Start point: Woods Hole Shelter
End point: Neels Gap
miles hiked: 4.1
Slept in pretty late, it got pretty cold, mostly cause it was so windy. Lots and lots of wind and rain throughout the night and a cold morning so I was in no hurry to get out of bed. Mike and Madeline were out pretty early. They were having the same problem I was the other day, all wet clothes and on a cold morning nothing but wet clothes to change into is no fun at all. They needed to start hiking so they could warm up. After sleeping awhile longer I finally started packing up and some day hikers showed up. Talked to them and took my time getting out of there. Only a short hike before I started the ascent up Blood Mountain, the highest peak in GA. Got near the top and little bits of ice were falling off the trees on me. A pretty neat stone shelter is at the summit, I doubt many people ever camp there, its gotta be very cold. No view to see, still lots of fog. I start heading down the other side and thats where I got my first great view of my trip. There was no fog on that side of the summit and you could see for miles, nice view of all the mountain ranges and ridges. While going down I noticed my left knee starting to bother me. It's weird because my right knee is the one with 2 pins in it, and it hasn't bothered me at all. What happened is I have been starting to get a blister on my left hell and have been walking alot on the toe and middle of my foot, so by walking like that it caused my knee to hurt. Sharp pain right at the top of my kneecap. It only hurts on the downhills, hopefully it will start feeling better after I let these sore spots on my foot heal and can start walking with a proper gait again. Anyway, made it down slowly and got to Neels Gap. They have an outfitter and hostel. Finally found a bunk open in a hostel! Bought some stuff at the outfitter; a sleeping bag liner (my bag is just not warm enough for some of these cold march nights, its rated to 35F, but this liner should make it good to 25F), a sil nylon bag and some cord to hang my food (bear bagging). Had a good meal of lasagna, red beans and rice, and some salad. Talked alot w/Spider, Swamp Gas, Counsler and Goat. I met all those guys at Gooch Gap Shelter while drying out. Met an older guy named Butch whoe was pretty funny. Shared some wine w/Swamp Gas that I had bought from Wal-Mart (Twin Fin merlot, not bad for $6!) and had carried with me all the way from Woody Gap. It was Swamp's birthday so I thought we should celebrate.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
3-28-2009 Sat - Dry clothes again... for now
Start point: Woody Gap
End point: Woods Hole Shelter
miles hiked: 7.3
Woke up and bought some b-fast, got the T.W.O. (Two Wheels Only) Scramble which was 2 eggs, sausage, spinach and onions with toast and fruit. Deee-lish. Sat around inside watching the weather channel and chatting. By the way, thanks again to Adam for the hospitality. Around 10:30am some of the guys were heading east so I asked if I could catch a ride about 9mi down the road to the hiker hostel, they were nice enough to give me a ride. Got to the hiker hostel and they were booked (again). They asked if I wanted a ride to the Super 8 some 12 miles away, no I'll just go back to the trail and hike the 10 miles to Neels Gap. They finally asked if I wanted to hang out there till 5pm, do a load of laundry and take a shower. Perfect! All I really wanted was for all my clothes to be dry. I got to use the internet and scored a ride to Wal-Mart for a re-supply when they were taking some of their guests. At 5pm got dropped at Woody Gap, same place where I initally left the trail and had to kinda hoof it to make it to the shelter before dark. Got there right before it got too dark to see. 2 other people were there, Mike and Madeline, we all have our tents set up under the shelter. Hung my food on the food hoist cables to avoid tempting any bears to come check us out. It stopped raining for awhile today, but started again about 2 mi before I got here to the Woody Gap Shelter. Hopefully its gonna clear up tomorrow.
End point: Woods Hole Shelter
miles hiked: 7.3
Woke up and bought some b-fast, got the T.W.O. (Two Wheels Only) Scramble which was 2 eggs, sausage, spinach and onions with toast and fruit. Deee-lish. Sat around inside watching the weather channel and chatting. By the way, thanks again to Adam for the hospitality. Around 10:30am some of the guys were heading east so I asked if I could catch a ride about 9mi down the road to the hiker hostel, they were nice enough to give me a ride. Got to the hiker hostel and they were booked (again). They asked if I wanted a ride to the Super 8 some 12 miles away, no I'll just go back to the trail and hike the 10 miles to Neels Gap. They finally asked if I wanted to hang out there till 5pm, do a load of laundry and take a shower. Perfect! All I really wanted was for all my clothes to be dry. I got to use the internet and scored a ride to Wal-Mart for a re-supply when they were taking some of their guests. At 5pm got dropped at Woody Gap, same place where I initally left the trail and had to kinda hoof it to make it to the shelter before dark. Got there right before it got too dark to see. 2 other people were there, Mike and Madeline, we all have our tents set up under the shelter. Hung my food on the food hoist cables to avoid tempting any bears to come check us out. It stopped raining for awhile today, but started again about 2 mi before I got here to the Woody Gap Shelter. Hopefully its gonna clear up tomorrow.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
3-27-2009 Fri - Soaked to the bone
Start point: Sassafras Mtn
End point: Two Wheels Only - Motorcycle Resort
miles hiked: 9 (plus a 2mile walk to town)
Woke up cold at around 7am and it was about to start raining so I just packed up camp and left without making breakfast, thought I could just make it 4 miles down to Gooch Mtn Shelter and eat there. That was my first mistake, shoulda just ate in my tent before I left. My second mistake was I left on all my clothes that were keeping me warm during the night, and didn't put on my rain pants. The past 2 days my pants weren't really getting that wet so I thought I could do without. It ended up raining alot and I ended up getting soaked, and all my clothes eventually got soaked all the way through. The crappy thing about that is in this foggy rainy weather you can't dry anything out. I eventually made it to Gooch Mtn Shelter and stayed there awhile to dry out. That shelter is pretty cool, its a double decker:
So the top part is kinda like a loft. I tried to dry out as much as possible, ate lunch and took a nap. Around 4:30pm I left to try and make it 5 miles to Woody Gap, where there is a county road that goes to town. I finally made it right around dusk, but called the Hiker Hostel that is nearby and they were booked. I was kinda pissed, and didn't know what to do, so I just started hiking the 2 miles to the nearest town, Suches, GA. Came across Two Wheels Only, which is a motorcycle resort. They have cabins and tent sites, but you can't come in a car, only motorcycles. They are somewhat friendly to hikers, I think it helps if you're a nice guy like me. ;) Met a guy named Adam, he gave me a couple beers and told me to check inside, they stil might have the kitchen open. They said they could fit me in, I bought dinner and it was the best 12 bucks I've spent all week; a dinner salad, a hambuger steak, broccoli, and some fresh fruit. Asked if I could put up a tent and they said no problem so I was back in business. This weekend there was a Buell Motorcycle get-together going on there so I talked to Adam and some other bikers about Buell's, they are really cool bikes. Gonna try and catch a ride 9 miles down the road the other way to the Hiker Hostel and see if they have any openings for tomorrow. I've been in the rain 3 days, my clothes, socks and shoes are all wet, I just wanna find a way to dry my clothes and get out of the rain for a day.
End point: Two Wheels Only - Motorcycle Resort
miles hiked: 9 (plus a 2mile walk to town)
Woke up cold at around 7am and it was about to start raining so I just packed up camp and left without making breakfast, thought I could just make it 4 miles down to Gooch Mtn Shelter and eat there. That was my first mistake, shoulda just ate in my tent before I left. My second mistake was I left on all my clothes that were keeping me warm during the night, and didn't put on my rain pants. The past 2 days my pants weren't really getting that wet so I thought I could do without. It ended up raining alot and I ended up getting soaked, and all my clothes eventually got soaked all the way through. The crappy thing about that is in this foggy rainy weather you can't dry anything out. I eventually made it to Gooch Mtn Shelter and stayed there awhile to dry out. That shelter is pretty cool, its a double decker:
So the top part is kinda like a loft. I tried to dry out as much as possible, ate lunch and took a nap. Around 4:30pm I left to try and make it 5 miles to Woody Gap, where there is a county road that goes to town. I finally made it right around dusk, but called the Hiker Hostel that is nearby and they were booked. I was kinda pissed, and didn't know what to do, so I just started hiking the 2 miles to the nearest town, Suches, GA. Came across Two Wheels Only, which is a motorcycle resort. They have cabins and tent sites, but you can't come in a car, only motorcycles. They are somewhat friendly to hikers, I think it helps if you're a nice guy like me. ;) Met a guy named Adam, he gave me a couple beers and told me to check inside, they stil might have the kitchen open. They said they could fit me in, I bought dinner and it was the best 12 bucks I've spent all week; a dinner salad, a hambuger steak, broccoli, and some fresh fruit. Asked if I could put up a tent and they said no problem so I was back in business. This weekend there was a Buell Motorcycle get-together going on there so I talked to Adam and some other bikers about Buell's, they are really cool bikes. Gonna try and catch a ride 9 miles down the road the other way to the Hiker Hostel and see if they have any openings for tomorrow. I've been in the rain 3 days, my clothes, socks and shoes are all wet, I just wanna find a way to dry my clothes and get out of the rain for a day.
3-26-2009 Thur - my first white blaze
Start point: Black Gap Shelter
End point: Sassafras Mtn elev. - 3,300
miles hiked: 12.7
Last night sucked. It was a cold, wet, windy night. Didn't sleep that well because I was so cold. Slept on the shelter floor on top of my thermarest in my sleeping bag. Had on almost every piece of clothes I have and that was barely enough warmth. Didn't make it out till noon today. Got up at dawn but was raining hard and very cold, decided to try and sleep more, wait till rain lightened up. Made some instant oatmeal and had an apple for b-fast. After I started hiking I made it to the top of Springer Mountain pretty quick, and it was awesome. Still lots of fog (can't see any of the mountains around me, its so thick), and trees dripping on me, but I felt like I'd really started. There was a time yesterday and again today where I noticed how beautiful this is, even with shit weather, and I wondered why anyone would ever willingly quit before the end. Crossed some nice creeks today. Made it to Hawk Mtn Shelter but kept going. For 1 it was not even close to dark and I knew I could hike more. There were some hikers in the shelter and I told them I couldn't fall asleep last night so I was gonna hike more today, try to tire myself out so I could sleep better. Partially true, left out the other reason I couldn't sleep well, was freezing my balls off. Made it 3 more miles from that point before it got dark. Passed a tent on the top of Sassafras Mtn and decided I would do the same a little farther down. Made Madras Lentils for dinner (yum!). Gonna try to do 15.8 mi tomorrow to Woods Hole Shelter.
"Don't mean a thang the mud they slang, cause they can't see whats on the inside."
End point: Sassafras Mtn elev. - 3,300
miles hiked: 12.7
Last night sucked. It was a cold, wet, windy night. Didn't sleep that well because I was so cold. Slept on the shelter floor on top of my thermarest in my sleeping bag. Had on almost every piece of clothes I have and that was barely enough warmth. Didn't make it out till noon today. Got up at dawn but was raining hard and very cold, decided to try and sleep more, wait till rain lightened up. Made some instant oatmeal and had an apple for b-fast. After I started hiking I made it to the top of Springer Mountain pretty quick, and it was awesome. Still lots of fog (can't see any of the mountains around me, its so thick), and trees dripping on me, but I felt like I'd really started. There was a time yesterday and again today where I noticed how beautiful this is, even with shit weather, and I wondered why anyone would ever willingly quit before the end. Crossed some nice creeks today. Made it to Hawk Mtn Shelter but kept going. For 1 it was not even close to dark and I knew I could hike more. There were some hikers in the shelter and I told them I couldn't fall asleep last night so I was gonna hike more today, try to tire myself out so I could sleep better. Partially true, left out the other reason I couldn't sleep well, was freezing my balls off. Made it 3 more miles from that point before it got dark. Passed a tent on the top of Sassafras Mtn and decided I would do the same a little farther down. Made Madras Lentils for dinner (yum!). Gonna try to do 15.8 mi tomorrow to Woods Hole Shelter.
"Don't mean a thang the mud they slang, cause they can't see whats on the inside."
3-25-2009 Wed - The Approach Trail
Start point: Amicalola Falls State Park
End point: Black Gap Shelter
miles hiked: 7.3
The Greyhound was lame getting here (21hrs) but not too bad. Only 1 baby cried and that was only for like 5 min. Got to Gainesville around 10am. I got picked up at the Gainesville, GA Greyhound station by Hawker. He lives in Gainesville, has lived in the area for a long time. He took me by a grocery store and I got food, too much food actually. I probably only needed food for 5 days, ended up with probably 10 days worth. Not a bad problem to have other than all the extra weight. After that we went to Amicalola Falls State Park where he dropped me off at the visitor center. You sign in as a thru hiker with your intended destination (Katahdin Mountain, Maine), weigh your pack on a hanging scale and then you are on your way. My pack weighed around 23lbs without food and water, after food and water: 40lbs! What the hell happened, I was trying to do this lightweight! Oh well, I can eat the food and drink the water, plus when it gets a little warmer I can get rid of all this cold weather clothes I have. Amicalola Falls were beautiful. They have a staircase that goes all the way up:
I think its 604 steps, which is alot with a 40lb pack! By the way, it didn't look anything like this, it was very foggy and raining lightly. I guess I should mention the only thing that didn't make it into my pack was my camera, so I won't have any of my own pics till I get it mailed to me in a few weeks. Here is what the falls look like in good weather though:
So up the steps and then the start of the approach trail. There was light rain, lots of fog, I went through some spots where it seemed like a rain forest. Lots of muddy trails, that and a heavy pack makes for slow going. Think I brought way too much water, there are clear streams everywhere right now because its been raining so much lately, so its kinda silly to start hiking with anything more than 2 liters. I was planning on doing the whole approach trail and making it to the Springer Mountain Shelter, but instead I stopped and stayed the night at the Black Gap Shelter, which is actually 1.5 miles away from Springer Mountain. I met a dreadlocked hippy named Wrath, he was the only one there. Very interesting (weird) fellow who is on the trail to try and disconnect the power sources from him and find a dwarf that will open a portal so he can transport himself wherever he wants to go. Lots of mind over matter combined with dungeons and dragons type stuff. Anyway, ate crackers and salami with some good french cheese.
End point: Black Gap Shelter
miles hiked: 7.3
The Greyhound was lame getting here (21hrs) but not too bad. Only 1 baby cried and that was only for like 5 min. Got to Gainesville around 10am. I got picked up at the Gainesville, GA Greyhound station by Hawker. He lives in Gainesville, has lived in the area for a long time. He took me by a grocery store and I got food, too much food actually. I probably only needed food for 5 days, ended up with probably 10 days worth. Not a bad problem to have other than all the extra weight. After that we went to Amicalola Falls State Park where he dropped me off at the visitor center. You sign in as a thru hiker with your intended destination (Katahdin Mountain, Maine), weigh your pack on a hanging scale and then you are on your way. My pack weighed around 23lbs without food and water, after food and water: 40lbs! What the hell happened, I was trying to do this lightweight! Oh well, I can eat the food and drink the water, plus when it gets a little warmer I can get rid of all this cold weather clothes I have. Amicalola Falls were beautiful. They have a staircase that goes all the way up:
I think its 604 steps, which is alot with a 40lb pack! By the way, it didn't look anything like this, it was very foggy and raining lightly. I guess I should mention the only thing that didn't make it into my pack was my camera, so I won't have any of my own pics till I get it mailed to me in a few weeks. Here is what the falls look like in good weather though:
So up the steps and then the start of the approach trail. There was light rain, lots of fog, I went through some spots where it seemed like a rain forest. Lots of muddy trails, that and a heavy pack makes for slow going. Think I brought way too much water, there are clear streams everywhere right now because its been raining so much lately, so its kinda silly to start hiking with anything more than 2 liters. I was planning on doing the whole approach trail and making it to the Springer Mountain Shelter, but instead I stopped and stayed the night at the Black Gap Shelter, which is actually 1.5 miles away from Springer Mountain. I met a dreadlocked hippy named Wrath, he was the only one there. Very interesting (weird) fellow who is on the trail to try and disconnect the power sources from him and find a dwarf that will open a portal so he can transport himself wherever he wants to go. Lots of mind over matter combined with dungeons and dragons type stuff. Anyway, ate crackers and salami with some good french cheese.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
the Dirty Dog
Just got my Greyhound ticket today; leaving Houston, TX on Tues, March 24th, arriving in Gainesville, GA around 10am on March 25th. I have said multiple times that I would never ride that awful bus again, the official busline of screaming babies everywhere.. For 60 dollars even, Texas to Georgia, well, enough said. If I make it to Maine, I mean when I make it to Maine, ;) I'm going to try and fly back, cause that's just too long of a bus ride, even for me. Anyway, a friend is picking me up in Gainesville and driving me to Amicalola State Park where I will start the approach trail.. Thats right, you can do an 8 mile hike just to get to the start of the real Appalachian Trail. I mean if you're going 2175 miles, whats another 8 miles? Needless to say I'm super excited that my plans are beginning to finalize!
I may have never heard it called "bus rage", but I know I'm not the only one who has experienced it..
I may have never heard it called "bus rage", but I know I'm not the only one who has experienced it..
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