In Which Lilith Loses Her Tent Poles, Gains a Trail Name, and Escapes Wildfire

Losing The Tent Poles 

Neel Gap 

After hiking 10 miles, my partner Ian and I arrived at our first milestone, Neel Gap. Before heading into Blairsville for the night, we spent some time exploring. I also spent some time losing my tent poles, which I didn’t realize was on the agenda until the next day. But surely the two of us could fix something up, yeah?

I sat under my tent in the rain, quickly realizing that, in fact, a string was not a good replacement for tent poles.

Asking for Help and Receiving A Reputation

Before Ian and I decided to try string, I walked around Neel Gap asking hikers and employees if they had seen the poles. No one had, so Ian and I decided we needed to order more. Until then we have been shelter hopping. There has been a shelter located every 7 to 9 miles on the Appalachian trail so far. Georgian shelters include a water source, a bear box/bear line, and a privy. They have a reputation for being nice shelters on the AT, as other states don’t always include a privy or bear box. However, this gives Ian and me limited options on how much we can hike. 8 miles or 16?

Since the two of us started our hike in early April, the shelters have never been full when we arrived. We are lucky to always have a space. Whenever the poles finally come in though, I’m never not taking advantage of a campsite with beautiful scenery. Ian and I have walked past so many that hurt my heart to not camp at them.

Is That Hiking Equipment or a Trail Name?

Days after asking around at Neel Gap about my missing poles, Ian and I would meet hikers on the trail who approached us with a similar greeting: “Hey, you’re that girl that lost the poles, have y’all found them?” This pattern became so frequent that Ian suggested at this point, that Tent Poles was essentially my trail name. I started trying it out, and soon enough it stuck and I got a trail name. A trail name is what hikers can decide to go by in their hiking lives. You can make your own, or gain one from the adventures you have on your journey.

Escaping Wildfire (And Georgia)

I woke up bright and early. It was an exciting day! Ian and I were going to cross the border from Georgia to North Carolina. A relaxing, easy, 7.7-mile day. . . we thought. Until we received an email from the Appalachian Conservatory- A wildfire ahead shut down the next 10 miles of the trail. We did end up crossing the border at the end of the day, just not as we planned.

The two of us plus five other hikers put our heads together and found an alternative route. It would be a 13-mile detour, but we would be hiking. So even though it wasn’t the trail itself, we were still walking northbound. This alternative route went through a small Georgian community that was all beautiful farmland and creeks. Then we turned into a trail that was a little overgrown but nice. It even had a swimming hole we all took turns dunking into. But then we ran into a mountain. The trail has absolutely no switchbacks and it felt as though it now angled 90°. This beast took everything out of us as we powered through. Stretch after stretch of trail we pushed. The blue trail markers on trees became less and less frequent, as even they decided they couldn’t go any higher.

Finally, the angle gave way to something more manageable, and our group summited and exited. We arrived at a campsite, took a group photo to remember our troubles, and even received some trail magic. Lots of people in the community like to set out plastic eggs filled with candy or hopeful messages during the Easter holiday. We ran into a lady who had set out to do this very thing and decided we didn’t have to hunt for our eggs. We all were very grateful as she offered us a basket full of candies to pick from. 

From here the day got less challenging. The shelter we all planned to stay at was only a mile away and filled with very gradual, manageable inclines. We talked at camp about our day and laughed at the stories it made. I have been thinking about parts of the trail that could be closed due to Hurricane Helen’s damage. After achieving this detour, I’m reassured that Ian and I will be able to figure out any more if need be.

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