Week Two 2023
Sunday, March 5 - I left the Low Gap shelter at about 6:30 a.m. and started north. The sun was about to rise on another beautiful day. I started out and up a gentlly rising roadbed that was cut through the mountains when the U.S. Government issued permits to cut the timber (much of it old growth) for the rapidly expanding railroad system on the east coast during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This roadbed is a favorite hike of mine. It is not too steep or technical, just a good walk through the woods for about three miles. At the end of the roadbed, the AT turns and begins to climb up Blue Mountain. If you have ever been from Helen to Hiawassee, you have passed Blue Mountain when you reach the highest point on GA 75 and start back down. Blue Mountain is on the left. Rocky Mountain is on the right. That is Unicoi Gap. When a hiker reaches the top of Blue Mountain on the AT, he is facing almost due east. A shelter is at the top. When the AT Trail Club decided to build the shelter, they also decided to orient it facing the east as well. This affords sleepy hikers a sunrise as they look over their toes toward a new day. Again, me being me, it is a beautiful shelter in a beautiful spot. I just wonder about east winds on a cold and rainy day.
Believe it or not, the walk from the top of Blue Mountain to Unicoi Gap at the bottom is 2.3 miles. It is not because the mountain is particularly tall at around 4,000 feet, it mainly is because it is steep. Next time you ride through Unicoi gap on your way to the Deer Lodge restaurant, look at it as you pass. Blue Mountain is almost straight up. There are very long switchbacks that get a hiker down to the road. When you are coming down, you can hear cars for an hour before you see them.
Once down to Unicoi Gap, hikers were again treated to trail magic provided by a 2021 through hiker named "Fun Facts". She had driven up from Newnan to provide snacks and some conversation to the 2023 class of hikers. She had chips, cookies, fruit, drinks, breakfast bars and zip lock bags. Zip lock bags are gold in the hiker world. Anything that needs to stay dry like food, clothes, medicine, and especially toilet paper is stored inside a zip lock bag. I had a banana, tangerines, cookies and Doritos. All were delicious!
Up and over Rocky Mountain was relatively uneventful, but I did speak to a lady who had just gotten out of the Coast Guard. She is walking the trail before she gets a job this fall. Her trail name is Pinto.
When you come down from Rocky Mountain, you are standing in Indian Grave Gap. I had a shuttle from a local hostel come and pick me up so I could go to Hiawassee for a food resupply. I am slowly trying to figure how to tailor my food buys to more accurately reflect what I need than what I want. If I don't eat it and just carry it around, it is just weight. I spent the night at the hostel and was delivered back to Indian Grave Gap the next morning. The mileage for today was 12.4.
Monday, 06 March - From Indian Grave Gap going north, the immediate hurdle is Tray Mountain. Tray Mountain is shaped like a three layer wedding cake. The layers are all different. The first layer is covered with rhododendron and the trail is not too steep. The second layer is steeper and is covered with very tall trees. The top layer is very steep and is very rocky. There are at least three US Geological Survey markers on the top. I believe they were put there as reference points to see if the top is shifting by measuring the distance between the markers. This is the highest mountain on the trail in Georgia. If you look just to the northwest, you can see the highest mountain in Georgia, Brasstown Bald.
Once over Tray Mountain, I went a few more miles and ended my day at Deep Gap shelter. Before I ended at the shelter, however, I had to get over Kelly Knob. Northbound hikers hear all about Blood Mountain and Tray Mountain as they begin heading north from Amicalola. It is my opinion that Kelly Knob is the hardest in Georgia. It is steep, high, and long. When i made it past Kelly Knob, i was finished for the day.
The total mileage for Monday was 10.4.
Tuesday, 07 March - I left Deep Gap shelter at a little at a little after seven a.m. I had seen Pinto at the shelter the night before, along with a volunteer for the Georgia Appalachian Trail Club. He had been assigned this section of the trail to make sure hikers had the information and expertise they needed to have a successful hike. We had all said goodbye and I started north. I wanted to see if I could get to the GA / NC state line today. Between me and my goal was a string of mountains, all around the 4,000 foot tall mark. I did not have to climb all 4,000 feet of each mountain, it was just a lot of up and down today.
While walking, I passed a sign for the Plum Orchard Gap shelter. I needed water and I like to look at shelters. They are all built differently and each one seems to have a personality. Plum Orchard did not disappoint! First of all it is of post and beam construction and is held together with wooden pegs. What makes this one special is it was FLOWN to the site by the United States Army! The U.S. Forest Service, The Georgia Appalachian Trail Club, and the Army 5th Ranger Training Batallion all worked to get this shelter in place. The shelter was built off site, and the Army flew it to where it now stands with a double rotor, CH 47 Chinook helicopter in 1992.
Watered up and on my way, I made it to a campsite at mile 76. I had stayed at this campsite about ten years ago when I was section hiking for a week. This was the first night on this trip that I had set up my tent. I was two miles short of the GA / NC border.
The total mileage for today was 10.4.
Wednesday, 08 March - Thursday morning was an uneventful morning morning of hiking. In the hiking community, these times are called PUDS. Puds are Pointless Ups and Downs. In my mind, puds connect the trail and that is all. It is almost like a committee somewhere decided that the trail was getting too flat so the committee moved the trail to add some altitude. I am sure that is not true, but it often seems that this is the case.
I finally made it over the GA / NC state line. It is literally a wooden sign that is nailed to a tree in the middle of the woods. I took the obligatory photo of the sign like a good hiker should. About 100 yards from the sign is the weird oak tree that everyone also photographs. I took that picture too. After passing the weird oak, I said hello to two college roommates who are walking home to Virginia for their college graduation ceremony in May. These two guys have to average ten miles per day to make their ceremony on time. It is a lofty goal and they are very determined.
The beautiful weather we had been having was beginning to deteriorate. The skies were beginning to turn gray and show signs of rain in the upcoming days. Like all good gossip networks, the trail was already saying there was a more than even chance of rain and high winds on Friday. One hiker, (everyone has seen this type of person. He is the one that has done it all, had it the hardest and come out on top more than anyone else. That is why he feels everyone needs to listen to him pontificate.) was saying that there was a very good chance of sub-freezing temperatures and 100 mile an hour winds. I listened, and was very tempted to remind him that 100 mph wind is often associated with tornadoes and nothing had been said about tornadoes in any weather report I had seen. I did not however, say anything to him because I wanted him to shut up. I just hiked faster and got away from him when he stopped to light his cigarette and wait for another person who was willing to listen. I made it to Standing Indian shelter at about three p.m. and set up for the night.
The total mileage for Wednesday was 9.9 miles.
Thursday, 09 March - I woke up this morning kind of worried about the weather. I am not worried about the tornado kind of wind that guy was predicting yesterday. I am worried about the rain. Between me and my goal of reaching Franklin, NC this weekend lies Albert Mountain. Albert Mountain is shaped like a very tall fire ant hill. It is very conically shaped, with the top third being made almost entirely of granite. The top looks like a crown. The trail goes up the side and then winds around and through those rocks. This mountain is hard on a sunny day. It is much harder when you add in weather. I had thought about it and worried about it and I just did not know what to do. I finally just said, "God, I am letting you have it. If you think it is all right to climb this mountain today I am going to try". I started from Standing Indian shelter and the skies were dark and threatening. I had about nine or ten miles to get through before I started up Albert. I had completed about seven miles or so by lunchtime. I stopped at the Carter Gap shelter to eat and rest. When I came in, there was a HUGE guy standing there getting his pack ready to go. He had slept in that morning and was late getting started. We introduced ourselves. He said his trail name was Colossus. That was a perfect trail name for him. He was not fat, he was a giant. Colossus was attempting a through hike as well and had begun at Amicalola on 12 February.
I finished my lunch and set off again for Albert Mountain. I had three miles to the base. In about 90 minutes I was staring at it. I started up, still worried about the rain. I don't mind rain, I just do not want to be on the side of a mountain if the lightning starts. Foot by foot I picked my way through those rocks. There were places that someone had built a kind of ladder to help hikers get through. It was tough and slow, but no rain yet. I kept climbing and the air was getting cooler by the minute. The breeze had picked up as well. It was going to rain. I just kept going. In about ten more minutes, I could finally see the top ahead. I was going to make it up and over! Incidentally, there is also an old fire tower on top of Albert Mountain. That fire tower is the 100 mile marker on the AT for northbound hikers. I had made it to the top and completed 100 miles and still no rain. "Thank you Lord" I said as I passed the fire tower and started down the other side. The other side is very easy compared to the northbound side. When they put up the fire tower, they took a bulldozer and graded a roadbed up to the top!
In another 3.5 miles, I came to the Long Branch shelter. There was no Marshal Dillon or Miss Kitty, but the two college roommates were there and they remembered my name when we said hello again. I was tired and almost immediately went to sleep.
The total mileage for Thursday was 16.3.
Friday 10, March - Today I need to get to Winding Stair Gap. Sherpa AL is going to meet me at the gap and take me to Ingles for another food resupply and then to the Hampton Inn. I am going to take two zero days to rest my foot and wash my clothes. My foot is doing better than two weeks ago when I started the through hike again, but it still aches at night after I have had a long day of hiking. I am trying not to over stress it in the first few weeks of the trail. Plus, every article of clothing I have stinks! Truthfully, so do I.
I have just over seven miles to cover to meet Sherpa Al. This morning I am headed downhill for a large portion of those seven miles.
As I near Rock Gap, I can smell paint. When I start looking around, I see a NEW SHELTER has been built! They must have just finished it last week. I don't stop to inspect it. I am on a mission to get to Winding Stair.
I made it to Winding Stair in just under three hours. Sherpa Al picked me up with the Grateful Dead playing on his radio. We talked about jam bands for the fifteen minute ride to the hotel. I thanked him and found myself a shower.
The total mileage for today was 7.2.
Saturday, 11 March
Today was a day of rest. I am taking a zero today and tomorrow to resupply and let my formerly injured foot rest and recuperate until Monday morning. I have washed myself and my clothes. I have eaten town food and bought my resupply food for next week.
The total for the week was 66.6.
The total trip is 109.4.
