Hike 2 - Neel's Gap to Unicoi Gap

My second section hike of the Appalachian Trail is finished! Tyler and Michael made the trip with me. We also had a special guest on the trail. My dog Paige made her backpacking debut. She has been camping before and on day hikes, but this was her first overnight backpacking trip. For her sake, I planned a shorter hike. I got her a doggy backpack off of the REI website so she could carry her own food (I carried her water). The pack is the Ruffwear Approach pack and cost me about $64 after a 20% off coupon. I chose this pack because it had good reviews and it turns out it was a good pick. It adjusts well to Paige's size and seems to be very durable as well as comfortable. It also has several ventilation points on it so she wont get too hot.

We met up in Tampa on Saturday morning, loaded up, and headed out to Georgia. Sara's dad was kind enough to let us crash at his place on Saturday night. We arrived there in the evening, ate more than we should have and made sure we had a good dose of carbs before our hike (beer of course).

Having some beers on the lake

The next morning we got up early and made the 2 hour drive to Unicoi Gap where we got picked up by a trail shuttle. After a 30 minute shuttle, we were dropped off at the same place we ended our last hike, Neel's Gap. We unloaded our gear, and took a quick look around the store. As we were about to leave, we found someone who was kind enough to snap a picture of us before we headed out.

The group posing at the start of our hike

Because of the locations of the campsite along the trail, the first day wasn't much more than a warm up. We hiked about 3.7 to the campsite. This section of the trail was much different than our first leg. Before Neel's gap, most of the trail was shaded and covered with large trees and brush. This portion was covered in spots, but allowed us ample lookout spots to take in a good view. The Wolf Laurel Top campsite, where we stayed on the first night was one of those viewpoints. We had a little bit of trouble with horseflies during the day time, but as dusk approached, we realized we had picked a great site. The view was phenomenal and we actually got to see some fireworks off in the distance, which was kind of weird because I'm not used to looking down on a fireworks show.

Wolf Laurel Top Campsite

View from our campsite

Enjoying some shade on a sunny day

Monday we got up early, ate a quick breakfast and packed up our campsite. This was definitely our most strenuous day. We ended up hiking about 7.8 miles, and much of it was on a steep incline. We took a lot of breaks, but it still wore most of us out, especially Paige. We were making good progress, so we decided to take a long lunch break. We stopped, set up a tarp for some shade, and got a quick nap in. To help Paige out a little bit, I ended up carrying her backpack for the portion after lunch. We were able to make it to the shelter at a decent time and chose a good spot to set up our tent and tarps. We were glad we got there early, because there ended up close to 20 people camping around this shelter. The shelter was called Low Gap shelter and the campsites were positioned right next to a creek, which was a great source for water.

Filtering some spring water

After a good night sleep, we were off for the final day. We had planned on staying at the Blue Mountain shelter and hiking a few miles to our car the next morning. The terrain made for a much easier hike than the previous day and was much easier for Paige. We ended up hiking the 7.3 miles to the shelter by around lunch time. We made a game time decision to take a quick lunch at the shelter and hike the last few miles to the car. We ended up hiking 9.7 miles that day, but it felt much easier than the day before.

Eating lunch at the Blue Mountain Shelter

We got to the car and headed back to Florida. When planning our drive home, we quickly realized that we would be passing through Atlanta during 5 o'clock traffic. We decided to take the scenic route through some small towns east of Atlanta, which actually made for an enjoyable trip. We survived another hike! I am looking forward to squeezing in a few more hikes during this hiking season.

Trip info:

Neel's Gap to Unicoi Gap

Trip Dates =  May 3 to May 6, 2014

Trip Distance = 21.2 miles

Hikers = Michael, Tyler, and Myself (and Paige!)

Base Pack Weight = 16.5 lbs

Starting Pack Weight = 23.5 lbs

(with food and water)