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 ...