Day 2-3/12-Hawk Mountain Shelter to Woody Gap-13.1 miles

The rain had slacked off by the time I got up at 8 but it was still coming down. A quick breakfast and I was out by 830. Hiked mostly by myself until lunch. I was well ahead of schedule for a hostel shuttle that was picking up at Woody Gap at 5 PM, so I stopped at Gooch Mountain Shelter to get out of the rain and cook.

Some fresh salmon and Ramen noodles really warmed me up. It was there that I met a few guys taking a zero day (no mileage along the trail) and another getting a late start. His name was Bryan, and the guys were giving him a hard time for having one of the largest and heaviest packs around. Lightweight packing is key to success on the trail, but some hikers can be less than courteous about the subject. Bryan slowly packed up, while David, a hiker that started from the same spot as me that morning arrives. I spoke of my plans to catch the shuttle to the hostel, and both Bryan and David thought it sounded like a good idea. Bryan headed out first, with David and I out about 15 minutes later.

David and I happen to hike at a similar pace, so we struck up a conversation. He has been an outdoorsman all his life, living in Yellowstone when he was younger so he could kayak regularly. He had taken time away from a construction company he owns near Atlanta to thru hike. We passed Bryan soon. We arrived at Woody Gap with an hour and a half to spare.

There we met a nice older gentleman who is section hiking the trail and hid under a small kiosk at the trailhead to avoid the rain. We called the shelter and they were full, no doubt due to the popularity of the start date that weekend for many thru hikers. They kindly offered to take us into Dahlonega for a stay at the famous Super 8. While we waited for 5 to roll around we wondered if Bryan was ever going to make it off the trail. Three minutes before 5 he emerged from the mist on the other side of the road. He said he had stopped looking at the time because it was playing games with his mind, so he had a huge smile on his face when he heard he had best the shuttle. He agreed to split he room with us three ways, making it about the cost of the hostel. Right on cue our driver pulled up.

The Super 8 had "FREE INTERNET," consisting of a desktop in the lobby that I believe was running DOS. We laid out all of our wet items on every available space in the room. I took the laundry for the three of us and walked a quarter mile down the hill to the laundromat. It was there that I met Brad(?) who owned the place. Reluctant to let me enter as I was his last customer, I had to entice him with the promise of how quickly all our synthetic clothes would dry. He caved, and I got to keep him company wearing nothing but boxers and a rain jacket (a hikers wardrobe is limited and everything else was in the washing machine). He seemed not to mind, but he did ask if I was hiking the trail. Not sure how many other customers he gets in his establishment with a similar wardrobe that wasn’t hiking. I proceeded to have a 15 minute long conversation about the exorbitant cost of water in Dahlonega (he owns the car wash next door too). He was kind enough to drive me back up to the motel, where Bryan and David had kindly purchased pizza and beer. It didn't last long. Bryan sorted out things from his pack to send back home, such as a keyboard for his phone and a full size umbrella. I might speak more about Bryan later, as he is a very interesting fellow.