Spirits Low, Feeling Sick

I made it the 20.1 miles yesterday, and came into Unicoi Gap around 7:30. At 8:30 I finally got a ride into Helen... I thought I was going to Hiawassee, so I checked into the only accomadation available -- a Best Western, which was pricer than I'd have liked.

Last night I was too tired to walk into town for food, so I tried calling for Pizza. Even Domino's wouldn't deliver to Helen, nor would the other three places I called. I almost cried when I couldn't get dinner, so I just went to bed. This morning I woke up at about 4, and couldn't fall asleep again. I feel sick -- fever, sore throught, cotton mouth, massive pounding headache, nasuea; You name the symptom, I've got it. I think I need another zero day. I'll try to "Yogi" an extra night out of the receptionist. If not, I'll try calling the various hostels in Hiawassee and see if I can't hitch a ride there. For the first time I'm really thinking about just going home. This really is a very possible feat to accomplish, but not alone this time of year. I nearly killed myself hiking into town last night because I didn't want to spend the night in the woods alone. I know I'll have to at some point if I keep going, but I when it's 20 degree's and I'm exhausted and sick, and there's no hope of seeing ANYBODY at a shelter for the next few weeks, it become a much less appealing scenario. I'm so hungry, but too sick to eat. I had a bit of cheese last night, but felt sick after a few bites. There's an all you can eat continental breakfast here in the lobby. I managed to get some yogurt and OJ down but that's about all I can handle.

The section of trail I hiked yesterday was very pretty, walking along ridgelines with views of Blue Mountain all day, which I finally climbed at about 6:30. At that point I would have stayed at the Blue Mountain Shelter, but the water source was .5 miles away (1 m round trip), and town was only 1.4 miles. I also felt too exhausted to properly set myself up for the night, which would have led to me waking up hypothermic and dehydrated again, which is not a desirable situation. On the mountain all I wanted was a Friendly's Hamburger, but by the time I got to the road and sat there for an hour waiting for a ride, I just wanted a warm bed.

Mountain Crossings/Wilasi-Yi Center at Neel's Gap was a great place run by great folks, but it is out in the middle of nowhere so they didn't offer much in the way of the comfort I was craving (a real bed and some real food).

I also think I've lost my map for Georgia and North Carolina, along with my guidebook. I'm going to explore all of my options and hopefully figure out what I'm doing by 11:00 (check out time).

G'day,

Mr. Not So Happy.