Day 4
I slept fairy well waking at 7 am as I emerged from my tent  i  could make out more tents   through the fog.
I headed for the bathroom ( the big tree), after I retrieved  my food bag from the tree, I  put on my stove to make tea.
I packed up and dropped my tent,  drank my tea and ate a power bar.
I was ready, It was almost 8 am  ,I  hoisted my pack and set off  through the Fog.
There were 3 tents remaining as i headed out.
I hadn’t gone far when I needed to stop as there was something in my shoe.
Then I had to stop again as I was cooking in my fleece. Okay snail let’s try again.
I gingerly made my way  along  the trail, although the trail headed  down it was littered with rocks.
I was going to film more but I was  too tired . Maybe too much sun yesterday or too many miles?
The trail  eventually  changed to what I like, enabling me to push. I popped a jolly rancher into my mouth i love these boiled sweets as they are quite quenching. T
The trail this morning was as a bit of a roller coaster.but  i was making good progress  and  soon arrived at  Woody Gap and there were trash cans . I dumped my rubbish and a few other items  to lighten my load as Blood mountain is coming up and i am dreading the climb.

As I crossed through the parking lot i  could see  the team of 4 hikers who i had been leap frogging. I waved and continued on.
The trail started gentle but then quickly  began to get steep  and so my normal puffing and panting  began , as I climbed.
This place seemed really popular as many day hikers were coming the other way.
As the trail climbed higher, i had to keep pausing to sip water and to catch my breath. Finally I was at the summit and the trail began to decent. I passed John who was resting but  he would  soon catch  me. We hiked together for a while until we came to water.
I topped up and was on my way as the team of four appeared. The trail from here was nice, a lovely sandy surface I followed the 4 for a while until the trail began to climb once more
The next hour was up and down, fast and slow, ping went my watch informing me that I had been hiking for 3 hours so decided to stop for lunch. I was still carrying far too much food …Why! Well I was going to hike slower so would require more food.
I ate tortillas with tuna I don’t really flour tortilla , but its food. I rested for a while before setting  off  towards the dreaded Blood Mountain. There were a couple of large ups and downs then it was the climb. I set off up on my slow stomp chugging  slowly up.
Many hikers were coming down as it’s a big tourist spot, as they passed by  several said  “your almost there” and every single one was a bloody liar ha ha
At last the Blood mountain shelter appeared which confused me , had I done it !!
Yes indeed I had and it wasn’t as bad as people had said.  It was now  downhill to Neels gap.
But the first descent was down over large slabs of granite. I so glad it wasn’t raining as this would be suicide and it wasn’t  easy in the dry . Slow was safe, eventually it evened out and I began to stride but then it turned into  a quarry. It was more for goats than hikers it was bloody awful. And still  it was busy with tourists, other hikers and dogs.
I  joined up with three other hikers as we began to stride down the mountain  to Neels gap.
As we began to descend i could at last see it . I crossed the road  and stared at a tree that was  full of boots !! It appears to be a custom. I made my way to the shop fingers crossed that there may be room in the bunk house
Dam  No it was full, so i would be  camping outside.

Then big Mike (white-rice)  appeared and offered me his bunk.
Cheers Mike , I grabbed a cherry coke and made my way to the Bunk house.
Mikes  original spot was a top bunk, that will do nicely . I organised my stuff, dumped some gear that I didn’t need . then took a shower . Oh the hot  water felt so good.. Whilst in the shower I  washed my socks pants and top, then hung them outside to dry.
I did a small re-supply (pricey) and a berry soda that was really tasty.
I checked my maps and sorted through my  gear once more , as  i sat  outside  i chatted to  other hikers , before  ordering  a pizza.
It was so tasty but I couldn’t eat it all so gave it to other hikers.
I sat outside chatting for a while before the bugs forced me inside .

Start 18.9
Finish 31.1
Miles 12.2