Blood Mountain....Blood Mountain stands as a high point in my life. For me, it was a personal physical challenge met, a connection to the person I aspire to be, a great bonding time with my girls and friends, and just a wonderfully beautiful place to be. It was the Appalachian Trail for God's sake!!!! I finally got there! Yeah man. Big stuff for me. We started our hike at 11:30 on a sunny and cold Wednesday morning. We had 13 of us; David (our fearless leader, planner, and overall brave guide), Cindy, Me, Jordan, Makenna, Cynthia and her kiddos Sadie, and Eliot, Kristine and her kiddos Elizabeth and Tucker, along with Rick and Kathy's boys Cheynne and Nick (though not Rick and Kathy). We drove the cars to Neels Gap, left 2, and took 2 to Vogel State Park for the start of our hke. We hiked a mile up to start the A.T. portion of our hike from Jarrards Gap up and over Blood Mountain with a final destination of Neels Gap.
Along the way were beautiful views, challenging breathtaking climbing, and all the nature you could take. Lots of granite rocks, colorful Fall leaves, cool faerie houses (imagination imagination) mosses, fungi, ferns, and all manner and sorts of inspiration everywhere. I wish I could store the memory of all this somewhere, a sort of vault to go to later when I don't have it right in from of me and am trying to recall what expands my heart and inspires my creativity, a wellspring to draw from.
Once we hit the top of Blood Mountain there is a great stone shelter to explore and a large granite boulder to climb. On top of the boulder on top of the mountain and scenic views, breathtaking, lovely, awe-inspiring were there for the taking. We dropped our packs, climbed the boulder, and made lunch. David brought along his pocket rocket for quick hot meal making, I believe they had Cashew Chicken Curry, dehydrated, and the girls and I shared Mashed Potatoes. I'll remember to bring the salt for next time! They sure felt good in my stomach, but getting them past my taste buds was challenging. All trash had to be packed out, so Jordan carried the remaining uneaten taters in her pocket!
The kids had so much fun on the mountain top, even having the energy to climb all over the boulders and to play tag. Do you think a couple of hours hiking up a mountain would tire out a bunch of kids? Well, if you do, you'd be wrong! A bunch of mountain goats, they all were.
When we started our descent it was a lot harder going than I anticipated. Lots and lots of rocks and a steep descent made for a challenging trip down. At one point we, Jordan Cindy David and I, got off the trail (unbeknownest to us) and we were practically climbing down right off the mountain. Jordan got to an edge at one point and refused to go further. Luckily for us David had done this hike before and really started asserting that he didn't remember this from before. He was willing to backtrack, straight up practically, and found the white blaze again. We moaned about retracing our steps, but were all very happy to be back on the trail! We took our time for the descent, poking and picking our way thru rock and trail, leaf and roots. We arrived at Neels Gap at 6pm, coming off that mountain to the cheers of our friends and kids, seeing the campstore, rocky and full of Fall pumpkins. We had made it!
A few things made the trip a bit easier, the first being hiking/walking sticks. These are retractable poles that make for an easier time overall on your knees. While going up hill, you can plant them right next to your foot for pushing action, and going down hill they go first for a great tool for leaning on. What a difference to your knees! The second thing that really helped was David being really clear that this hike was about the journey. This really helped set the tone of the hike for me. Even during the most difficult parts of this hike I was distinctly aware of where I was and that made such a difference to me. No matter how long it took, no matter how difficult. what mattered was being there. Thanks David for that. 
Jordan and me...Appalachian Trail-Blood Mtn.
Well, that's my version of our hike up Blood Mountain. I'm so incredibly thankful for the opportunity to do it, and so glad I didn't wimp out and not go because of any fears. Jordan said it best when she was talking to me thru the curtain while I was in the shower at our campground later that night...."Mom, I'm on such an incredible natural high, I just can't believe what we did today." I agree, Jordan, I agree, me either.
