Week One 2023
Monday, 27 February - I awoke at 6:00 this morning. I was not nervous like last year, I was just ready to go. I did the last minute chores of cutting off the water and turning off the water heater and bagging the last of the trash. David Scott once again volunteered to take me to Amicalola Falls State Park. He and his little dog Remy showed up at eight sharp. We loaded everything and set off for the Falls. The day had dawned overcast but warm. It was a nice day to start the second try at a through hike for me.
When we arrived at The Falls, almost immediately we saw what appeared to be another hiker sitting under the pavillion. When we asked him if he was going to try a through hike, he said "I just finished one." As it turned out, he had finished a southbound WINTER hike from Maine late Sunday and was trying to find a way to the train station in Gainesville, GA. As he was talking on his phone, Julie, Laura, Claire and Rory pulled up as well. David's little Dog ran out to greet them while I went in to register to get my through hiker tag and listen to the orientation talk by the Georgia Appalachian Trail Club. When that was finished, we took the requisite pictures of the hiker under the stone architecture and then drove to the top of the falls. Once there, I donned my pack and grabbed my hiking poles and set off. It was 09:35. My plan was to summit Springer Mountain and then walk down the other side to the Stover Creek Shelter. By the way, it is uphill for 7.5 miles to Springer Mountain and the official start of the AT. Also, my family entourage picked the southbound through hiker and carried him to the train station in Gainesville.
About eleven thirty it began to rain off and on and the fog rolled in. It was like a "B" movie. You could only see about 20 or so feet in front of you and the wind was blowing the fog around. After about 30 minutes the rain subsided and the wind was warmer and drier. I was moving along, but at a pretty slow pace. I wanted to let my foot, and the rest of me as well, start to once again get accustomed to hiking longer distances. My trail legs will come back, it will just take several days.
At 2:30 pm I made it to the top of Springer with the rain pouring and the wind howling. I decided that a shorter day was a better plan and walked into the shelter on Springer Mountain. It is a few miles short of my original goal, but I am warm and dry now. I have eaten and am sitting in the loft of the shelter under my quilt. There are three other people here at the moment. They are doing the same as me, keeping warm and resting.
Tuesday, 28 February
Tuesday broke bright and sunny. I woke just as the light was beginning to show through the cracks in the shelter wall. One more thing about the shelter on Springer Mountain. This shelter is of timberframe construction. Remember that I am literally sitting on the top of a mountain in a grove of trees. The trail to the summit is not wide enough for a tractor or a vehicle of any size. HOW DID THEY GET THE GIANT TIMBERS UP HERE? The main beam is roughly 18 inches by 12 inches by 12 feet. It must weigh at least six to eight hundred pounds. Someone will probably say the timbers were sawn on sight. OK, how did they get the sawmill up here. These timbers were sawn on a circle mill. These are the things I ponder when I am walking along.
I left the shelter at 07:45 and headed north. From the summit of Springer it is downhill for 3.5 miles. The Georgia Appalachian Trail Club calls this the "recovery hike" to make up for the climb out from Amicalola. I liked it very much. The descent ends at Three Forks. Three Forks is the jumping off point for those individuals wishing to see Long Creek Falls. If you are a fan of waterfalls, this is one for your list.
After passing Long Creek Falls, I began a gentle ascent that took me another three point five miles to Hawk Mountain shelter. I plan to stay here tonight. I am purposely doing short hikes for the first few days. I am doing all I know to do so I do not hurt my foot again. It aches a little, but I can still feel my toes and it is not swollen. Tomorrow I am going to hike nine miles to Gooch Mountain shelter. That should put me at Mountain Crossings on Friday. In between it is supposed to rain a lot.
Sometime this afternoon I met a Ranger running southbound. He was in full gear. As I stepped out if the trail to let him pass, I noticed he was carrying a sledge hammer that looked like it weighed ebout eight pounds. As he passed, I said "how are you?" He glanced at me, and without stopping said "tired." I said "I can dig it." Afterwards I was thinking that a BAR fifty caliber weighs about the same as that sledgehammer. I wonder if that was its purpose. Either way, that young man was doing his absolute best to complete his mission. These guys make me proud to be an American. Shortly after meeting the Ranger, I found two more 5.56 blanks. I now have twelve.
I have been hiking this afternoon with a young lady from Belgium. She started on Monday just like me. She told me her name but I did not understand what she said. I will have to ask her later and act like I forgot...Her name is Felene. She is named after Bambi's girlfriend in the French version of the Disney classic.
Wednesday, 1 March - I left the Hawk Mountain shelter this morning at about 08:15. The plan is to make it to Gooch Mountain shelter. I have decided I am going to go from shelter to shelter for all of Georgia to let my previously injured foot get used to the trail again.
I have been trying to consume more calories on this trip and so far it has helped me to keep from bonking. Bonking is when your body basically runs out of fuel. I don't eat a lot at home, so this is a challenge for me. I am trying to consume about 3,000 calories per day. So far I am liking the results. The additional calories allow me to walk longer and recover quicker. Today this new plan helped me out. In the middle of this section of trail is Sassafrass Mountain. I fully believe that this mountain is what makes new hikers reconsider their life decisions. It is a steep and long section of trail on the side of a mountain that faces into the sun. Even on the first day of March it was hot.
Finally, I passed two more southbound through hikers almost at the end of their journey. Both had started in late July and are just now finishing. As hard as a northbound hike is for me in the spring, I cannot imagine what it takes to walk 2,200 miles in winter. Those people are a special breed of tough.
Thursday, March 2 - I left the Gooch Mountain shelter at 07:05 this morning in the rain with the intention of going to Woods Hole shelter by the end of the day so I could be ready for Blood Mountain on Friday. Blood Mountain is a steep, two mile trek to the top. I want to go up on fresh legs.
It is about four and a half miles from Gooch Mountain shelter to Woody Gap where it crosses highway 60. As I came out of the woods at Woody Gap a man in a pick up pulled up and offered me a still warm sausage McMuffin and a diet Coke. I looked at him and he was the same guy that gave me an orange and a banana the day before. I am a fan of trail angels. They provide basic comforts and food for hikers for no other reason than just to help out.
I climbed from Woody Gap up 1,000 feet of elevation to Preaching Rock. It is a flat rock that looks down the gap and is shaped like a pulpit. It is very cool. From there I kept going north through the rain over a rolling terrain that provided great views of the storm clouds left from last night. All along the trail in this section, wild hogs have torn up the ground rooting it up. A lady from the Appalachian Trail Conservancy was walking down this section of trail as well and told me that since these hogs are considered an invasive species, there is no season on them and they can legally be shot along the AT. It is just me, but I don't think it is probably a good idea to be shooting a gun so near the Ranger camp. A fellow might get more than he asked for.
At about 2:30 p.m. I rolled into the shelter cold and wet, but glad I had made 12 miles. This is the highest mileage I have posted since last March when I hurt my foot.
Friday 3 March - I left Woods Hole shelter at 07:05 and headed up the back side of Blood Mountain. It was raining pretty steadily and the fog was very thick. I could only see about 30 or so feet in any direction. Curiously, the temperature was in the high fifties so it wasn't cold. There were probably fifteen or so people at the shelter because the rain had driven them there the night before. We had six people and a dog inside the shelter where it was relatively dry. Everyone else was outside in a tent or covered hammock where it was wet. Shelter space is first come, first served just like old time barber shops. There is no arguing. If you make it, you make it. If you don't, you are outside. The guy sleeping next to me was named Tim. When I left this morning, Tim was packing up and eating. After about twenty minutes of climbing Blood Mountain, I began to get hot, so I sat down on a rock beside the trail to zip the legs off my pants to convert them to shorts. As I was doing this, I saw Tim on the trail about thirty feet below me through the fog and rain. Between Tim and I was a place on the trail that was a little confusing. Where Tim was standing, the trail turned right and came up the hill to where I was sitting. There was also a spur trail that went straight ahead of Tim. Tim stopped, clearly trying to decide which way to go. Tim first turned right, but then backed up and started toward the spur trail. I yelled "NO, COME THIS WAY!" At that moment, Tim must have thought he had heard the voice of God. He did not turn around. He just looked straight up to the sky! I laughed and asked him whom he thought was calling him. We both laughed and walked on over the mountain. I wonder if God laughs sometimes when he calls us away from what is clearly a mistake and we look around with a confused look on our faces too.
I made it over the mountain and into Neels Gap before the really foul weather set in this afternoon. Tomorrow promises to be a dry and sunny day and I will once again head north toward North Carolina. I should get there Monday.
Saturday, 4 March - I was out of the Blood Mountain Cabin and onto the trail about 07:15, and it was a beautiful morning to be headed north. The rain and fog were gone, but the wind persisted. The trail goes under a breezeway and out the back of the Mountain Crossings store. From here, a hiker is on his way to Hogpen Gap. Just up the hill a couple of the early hikers like me saw a tarp rolled up like a person lying in the leaves. We all looked at each other and I said I would look and see if there was anyone wrapped in there. I went over, gave it a poke with my trekking pole and there was no one there. It really did look like a person who was wrapped up and dead in a tarp.
After that excitement, it was up and down to Tesnatee Gap. If you have never heard of this place, it is on the south side of Hogpen Gap. It is a steep grade that is nine tenths of a mile up the side of the mountain. There is also a memorial for a plane crash that happened in the Gap about fifty years ago. Once up that side, I crossed the road at Hogpen, there was a huge layout of trail magic! A local group of friends who have a Bible study together had set up a huge tent that included everything from chicken tortilla soup to homemade pound cake! It was perfect timing and perfect food. As I was leaving, a lady asked if she could pray for me. I said yes, but only if I could pray for her as well. She said yes and we prayed for each other. It was a very nice way to end a very nice lunch.
Two hours later I rolled into Low Gap shelter for the evening. Tomorrow I plan to walk 12 miles and meet a driver that will take me to a hostel in Hiawassee.
This week's mileage total is 50 miles including the approach trail.
