March 13: Whitley Gap, GA

36.9 miles. Looks good, runs good.

This is going awesome so far. We met back up with Ryan yesterday midday and he hiked north with us to Neel's Gap. We camped up on a ridge, made a great fire, and had fun hanging out last night. This morning we made it to Neel's Gap by 10 or so, which is the best gear shop I've ever been in and has an amazing staff. Tom and I took a shower, which was pure heaven. Ryan and Sven headed back to VA (he hated leaving us -I know he wishes he were doing this hike, too), and Tom and I headed out again. A lot of people stayed at the hostel, but we were feeling good and ready to keep moving. Too early for hotels!

We were hoping we'd make it to Maine without getting rained on, but no such luck. It's raining steady and pretty cold out -forty maybe. This is our first night in a shelter, and I really like it. It's not even dark yet, and everyone is hunkered down in their bags for the night since it's so wet and cold out. But it was fun to chat with people and feel the sense of joy of what we're all doing as we made our separate dinners.

Now time to give tom a back rub before he falls asleep.