Six-Moon Journey: Settling in to the summer condo
March 24, 2015: Low Gap Shelter to old Cheese Factory site, 13.4 miles, 9:10 a.m. to 5:15 p.m.
Brilliant day of walking. From Low Gap to Chattahoochee Gap the trail contoured wonderfully on old and growing in forest roads. Warm sun, blue skies, cool breeze. Great views of wild mountain lands through the bare treetops. Up and down on narrow ridge of Tennessee Divide to Chat Gap, another spot where I spent a glorious evening in ’77. Reminisced a bit, then pushed on to Blue Mountain Shelter for lunch. Awesome mountain top spot to camp, did so here in ’89.
Ahead, up over Blue Mtn, then long descent to Unicoi Gap, where more trail magic appeared. Moses and Slayer, 2014 thru’s, had a pot of mac and cheese cooked up plus burgers and soda. Topped my burger with a heaping of mac and cheese and downed an A&W root beer.
Long and sweaty climb out of the gap; 3 miles to the top of Rocky Mtn. Another tough one with a full belly. Rewarded up top with nice views from several great lookouts. Ambled on through the azalea and rhododendron tunnels to the campsite, a nice grassy clearing, apparently an old cheese factory site, so says the guide. Another excellent spring. Have yet to treat water. Why when it’s flowing right out of the earth clear and clean.
First time setting up new tent. Lime green, love it. Eureka Spitfire one-man. 7:53pm and sun is down. Getting cool. Big time gnats out today. Swallowed a half-dozen anyway. Didn’t think these guys bite, but I ended up with a few.
