Appalachian Trail   Apr 12-13, 2007
Day 1	Neels Gap to Justus Creek	Daily mileage: 13.6	Trip mileage:  13.6
Day 2	Justus Creek to Neels Gap	Daily mileage: 13.6	Trip mileage:  27.2
Day 1
Doodah-Man arrived in Atlanta via a "red eye" flight from Los Angeles at 5:45am. I met him at the airport and headed to IHOP to get us some breakfast. After stuffing ourselves, we swung by Sherpa's place so I could borrow a water reservoir for this hike. He really hit it off well with my two dogs, Suzi & Maggie, who were also joining us on this trip. It was a quick and pleasant drive to Springer Mountain. We parked and hiked up to the top of Springer Mountain, where Doodah-Man would begin his AT Adventure. There were several people at the top along with the Ridge Runner "Many Sleeps". Doodah-Man signed the register, gave his information to "Many Sleeps" and I snapped off a few pics of him at the Southern Terminus. Doodah-Man also brought a small container of sand from LA, and spread it around the path as he started down the trail. There were 4 other thru-hikers starting at the same time as us. We arrived back at my vehicle and Doodah-Man set about getting all his gear ready. I snapped off some more photos and then it was time for him to hit the trail. We had agreed he would hike to Justus Creek and find us a campsite. I am driving over to Neels Gap, where I'll hike south on the trail and meet him at Justus Creek. It was an uneventful hike to Justus Creek. Passed 10-12 hikers (many thru-hikers) along the way. I eventually arrived at camp and went about setting up my shelter and feeding the girls. The area was packed with people. I was very surprised at the number of people in the area. After dinner, the girls were ripping and snorting around camp, chasing and wrestling each other. There were two brothers camped across the creek from us, who were having a blast watching the girls play. Doodah-Man wasn't feeling well and turned in shortly after dinner. I built a small fire and sat by it until it burned out. I tucked the girls in and crawled into my sleeping bag.
Day 2
By the time I crawled out of bed, Doodah-Man had already cooked his breakfast, broke camp and was getting ready to hit the trail. I told him to go ahead and start and I'd catch up with him later in the day. I ate a Powerbar for breakfast and went about breaking camp. I started the day about an hour or so after Doodah-Man. I was cruising along the trail, when I came upon two guys taking a break on the ascent of a hill. They were the two guys across from our camp, two brothers thru-hiking, who thanked me for the entertainment last night. They really enjoyed watching the girls wrestle and running around our camp. I caught up with Doodah-Man a short time later and he was not doing so well. His stomach was upset, couldn't keep food down and his feet were absolutely killing him. I told him to put himself on "auto-pilot" and just do whatever it takes to get to Neels Gap. I figured a day or two hanging out at the hostel might help his feet feel better, so he could continue on his journey. I hiked ahead and returned to my car, then drove up to wait for him at Walasi-Yi Inn / Mountain Crossings. He arrived a couple hours after we parted on the trail and he was really struggling along. We checked in him at the hostel and took some last few photos. He was going to spend a day or two at the hostel, so I was cutting my trip short and driving back to Atlanta. The hostel was almost at capacity, so I was glad we got there in time to get him a bunk. We said our goodbyes, he loved on the dogs for a few minutes, and I headed back home.