands would stay warm without the pumping.
arrived at deep gap shelter and ran into a number of folks that i hadn’t met yet, and “noodle slime”. by her description i passed both the sketchy guys, one of them being the guy i saw leaving tray mountain shelter.
washed, got water, and made some tea and listened to everyone chat. it seems that “noodle slime” and the others are staying in the shelter, definitely not taking the social distancing seriously. ian arrived.
made dinner and am heading to bed early. i think i might do 20+ miles to plumorchard gap shelter tomorrow. i hear there might be trail magic tomorrow at dick’s creek gap, but it also sounds like i might have passed through hours earlier.