Day 7- Dick's Creek Gap to Muskrat Creek Shelter- Georgia Complete

Miles Hiked: 11.8
Start time: 9:15 am
End time: 8:15 pm
Thunderstorms: 2
Total miles from Springer mnt: 81.4

Thursday May 12th (posted on the 13th due to no cell coverage)

  I could write a book about today. It was hard, the views were amazing, and the changes in weather were awesome to watch. Certainly our most memorable day yet, probably my favorite. We got through it, by the grace of God, we conquered the hike. And we were also reminded of God's power and the incredible beauty of his creation.

  Before leaving the hostel, I gave Sage a heavier pack, 30 pounds including a bag of gala apples. I carried only 25.5 pounds. Our weights were with an 8 oz of canister fuel, 2 liters of water each, and enough food to make it to Franklin, NC. I mailed home 2.5 pounds of gear i concluded we didn't need,

   Sage was up to the challenge of a heavier pack,  and lead me up the final climb of the day. And once we finish off the apples with peanut butter, Sage will have a much lighter pack.

   The reader is probably thinking " What
kind of Dad makes his daughter carry the heavier pack? However,  I assure you it was an act of love.  The apples are to prevent scurvy, she has been eating a lot of ramen while on the trail.

     We hit the trail well rested and eager to take on whatever the trail might throw at us. And throw it did. First, this was by far the hardest section of trail yet. It was a moderate climb, nearly continuous until the North Carolina border.

We stopped for lunch at the Plum Orchard shelter and enjoyed frozen Peanut Butter cups I had prepared overnight bat the hostel. I had a cup of  espresso with mine. Sage ramen to drink with her Reeces.

We pressed on and came to the sign marking the Ga border.

At the border I joked: Well, I hope North Carolina is flat.

Oh my....it wasnt. The last two miles of our day of almost continuous climbing were the steepest we have seen anywhere on the hike. 

But wait, there is more. Thunderstorms.  At two different points, a band of thunderstorms blew through with strong winds and cold rain. Both times I had just enough warning to hang my tarp just off the trail, escaping a complete soaking. We got to sit under our tarp watching very wet hikers trudge past.  Why hike in a swift, powerful, and quickly passing storm? We decided to rest, and eat. I explained to a passing through hiker that we are just section hikers, we don't do rain.

The first time the storm blew through, we decided to cook some kielbasa.

Sage likes her kielbasa with Pringles.

I like mine with hot peppers.

The second time a thunderstorm blew through, we had time to hang a hammock.  But there was only room for one, as I had to hang the tarp low to keep  out the rain.

Humm....Hammock is rated for 350 and I'm down to 255, so it can hold us both. Straps are rated to 400, so no need to worry about those.

The rain and wind were very cold during the second storm, the temperature dropped quickly. So we started bundling up. I also got out my down top quilt to keep us warm. We saw the huge gusts, we listened to the hail pelting the tarp, and we heard the rumbling of thunderstorms.

Everything was working great, the two of us even fit ok by laying head to feet. Sage listened to music and was snug and warm.

Then "pop" wham...we were on the ground. One of my Hummingbird Hammock straps had broken. Not cool. They may the lightest on the market, but I need to trust my gear. Sage's straps were nearly new. I will contact the vendor and see how they handle it.

Today was a day for gear failure.  In addition to the strap, my Gossamer Gear G4 pack has started to rip on a load bearing seam. I'm not sure if it will make it through the hike. I can rig it up  and keep going at least to Franklin,  and perhaps Fontana Dam. But i would not want to enter the Smokies with a dying pack.

   So I'll be taking some pictures and emailing a couple cottage vendors, giving them a chance to stand by their gear.

    One piece of gear that didn't fail today was my tarp from Hammock Gear. My tarp is mounted to a continuous ridgeline with a Dutch clip one side, a wasp on the other, and flies on the tarp edges. The whole setup the goes inside a Hammock Gear Snakeskin. I can deploy it in a minute or two, which is how we managed to stay dry on a very stormy day.  The wind and hail were impressive,  and the tarp withstood it all.

Both of had a lot of energy today, and physically are doing well. I think Sage is feeling some of the same foot pain I am. But my right foot swelling has gone down, and I am still blister free. Sage has one or two, but they are taped and seem to be ok.

Hiking is 90 percent mental, and the other 90 percent is taking care of your feet.

I learned something very useful today. It is much more effective to simply slow down on the climbs than try to power on up. The goal is to never stop for a rest. For the first 6 days, my climbing strategy was to push hard...stop, completely winded, rest, repeat. Today I set my pace based on the incline, slowing down to keep my breath even. It worked much better. At times I had to go very slow, but I kept walking up the mountains.

An amazing day, all kinds of weather, intense climbs, and we arrived at the shelter dry and before sunset.

Day 6- Tray Mountain Shelter to Dick's Creek Gap to Top of Georgia Hostel

Total Miles 69.6
Miles Today 11.1
Hiking time: 0530 to 1215
Tray Mnt Shelter to Dick's Creek Gap to Top of Georgia hostel
Weather: Rained after we got off the trail
Breakfast: Dark Chocolate dipped in peanut butter with cold instant coffee.

  I slept like a rock from 9 pm until 2 am. Then I was awake , very unlike a rock. I hung out in my hammock until 445am, and then decided to wake Sage for an early start.  We hiked the first 45 minutes with our headlamps.  By sunrise we were 2.25 miles down the trail. After two hours, we were about 4 miles down the trail.  And I hit the wall.  Once again, Sage was hiking much faster than me.  I was really slow on the climbs.  On the flatter sections or descents,  Sage and I were passing other hikers. Only to have them catch up on the next climb.

     As I talk about this, I realize how easy it is for hikers to focus on daily mileage, not the hike itself. I'm certainly guilty of it. Is this some sort of competition?  Who are we competing against? 

   I think we are doing this because it is hard. And because we enjoy the beauty of God's creation.

    Ok...that sounds like I'm trying to give the right answer.

   I just started a discussion in the hostel to see if anyone had a better answer.  Here is what we came up with:

   In daily life, your brain is abused but your body is resting. On the trail, your body is abused, but your brain is resting.

   Folks hike the AT for a variety of reasons,  I guess my reason is pretty simple. We are really enjoying it.

    But not today. Ugh, I was really dragging. I'm not sure if it was the limited sleep, or the combined effects of multiple days of hiking back to back. I suppose another possible answer is that I'm in poor physical condition and simply trying to do more than my body can do.

Nah...probably just need more peanut m&m's. 

The most exciting thing that happened today was that Sage walked up on a rattlesnake. It was coiled right next to the trail, shook it's rattles really loud, and moved it's head back and forth like it was trying to decide where to strike. Sage ran back up the trail and told me what happened.  As I discussed our options to proceed,  since the snake was right next to the trail, it helpfully crossed over and moved away from the trail. But not before I got a picture.

   We arrived at Top of Georgia hostel, where they issue medical scrubs to wear while your hiking clothes are getting washed. In fact, we all wore them into town.  

First stop was Daniel's Buffet. 

Next we stopped at a couple grocery stores to resupply. The hostel provides a ride to and from town, so we waited at the grocery for a ride back to Th hostel. 

For dinner I made Steak Fajitas...Sage and I woofed them down.

Today was a great day even though the hiking was harder than it should have been. Indoor plumbing, shower, a clean bed, a full kitchen and a great night sleep. 

Later that evening I looked at my right foot and noticed it was swollen. It has has been hurting on the arch of the foot. My shoe was a bit tight, and over the course of a few days, and especially on the downhiils, the ache has increased. I have come up with the plan to loosen my shoelaces, we will see if that helps. 

Day 5- Low Gap Shelter to Tray Mountain Shelter

15.4 miles hiked today, bringing the total to 58.5.

Start time: 8:20 am
End time 6:50 pm

We started the day with some decisions to make.  Unicoi gap was an easy 10 miles away. From there you can get picked up by a hostel. A hostel  means we could shower,  do laundry, go to an all you can eat buffet in Hiawassee,  resupply, spend the night in a warm, clean place with indoor plumbing. However, to make it to our goal of Hot Springs,  NC by Memorial Day, we need to cover some ground. Since our bodies are mostly holding up, we decided to go for a long day.

Thunderstorms are coming Wed afternoon and throughout the day on Thurday. One additional factor was that we started the day almost out of fuel. So we need to at least pick up fuel in the next day or two. We can survive without fuel, but warm food and drink sure help when you are tired.  Given all the factors, we decide to do a long day in case rain slows us down later. We also hope to bang out a full day of hiking on Wed by starting early and heading to Hiawassee before the thunderstorms hit. We will see if the weather and our hiking abilities align with this plan.

Experienced hikers will likely raise an eyebrow that an 8 oz canister only lasted us 5 days. All I can say is, I've burned through that much fuel in one weekend, I like to cook. Go eat some mashed potatoes and ramen, you fuel horders....I'll be cooking real food while you efficiently boil water. 

This was another day of climbing. Lots of climbing. The first couple of hours out of Low Gap Shelter were a gradual climb. The first hour we covered 2.5 miles. We then slowed to 2 mph in the second hour. The trail was smooth and gradual, great for making good time. But pretty quickly,  I felt drained,  I had very little energy. 

Sage could have covered the first 8 miles to our lunch destination much faster, I was really dragging. 

Sage taunted me by suggesting I should get a jar of Nutella like hers. She may be right,  I noticed at the end of the day that she has consumed over half of the box shop sized jar.

We made it to Blue Mountain shelter for a late lunch. Sage had ramen and I had an amazing veggie curry. After our extended lunch break, I felt great and hiked the rest of the day with normal energy. By normal, I mean that I struggled up every climb. 

When you can't find the trail, just look for rocks. There were some sections today where our feet rarely touched dirt.

Sage is home schooled, so I am obligated to take the fun out of any trip by adding educational objectives. I asked her to take a picture of one interesting,  unique plant  a day. We will later try to find out more about the plant when we have some down time with good internet.

She objected: Can't I do bugs instead?

I offered the compromise she could do one of each. So that's the plan. Good thing she stopped negotiations,  I was ready to add rocks and trees.

After descending into Unicoi Gap, the 10 mile point on our hike,  we chatted with two hikers who arrived in the gap minutes before. They asked: Did you see the Mama bear with two cubs? She was just off the trail when we went through.

No....we didn't see the bears. Which either means they were long gone, or Mama bear doesn't like Nutella.

At the start of our hike someone told us: Tray Mountain is even worse than Blood Mountain.  It wasnt. 

I wouldn't believe anything you read about the difficulty or ease of the Appalachian Trail. Including any descriptions in this blog.  There are just too many variables.  But i will say this, if you have never hiked, it doesn't matter which mountain you pick, it will be hard. 

It was a good day of hiking. I'm filthy, covered in bug bites, and my feet feel like they were run over by a truck. But no blisters....so I'll just take some Ibuprofen and press on. As for Sage,  her feet are doing OK as well, only one small blister and we have it taped up. We are both ready for a shower and clean laundry.

Day 4- Neels Gap to Low Gap Shelter

31.7 miles. In three days. Today's hike added 11.5.  43.2 miles total miles. Today was hard. We stumbled into the shelter around 6:50. We took many breaks along the way, to include stopping to make more sausage and potato burritos.I left out the dirt this time.

The day started well with rib sandwiches and a nutter bar for first breakfast.

We then used the tables at Neels Gap to reorganize our packs. I thought about asking the outfitter staff for a pack shakedown. They are well known for this service, helping tired hikers shed unnecessary weight from their packs. I decided not to waste their time, since we were very unlikely to buy any gear.

All that packing made me hungry. Time for second breakfast. Pizza and another diet soda.

We grabbed a few snacks, and hit the trail 2 hours later than normal. We had no idea how hard the day would be.

Today was hot and still at times,  mostly during the climbs. A nice cool breeze often met us at the top, but the sun zapped our energy during the climbs.

Up, down, up, down. No huge climbs, but today was harder than yesterday.

Tired of hiking, covered in dirt from the dusty trail, we plodded into Low Gap Shelter. ..11.5 hard miles.

Rain is threatening in the next few days, our little lark in the woods may be about to get much less fun.

Sage is a hiking machine, I'm not impressed by her mileage,  I expect it. I don't know why I even ask her "stop here, or press on." If there is daylight left...she wants to press on. Every time. The trick with her is keeping her from hiking her feet into bloody little stumps.

Actually..that applies for both of us. The hardest part of this seems to be keeping your feet going. You can always push through sore muscles, out of breath...breath harder. But it appears that feet have limits. As we try to crank up the daily miles, I suspect our feet will be the greatest limitation. We may not be able to go farther, but perhaps as our speed increases we will have more time to loiter.

Day 3- Woody Gap to Neels Gap.

   Miles hiked: 10.6

   Blood donated: 1 pint

   Didn't sleep very well at the hostel. I'm sure it had nothing to do with the 96 oz of diet coke soda refills before bed. I would not hesitate to do it again, it turns out there is a real lack of Diet Coke machines in the backcountry.

  Woke up bright and early to make bacon and hashbrowns on my camp stove. Hash browns are a very silly choice for backpacking, they burn through a ton of fuel to get brown. But backpacking is also a very silly thing, so it all makes sense to me. Later in the day I found out there was a good breakfast joint a short walk away. Oh well...money saved,  and our packs are lighter.

   Caught a ride to Zion Baptist Church. Glad we went and could fellowship with fellow Christians. I also drank lots of their coffee. We made it to the trail by 1pm.

   Since the hike promised over 10 miles, and had a big climb at the end, Blood Mnt, our plan was to go as far as we could and camp on top of the mountain if possible. With such a late start,  we did not think it was realistic to knock out a full day. We had heard Blood Mnt was a killer, the biggest climb on the AT in Georgia. The problem is that they won't let you camp on Blood Mountain without a bear proof canister. We rented one in Suches, Ga.

   And we never used it. We put in a full days mileage. Yay! Will be happy to return that extra weight.

We crushed that hike. Ok..slight exaggeration,  but we made it to Neel Gap and hung our hammocks before dark.

   Our hike up the mountain went fairly smoothly, except that we ran out of water, and somehow missed the spring. This is not as bad as it sounds,  when hiking an area with lots of water, it is really silly to carry 2 to 8 pounds of water past every water source. Instead, the goal is to drink at the water source, and only carry what you need between sources. By carrying less weigt, you also make it to the next water source faster.

Well...out of water, but backtracking would be unacceptable, so we pressed on to the next spring in .5 miles. There was mud, a trickle of water, and lots of mosquitos. I dove into the cloud of bugs, scooping water with a cup and pouring it into my dirty water bag. We ran up the trail, and started trying to filter. The bugs were still hunting us, so I threw the filter bag on my head and kept climbing the mountain. Gravity plus a gentle squeeze helped to fill my camelback. I have a connector that allows me to filter straight into our camelbacks, so the unfiltered water goes straight up the drink hose. It is a big time saver. It also works well when you are very thirsty and running from mosquitos.

 I now understood why this is called Blood Mnt. Sorry, no video of a frantic, thirsty Dan scooping water and swatting bugs at the mudhole. Its a shame, it would have made a fine video.

  The views were awesome from the top of Blood mountain.

The oldest shelter on the AT. At least that is what a stranger told me. Sounds plausible. 

The dreaded hike down Blood Mnt. It did not live up to the hype.  Really..not that bad. Remember that my training regimen for this hike consisted of drinking extra coffee to get my heart rate up at my desk. If Sage and I can do it, you can too. Just don't strap 45#s to your back, or perhaps the dread Blood Mnt will live up to the hype.

We arrived at Neel Gap, home of a very well known outfitter and hostel. Note the shoes in the tree. 25% of all attempted through hikes never make it past Neel Gap. Tradition is that you chuck your shoes into the tree when you quit.

Sadly...the shop was closed, and the hostel was a joke.

 The showers and bathrooms were closed. What good is a hostel with no shower? Porta potties plus a bunk. No thanks, we will pass on this hostel. We got some water and hung our hammocks in the woods right behind the hostel. Hopefully they will serve me a diet pepsi tomorrow and my opinion will improve.

This is a good resupply point, but we really don't need anything yet. Except diet soda...we need more of that.

We still have tons of food, although as we eat it down, my pack is inching closer to under 20 pounds. Climbing with a 18# pack is much better than a 48# pack.

Most interesting backpacking technique observed today:

     There was a fellow in the hostel who had a water bottle with drink flavoring in it. And he was drinking the flavored drink  through his Sawyer water filter. I'm not an expert in these things,  but wouldn't the water filter remove most of the drink mix? Hey...hike your own hike... I guess it works for him, maybe if you clog your filter with enough Kool-aid. ..all water tastes great. 

Day 2- Hawk Mnt Shelter to Woody Gap ...Saturday May 7th

Weather: High of low 70s, Sunny and dry
Ibuprofen taken:1

I think this was intended to be a guilty face...she just ate a Snickers dipped in peanut butter for breakfast. She also enjoyed some Nettle Tea in her little Titanium cup.

Packed up and leaving Hawk Mnt shelter. On the trail by 8 30am,  even though we took the time to eat breakfast and drink a hot drink. No hurry, the days are much longer than during our winter hikes.

Hiking the green tunnel. Today was a bit harder than yesterday, there were a few decent climbs. Nothing like what is ahead..but we are carrying a lot of food, and still need to get our trail legs.

It would appear that someone else found the climb difficult.  They chucked aside a large tent, a slingshot, slingshot ammo and a Walmart hatchet.  

Making summer sausage burritos and filtering water at Gooch Mnt shelter.

To add flavor, after hydrating my potatoes,  I dumped them in the dirt. 

After washing the potatoes,  I fried them in summer sausage grease and made a sausage and potato burrito for Sage. She liked it so much, she had me make a second one. 

One Sage was fed, I added hot peppers and cheese powder to mine. I almost cried it was so good. A 99 cent box of Aldi Au gratin potatoes= trail gourmet. 

We arrived at the shelter around 1:45pm. We didn't finish our cooking, filtering and loafing until 3:30. Reasonable hikers would have called it a day. But, lacking reason, and fueled by our dirt potato burritos...we pressed on.

 

To take care of our feet, we try to stop every few miles, take off our shoes and let our socks dry out. It also provides a good opportunity to eat a Twix bar.

We made it to Woody Gap. The plan was to press on to set up a 9 mile hike into Neels Gap for the next day. As I took advantage of the marvelous pit toilet ( that was not sarcasm..Hiking changes your perspective on these things), I realized the next day was Sunday. If we could get a ride into town, and stay in a hostel,  it would allow us to play "church roulette" and attend a random small town church in Georgia Sunday morning.  One never knows what to expect when visiting random churches when you are out of town. 

Regardless,  Sunday is the Sabbath...even on the AT, so we decide to try to get off the trail briefly. Not sure we will always have that option later in the trip, but it might just work this time. 

 So I started calling hostels. The first one was full, but the convenience store/hostel/civic center/outfitter in Suches, Ga had room, and would give us a free ride too and from the trail.  

We arrived, and it turns out the cashier drives the bus for a local Baptist church. She will give us a ride tomorrow. Since we had briefly returned to civilization,  we indulged in Pizza , chicken wings, a hot dog and sodas. Then we went upstairs for showers and a bunk. I am typing this from a very comfy couch. 

Tomorrow will be a short day, as we'll spend most of the day in Suches. Both of us are healthy, enjoying the hike, and due to the unplanned hostel stop, clean.

Day 1 - Springer Mnt to Hawk Mnt Shelter

Weather- 60s during the day, mid 40s overnight. Dry and Sunny
Ibuprofen Taken: 0

First day of our section hike...the ride to the mountain was more of an adventure than the hike itself.

Our Uber driver arrived quickly in Atlanta to pick us up. She had never been to our destination,  but that's ok...the Uber app tells her where to go. I zoned out, listening to an audio book and sleeping during our long ride. As we got closer, the roads changed to dirt/gravel, and we were winding, steep forest service roads. Her Nissan Versa could handle it, but I'm not sure if she had ever driven on those kinds of roads. Heck, I'm not sure if she had ever been out of the city...and our Uber fare took her up the side of a remote mountain.

     30+ miles from civilization..on a dirt forest service road..she asks: Is there a gas station near here? She is on empty. A very long walk from anything.  It was too late to turn back, there was no way she would make it to a gas station. However....she just might have enough to get us to the AT before running out. I offered that we could walk the rest of the way...but she was committed to completing the fare.

    So...that's what she chose. We drove the last 7 miles with a range of zero miles left.  She also said "i have AAA...they will bring me gas." We thanked her, gave her a nice tip, and started our hike, one mile south back to the start of the AT. On the way back through, her car was still there...but she was gone.

This is the closest spot...USFS 42 parking lot 1 mile north of Springer. We hiked down to the start of the trail ...and then hiked right back to this sign.

The first white blaze.

Long Creek falls is 150 steps off the AT and made a great place to have a snack.

Peanut Butter, Nutella, peanut m&m's,  and cashews wrapped in a tortilla. Trail food.

All of our previous hikes have paid off..we have the hammocks dialed in and comfy. I slept from 830 pm till 7 am. 

So for our first day, we hiked from 12 20 pm to about 5:30 pm. 8.1 AT miles..plus one extra to get to springer.