Here I lay in my tent. Not a creature was stiring except for the twenty or so other people camped here. Lance Creek Campsite was a destination to many but some didn’t make it. Woody Gap falls about 3 mile short of Lance. That means I hiked about 7 miles today.
White Wizard left about 30 minutes before I did and I was planning on catching up with him so we could hike together. Unfortunately, I never caught up with him. He’s not here at Woody Gap so I assume he made it to Lance. I’ll probably never see him again. But that’s the nature of thru hiking the A.T. Constantly meeting new hikers, sometimes hiking with them, sometimes forming groups but most of the hikers you meet you’ll never see again.
I was in a good position to catch up, but then something happened. Trail Magic!!! At Gooch Gap, there were several folks who were cooking food for thru hikers. I had a hot dog which was quite possibly the best I’ve ever had. They also offered to take hiker’s trash of their hands. I lost about 1.5 pounds due to this! They also topped off our water supply. Woo hoo!
While stopped, I saw Mike Kelly again! I hadn’t seen him since Day 1 at Stover Creek Shelter. We chatted a bit and he showed me some of the gear he was pitching to save weight.
I was just resuming my hike when I passed another group giving trail magic. They asked me to come over and I politely declined… until they said, “Are you sure? We have pizza!”
PIZZA?!?! Only a fool would’ve declined the offer of pizza considering what I’ve been eating for 4 days. Damn right I stopped! After enjoying a slice, these folks I formed me they are collecting hikers info for use in an A.T. Hiker Yearbook. They showed a copy of their 2014 Yearbook. It seemed pretty cool, so I registered!
I also have a tentative trail name. Yesterday, White Wizard suggested the name “Morning Joe” due to my love of coffee in the mornings, on trail. It is clever, but I’m not sure if I like it. Time will tell.
So after the hot dog and pizza stops I had abandoned all hope of catching White Wizard. But I remained hopeful of making Lance Creek Campsite. That is, until I didn’t reach Woody Gap until 530pm. At that time I just decided to stay here.
That means tomorrow needs to be a 10.5 mile day so I reach Neels Gap on schedule. I’ve set my alarm for 600am and looking to leave before 9am.
Wish me luck – I’m gonna need it.
Wandering on…
Kelly
I think morning Joe is a great trail name for you cuz!! 🙂 Sweet dreams and good luck!
Thanks Jenn!!!
Sounds like another great day! Hot dogs and pizza!! Right on the trail! Guess that Pizza Hut wasn’t too far out of reach. I just finished reading about Blood Mountain on several different sites. Sounds like a really challenging hike but the pay off is some of the most stunning vistas. Will be thinking about you tomorrow as you take on this biggest test of endurance yet! Can’t wait to read all about it. Good luck. Love you.
Thanks mom. Love you bunches!
All you needed was a beer and life would have been complete. Keep the stories coming because they really do give us a feeling of what it is like for you on the trail. Sounds like so far all is well.
True that brother… I’ll be grabbing a tall one tonight for sure… assuming I make town as scheduled! 🙂
morning joe does sound pretty good. Good luck to ya brother and you can do itttttttt!!!!!!!! love you
Happy St. Pat’s! I love reading your posts and I’ve been tracking you, too. It sounds like you have met some really wonderful people so far. I didn’t realize how busy the trail is, wow! I’m not sure about morning joe either….LOL. I was hoping for something more exotic…but I think the trail finds your name, rather than you finding it…so maybe morning joe will stick. Or Mojo for short. LOL. Love you!
Sounds like you’re doing good so far man! I bet you never would have thought you would get to eat some pizza on the trail. Hope it was as good as Granby St!
Thanks man! Not as good as Granby Street… What am I saying??? It was pizza ON THE TRAIL… Therefore it was the BEST PIZZA EVER!!! 🙂
I totally like Morning Joe! I think it fits! I look forward to all these posts! Interested to know how White Wizard received his!
Hey Chris! White Wizard got his name because his hiking attire is literally all white. I was glad he didn’t accept “Gandolf” was a trail name. The A.T. folks consider ANY Lord of the Rings character name to be WAY OVERUSED as trail names. Last year, there were like 200 Frodos, for example. My friend Heather suggested “mojo” for me which I might adopt. I like it because it has double meaning: Short for Morning Joe, and it describes me – I generally consider myself to put out “good mojo.”
As mentioned in our phone call tonight, I recommend Mojo Rising. 🙂
Man, this sounds so great!
I am in favor of mojo. It does suit you. What great people to just go out and offer food on the trail. It shows how kind people are. Of course you are one of those kind folks. Keep wandering…….