Dr. Marc Levy at Balanced Health Chiropractic

Levy Boys section 3 - Neel Gap to Unicoi Gap 21.2 miles on the trail, 29.66 miles total

Last weekend Alex and I were able to hit the trail for our third section hike, thanks to some good friends willing to help out with his two sisters while mom was at work.

This trip was definitely hard to plan with temperatures threatening to drop. The forecast called for evening lows in the 30’s, and for once the meteorologists were right. We also had some company this trip, a father and son duo like us. So that put a new twist on planning. But since our last trip I decided to upgrade our packs to see if it would elevate our experience and it did. This was the first hike I didn’t have to adjust Alex’s bag 25 times nor did I even have to help carry it because he was in pain.

We arrived at Unicoi Gap at around 8:15 pm. This parking lot is just that a parking lot. It was far enough away from the road that I decided to park my truck at the end and set up a tent. This tent was big enough for all of and possible 4 or five more! We set up behind the truck to block the headlights from traffic as well as the howling winds we dealt with all night. It was cold and windy, but within minutes we had the tent set up and we started setting up our beds. We are finally getting use to sleeping in the wild, so much that I actually slept pretty good.

At around 6 am the next morning we started the break down. Which was fairly easy since we weren’t there that long. Everyone pitched in and we were ready as soon as the shuttle arrived. Over the last two trips I’ve learned that it is much easier to only use things the night before that I didn’t plan to hike with, so I have a jump bag of sorts, it has night time clothes, first day hiking clothes, shoes and a premade breakfast sandwich, as well as clothes to change into when we finish our hike. This helps to make sure we don’t open our packs and accidentally forget something, like a headlamp or a charger. I also added a thermos of hot water that I boiled before we left the house. Making coffee or tea is a must before we start to hike!

At 7:00 Am on the dot our shuttle driver showed up, we loaded our packs and off we went. He gave us the low down of everything on our upcoming path, from water supply, to the terrain and elevation we would encounter. We arrived at “Neel Gap” not to be mistaken with “Neels Gap” despite what you might read or see on the trail. Somewhere along the way someone made a mistake with the spelling, and well it just snowballed from there. But I digress… we took some pictures at mountain crossings, shouldered our packs and off we went. The goal was to make it to low gap shelter no later than 6:30 pm, this was about 11.5 miles NOBO. We made a few stops along the way, and got to see some great views.

We arrived earlier than expected at the shelter which was awesome, but everyone needed the rest. We replenished our water, set up camp, made a fire and cooked dinner. After the dinner clean up, we took our food and hung it on the cables, this was a first for me but it was fairly easy. Everyone was in bed by 8:30. Alex and I slept well, I’m glad I brought the camping blankets, it was cold! Unfortunately our friends were not as lucky and they did not sleep well because it was so cold.

Everyone started waking up around 6:30 and it was still very dark, and extremely cold. But with some initiative we broke down camp fairly fast. We all got our packs on, and as the sun starting shining we set out with our sights on my truck a mere 9.9 miles ahead. The struggle with the cold was real, one of our friends could not get his hands warm. But after some adjusting of the pack and some hand warmers, it started to get better. Again we had some decent views along the way, I was hyped up and in a great mood that I think transferred to others in our group, we were just hiking. Next thing you know we were only had like 2.5 miles to go. For some reason, maybe because it was downhill, our leisure trail hike turned into a full out trail run! Yup that’s right a trail run on some sketch terrain. But the boys had it in there sites and weren’t gonna slow down till we got to the truck. Through the trees we could see the truck and well we were now in high gear. This type of determination is what has helped me give Alex his hiker name. May I please introduce Fortitude! Over these first three section Alex (Fortitude) has shown more mental fortitude than most adults, no matter the distance or the discomfort, to even the shear pain he felt on the second trip, nor the cold during this trip. Fortitude was strong and over came all those obstacles and more. It doesn’t hurt he also likes Fortnite. So for those reasons he will now always be Fortitude!

At 1:26 we arrived at Unicoi Gap. With the idea of driving through Helen during Oktoberfest for a celebratory beer, then Ofcourse to the DQ for our traditional Blizzard! Thanks to Steve and CJ for joining us it was a great time! Thanks to Fortitude for taking this journey with me. Every step together!

Welcome our new massage therapist! Call today to schedule an appointment with Chelsea.

Chelsea was born in California. With her parents being in the military she had the opportunity to move around a lot. One thing she enjoys doing is traveling the world. She loves learning about new cultures. Chelsea has been a licensed massage therapist since 2012. We can’t wait for her to begin her journey with our family here at Balanced Health Chiropractic.

Can’t wait to see some new faces here in the office!!