April 6, 2006: From Justice Creek to Walasayi inn

Day 2,

Got up bright and early...and a bit sore... My internal alarm is waking me up at about 0530. Not good when the sun doesnt even rise till 0645... Anyway... the day was simply beautiful...chilly in the morning with a nice breeze, but easily into the 70's with plenty of sun throughtout the day. I was packed by 0700 and on the trail shortly thereafter. After a first day of 13.6 miles in 7 hours, today was to be 16.9 miles. A good pace of about 2mph and got into the Walasayi Inn, US 19 & 129 @ Neals Gap Georgia at about 1730. The day had plenty of elevation gains and losses which humbled me some. I had miscalculated the tough Georgia hills. I will have to rethink my 250 miles every 2 weeks at least down here... (1) Thats me crossing Woody Gap, about 6 miles into my second day hiking, (2) I met Joe airing out his tired feet and started walking with him today, thats a pic of him on one of the many trail views. (3) We finally made it to Walasayi Inn just before they closed. Joe and I stayed in their hostel (bunkhouse) with a motley crew of about 10 hikers. This is the place where about 50% of all prospective through hikers call it quits, and I met a few here today... We bought some frozen burritos, fruit, and other necessities before the store closed at 1800 and retired to the bunkhouse to rest our weary bones...