The Appalachian Trail - Georgia

I am in Bryson City, NC right now sitting in the library. This has been the first chance to access the internet since we started September 3. The little clock is ticking away and tells me I only have 26 minutes left to use the internet, although I don't think anyone else is waiting.

It's been an exciting two weeks, and I think the only way to do it justice is to go through my journal and pull out what I've written. I'll try to edit out the less interesting things as I go, but time is of the essence. Unfortunately, I don't have pictures yet to go along with my stories. I decided to send home my camera cable to lighten my load today. Tina and I managed to lose 8 lbs of stuff! And gain about the same, but that comes later. I'm going to restrict myself to our 70 miles in Georgia today. We've actually finished over 130 so far!

September 2, 2006 (The bus ride to Atlanta)

...Our luck ended in Savannah where dozens of people were scrambling for seats. Greyhound had oversold tickets, and one unlucky Aussie was left sitting in the aisle. Our driver, Angela, was a sassy, balck woman who announced to the passengers, "There ain't no VIPs up here in this bad boy" and instructed passengers to move their bags to make room for people.

In Dublin, the situation worsened. About 15 people were waiting there with tickets. Angela offered to let people sit in the aisles, and it quickly began to look like the African experience. The funny thing was that several people refused to board if they couldn't have a seat, choosing instead to be stranded in Dublin. That would NEVER happen in Africa!...

September 3, 2006 (Springer Mountain, Georgia)

Quotes: "It's just a popcorn shower. It just cleans the air out." Mark

Here we are. We completed our first 0.2 miles of the AT today from Springer Mountain to Springer Mountain Shelter. Woohoo!

We set out from Atlanta with Mark around 9:45 this morning. Amicalola Falls State Park was bustling with people, and we had trouble finding parking. We drove to the top of the falls and took the 425 step West Ridge trail down to a beautiful view. I was already feeling a hotspot on my foot after that! Afgter soaking in the view with 40 other visitors, we climbed back up and had a picnic in the amphitheater.

We headed back down and weighed our packs at the visitor's center. Mine was 45 lbs. Tina's was 49.

Most thru-hikers start at the visitor's center, doing an 8 mile steep approach trail to reach the AT. We had no desire to try that. Instead, Mark took us to Forest Road 42, which intersects with the AT 0.9 miles north of the southern terminus. It meant going another 45 minutes out of his way, but he was a good sport.

It took Tina only a few minutes to come up with her trailname - Cornfed. It seems appropriate since she hails from Iowa!

September 4, 2006 (->Hawk Mountain Shelter 7.4 miles)

It's lunchtime here at Long Creek Falls about 4.7 miles north of where we started today. After some rain last night, the weather has been absolutely perfect today - overcast and cool.

We ended up having several people at our shelter last night - most in tents. Someone was obviously new to the trail and had overpacked. This morning we found a baseball hat and a new nonstick pot that still had food in it. Very poor trail etiquette given the bear problem here.

The shelters in Georgia have bear cable pully systems for hanging our food. Unfortunately, they don't always protect against mice, and one enjoyed my Gatorade last night.

We've been taking it slow today, trying to condition ourselves for the long miles ahead. We've seen dozens of types of mushrooms on the trail, and I wish we could identify them and add them to our diets.

...It's evening now. We arrived at the shelter around 3:00, stretched, got water, and just relaxed.

We have some concerns about the couple who dragged themselves in a few hours after us. They tented last night at the same shelter but obviously had a bad day. They seem dangerously inexperienced, and are carrying probably 75 lbs each. When they first got here, they didn't even want to walk the 5 minutes out of the way to get water and almost kept going...

September 5, 2006 (->Gooch Mountain Shelter 7.3 miles)

There was a lot more up and down today - PUDs, as they're called - pointless ups and downs. We didn't have a single scenic view the entire day.

The weather looked threatening this morning. It started raining heavily as we were packing up, but fortunately for us it really was a "popcorn shower", just like Mark said. We started off in rain pants, but we were sweating so badly 30 minutes later that we took them off.

About a mile south of the shelter, we had a fright. We saw a Ranger up ahead of us. (The training school is nearby.) But then he disappeared. We turned a corner, and there were 20 guys coming out of the bushes, some of them with guns pointed at us. They were on an exercise. Next we heard, "Incoming!" and explosions and the smell of gunpowder ensued. We slowed our pace and let them get well ahead of us.

Jason moved on to a campsite a mile ahead, but the Jettisons arrived before 5 this time. That's what we've named them: George and Jane Jettison, leaving a trail of expensive equipment in their wake. I was impressed that they made it in decent time, given that they left camp after 10 and are carrying an army battalion's worth of gear. They have been tossing things left and right, and I think that's why they stayed in camp so late - to leave stuff without our watching eyes. Apparently George brought TWO pairs of hiking boots and left one at the first shelter. The have a tent, a hammock with a roof, 7 days of food, running shoes, huge hinking bungee cords, full sized scrapbookig scissors, a bear jar, everything in rubbermaid containers, camp pillows - you name it! It has given us much mirth.

This morning, we came across enough spaghetti to feed 6 poeple strewn around a tree next to the Trail. We decided it was left by some Ranger trainer to be a hard-ass. "You only walked 18 miles today, you slugs! If you're so hungry, then eat this!" as he dumps their dinner on the ground.

September 6, 2006 (->Wood's Hole Hostel 12 miles)

I'm officially wrecked. It was a hellish day of hiking. The 12 miles of frequent ups and downs was just too much for both of us. All told we made about 2700' in climbs and 2000' in descents, and there didn't seem much purpose to it. There were a couple of scenic views, one from the road at Woody Gap.

We really had to push hard to make the miles and arrive at a decent hour. We left at 8:15 and made Woody Gap 5 miles away by 11. We sat there for an hour tending to our blisters, eating, and stretching.

The day dragged on after that. We just went up and down, up and down, like zombies with no wills of our own.

We stopped at a spring four miles from the shelter and filled our Nalgenes. It's a good thing, since the spring here is dry. We only have one liter each tonight after cooking.

At one point, we just laid our bags in the trail and sat down. We couldn't take another minute of walking.

We are both so disoriented and exhausted that we find it hard to perform simple tasks. After trudging 1/2 mile on a side trail to the shelter, I took the wrong path to the privy and ended up scaling the side of a hill to a campsite. I'm having serious misgivings about my ambitious schedule. Tina's been great though. We help each other out a lot, and we try to keep our spirits high.

Notes on the Jettison's: As much amusement as they've given us, they also ticked us off. They left items in every shelter. Last night, when we went to hang our food, George said, "What is that? Is that your trash? What are you doing with it?" Then Tina said she saw their trash in the privy this morning. Jane even asked me what we do with our dirty clothes. Um, wash them? She said she didn't even want to carry them out.

George admitted to us this morning that when he initially weighted the bags, they were 190 lbs. He thinks they were down to 75 each when they started hiking.

Also, we ran into a retired hiker named Mickey One-Sock - a very nice old man with a Bill Clinton charm. We told him we'd done Peace Corps, and he said in his southern drawl: "Well, thank ya so much for doin that." That's about the nicest thing I've ever heard.

Septmber 7, 2006 (->Neel's Gap Hostel 3.6 miles)

Ah, what a glorious day, mainly because our hiking ended before noon and before the rains came. We climbed Blood Mountain before 10:00 (4461 feet) and got a nice view just before the mist rolled in. The climb down was a bitch with lots of rocks. We passed several day hikers along the way, including a man who said he'd just killed a rattlesnake with a rock down the trail. He might have been more credible had he not been wearing nothing but a speedo!

When we got to Neel's Gap, the owner gave us towels and told us to get cleaned up and come back to pay. The showers were wonderful, and he barely recognized us afterward. After we paid, he offered up his car for us to go to town. We couldn't resist, even tough we didn't need much. We hit the Rite-Aid, grocery store and McD's and put some gas in his car.

When we got back, we waterproofed our boots and I tried cleaning my water filter again. It hasn't worked well since we started. Pumping is getting very hard.

We got a surprise a little while ago. The Jettisons trudged in around 4:30. George weighed his pack here, and with no water it was down to 61 lbs. Jane was so happy to see us, she gave us a hug. They were supposed to make it to Hiawassee, but decided wisely to stop here!

We're staying here tonight with a Southbounder named OT. His quote of the day: "Hot Springs is a den of homosexuals. Be careful"

September 8, 2006 (->Low Gap Shelter 10.6 miles)

Hiker describing Springer Mountain in March: "I've seen T-bone steaks still in their packagin. Salads. Yoga mats. A 1000-page book on vitamins and holistic cures. There ain't no cure for carrying that much."

We got started around 8:30, stopping in front of the store to weigh our packs. Despite the fact that we're only carrying one night of food, the weight had only reduced 2 lbs each from Springer. How is that possible?

In 10.6 miles today, we ascended 2600' and descended the same. We crossed 4 mountains on 8 different ascents.

In Hogpen Gap, we passed a large number of high school aged boys, and they passed us farther up the trail, planning to head one shelter past us. We also met Larry, who is walking with his daughter and wife. His daughter, Mallory, is heading at least as far as Damascus too.

About a mile south of the shelter, a few raindrops began to fall. We were exhausted, but we picked up our pace to try and beat the downpour. We didn't make it. We got to the shelter around 3:45, completely drenched. The group of 9 guys was crowding the shelter - which only sleeps 7. It turns out they are with a rehab group. Larry calls them "The Hoods in the Woods". We sat with them for about 30 minutes, unable to change out of our wet clothing and unsure of where we were going to sleep. Finally the rain died down and they decided to move on.

This shelter is really old and doesn't even have a privy. To add to that, the Thru-Hiker's companion says that a 2000 hiker woke up one night here to find a bear straddling him! Several entries in the register list bear sightings nearby, plus someone left a Backpacker magazine here with several articles about outdoor survival - including a first-hand account of a bear attack. Yikes!

Since there are only two of us here, we have set up our tent in the shelter and are making lots of noise to deter the bears.

We had a hell of a time filtering water this afternoon and have decided it must be broken. I am going to have Dad send his to NOC.

September 9, 2006 (-> Unicoi Gap 9.4 miles)

Sleep didn't come easy last night. There were a lot of mice in the shelter and a lot of noises outside. The mice had quite a time in my bag, and I had lots of poop to clean up.

We told Mallory (who is hiking with her parents and her dog Grouper) about our plan to get picked up in Unicoi Gap and they jumped on the bandwagon. We all got picked up around 2:45 and driven to Hiawassee by Ron, the owner of the inn there. Ron is like a mother. He's really taken care of us. As soon as we arrived, he delivered beer and epsom salt to our room. He let us do laundry and gave us his van to take to dinner.

Ron will take us back to the trail tomorrow and let us do a slackpack. It's still going to be a tough 16 miles, but he lent us a small pack, and we can stay here and shower again tomorrow night!

September 10, 2006 (->Dick's Creek Gap 16.1 miles)

Ron put us on the trail at 7:15. About 8:45, Tina and I stumbled on a yellow jacket nest. Despite my intentions to be calm in the face of a sting, when the bugger got me through my sock, I freaked out and stopped to try and get him off. Tina tried to help and got stung too.

I was pretty nervous, because I hadn't packed my Epipen or Benadryl. We walked 5 minutes to the first road crossing and found Mallory and Larry. They'd also been stung, along with Grouper. Mallory had been stung 9 times. A few minutes later, we ran acorss some car campers and were able to borrow antiseptic.

We trudged on, and it was a difficult day. 4200' in ascents and 4400' in descents. At 10 miles, we were getting low on water, so we stopped at a spring. It was a steep, long downhill walk to get there, and the water was almost nonexistent. We had to scoop a few tablespoons at a time and pour it into my Nalgene. Then we used iodine to purify it.

September 11, 2006 (-> Muskrat Creek Shelter 11.6 miles)

Oh my god! The only thing that would have made this day harder would have been spraining my ankle while tripping over a bear.

Ron took us to the trailhead around 9:00. My sting has gotten pretty swollen, but the difficulty of the day distracted me. There were lots of hills again toay, and we're now carrying 7 days of food. I'll bet my pack is over 50 lbs.

Our plan was to stop in Bly Gap just north of the NC-GA border. That's right! We finished Georgia today! It would have been an 8.8 mile day. But it was not to be. There was no water there - the spring had gone dry.

Tina and I had about 300ml each, so there was no choic but to trudge on another 2.8 miles to the next shelter and hope we found water there. This meant another 1200 ft in ascents, giving us a total of 3500' up and 2000' down today.

This extra jaunt started off all wrong. The trail was completely overgorwn and so obscured that half the time it was hard to distinguish from the rest of the woods. All of these flowering plants were growing in the trail, each with bees on them. On the seond ascent, I got stung by a bumble bee. It turned out to be a little nothing of a sting, but added to the rest of the day, I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

Finally at 2.5 miles, we crossed a stream and wanted to lay down on the ground and bow to it. With great effort, we pumped a liter of water and headed to the shelter. The southbounder here says water is no problem from here on out!