Day 5 May 20 Neel Gap to Whitley Gap Shelter

From Blairsville, I hiked solo in the afternoon, reaching Whitley Gap Shelter before dark. What looked like a short 7-mile benign trail with a 500' gain on the map was fool's gold.
After a healthy breakfast at Hole in the Wall and buying overpriced Advil in town, Brett—a driver I'd coincidentally met hiking the day before—dropped me at Neel Gap. I hit the trail by 1 PM.

I hiked through green tunnels, took a break at Levelland Mountain, and caught another view at Wolf Laurel Top. The trail was empty, though I knew Carol was a few hours ahead of me. By mile 5, I was down to my last liter of water. Cowrock Mountain tested my ascent, and the descent punished my ankles.

At mile 6.5, where the trail intersects GA348 near Wildcat Mountain, I found a 2-gallon jug of spring water left by a trail angel in the high grass. I filled my canisters and started the brutal 700' climb up Wildcat. Along the switchbacks, I met Tran, a Mandarin speaker with limited English. He kindly showed me a phone picture of a gushing spring further up.

I reached the shelter cutoff by 6:30 PM. The final 1.2 miles felt like the longest stretch ever. Under rolling, thundering clouds, I rolled into the full shelter an hour later. Luckily, Wildflower had saved me a spot for my roll. A good day!Read more