Rain Man
08-15-2003, 21:54
Appalachian Trail Trip Report
Springer Mtn-to-Neels Gap
Thursday, July 31-to-Sunday, August 3, 2003
Rain Man (age 52)
Prelude ...
I am hiking alone down from the summit of Blood Mountain towards Neels Gap and the Walasi-Yi Center on the last day of our 4-day August hike from Springer Mountain. The three kids are ahead of me. Thunder booms, but not too close. Rain pours, as it has once or twice each day and every night of our hike. I am soaked to the skin. My boots, full of water, squish with each step. My pack sways gently as I descend rocks, roots, and mini waterfalls. I pass through tunnels of flowering rhododendron. I hear the sounds of traffic growing louder. How do I feel? What am I thinking? ... "I do NOT want to stop hiking yet!"
Wednesday, July 30, 2003 we leave Nashville around 8:45 p.m. after loading the Dodge Caravan in the rain. I love rain. My earliest childhood memory is of a summer shower. That also happens to be a GOOD memory. I love summer showers and that love will come in handy on this four-day A.T. outing.
My 19-year-old rock-climbing daughter, Sarah, had announced plans to through-hike the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine starting in March 2004. I read of hikers who couldn't even find the beginning of the trail, and thought that was a good excuse to propose that she and I go hike the first few miles together for practice. Being a wonderfully good sport, she agreed to humor "the ancient one." We agreed we should take Paul, a 14-year-old French boy living with our family for a month this summer. He and his parents readily agreed and he came prepared. During preparations, we also added Colin, a 19-year-old country music band drummer from our church. He readily agreed but was totally unprepared (Colin hiked in “tennis shoes”). We outfitted both boys with packs and gear they lacked.
Sarah has checked with the folks at Cumberland Transit, the outfitters store where she works in Nashville, Tennessee. I have checked online with the Georgia Appalachian Trail Club. We feel pretty good about our 32-mile, three and one-half day hike we have planned, and have lots of good advice and also directions off the GATC web site.
DAY ONE (about 8 miles, Springer to Hawk Mtn Shelter)
Thursday, July 31 around 2:30 a.m. in a heavy, foggy rainstorm, we are lost east of Ellijay, Georgia just off Roy Road, trying to find U.S. Forest Service road #42. We have discovered that directions good on a sunny afternoon are sometimes useless in a foggy, middle-of-the-night downpour. After a few backtracks, we finally begin the slow, 7-mile drive up the washboard, pot-holed USFS #42 and arrive in the parking lot 9/10ths of a mile north of Springer Mountain at 3:30 a.m. The rain is coming down as heavy as ever. I propose we hike up to the Springer Mtn Shelter to sleep. The kids will have nothing of that idea and strongly announce they intend to sleep right in their seats in the van. Who am I to argue?! After a little re-arranging, Sarah has chosen to lie on the floor behind the front bucket seats and in front of the middle bench seat (the rear seat was taken out to provide space for our gear). As soon as Paul and I recline the bucket seats, Sarah finds herself totally trapped, but decides that’s better than a hike in the dark in the rain. As the adage goes, “you made your bed, now lie in it.”
Around 6:15 a.m., the rain has stopped and the sky has begun to lighten in spite of being completely overcast. We rouse ourselves, leave our gear in the van, and hike south towards the top of Springer. The trail is rocky, but pretty good, except for the plants on either side that lean in and meet in the middle, and are so wet from the rain. Our pant legs are soon soaked. Even with my two trekking poles I can't hold the wet plants back enough. I am hoping the entire trail isn't this overgrown!
About three-quarters of a mile up the trail we come upon a wooden sign that says "Shelter," so we side-track to check out the Springer Mountain Shelter. We've never seen a shelter and want to know what one is like. Very rustic, a second story loft, open on one side to the elements ... and what are these cables in the trees for? Oh yes, getting food away from bears! We read and sign the register, a spiral notebook. One is placed in all the shelters for hikers to record their random notes. Some are so good! It’s a treat to read these, we soon discover. Now, on to the top of Springer and the famous beginning (or end) of the Appalachian Trail.
We enjoyed a view as far as the eye could see ... and the eye could see about 50 yards in that fog! Interestingly, the plaques are not on the absolute summit. Instead on the summit a few yards away there appear to be grassy places among the trees for tents. Interestingly, there are also signs warning not to camp on top because of the danger of lightning. Hmmmmm. I also find the blue-blazed trail that leads eight miles down towards Amicalola Falls State Park, I assume.
We take a few photographs of various of us next to the two bronze plaques. Later I learned there is a register on top of Springer? We surely didn't see one nor a place for one. Where is it hidden???
We didn't dawdle on Springer, but headed on back down towards the parking area and our van and breakfast. About 8:30 or so we spread out on the gravel around the back of the van for oatmeal or cheese grits (yumm, my favorite!), during which fine cuisine I discovered the boys had brought absolutely no meals, only light snacks I had given them! Somehow between me asking my daughter to plan all our food, and this and that, there was obviously an excess of no communication. She had also forgotten to purchase the 15 power bars I had given her money to get at Cumberland Transit! The boys had virtually no food, but they did have deer-in-headlights looks of bewilderment on their faces. I wondered if they thought I was going to be carrying their food for four days! In any event, I learned a lesson about backpacking with "kids."
What were we to do? Drive back out somewhere for food? Forge ahead? Ration? What? I remembered that we always come back from camping and hiking trips with plenty of food left over (though those never included hungry teenage boys), so we decide to proceed. I'm wondering how much “road kill” we can plunder on a hiking footpath! I know we can get off the trail at Highway 60 in Woody Gap to go into the little town of Suches if nothing else.
So, the boys are anxious to get started. About 9:30, the two of them go on and head north, knowing to follow the white blazes, with instructions to wait for us along the way in a couple of hours.
As Sarah and I are locking up the van and leaving a key for Ellijay friends who have agreed to shuttle it up to Neels Gap for us, another van pulls up, with a South Carolina license plate. So, maybe we aren't going to have complete solitude after all? It's a mom and a dad and a young son. The has on an Easley High School t-shirt. I tell him my father graduated from Easley High (in the 40s). They just drove about 16 miles on the rough USFS road #42 from the other (east) direction and are interested to hear we only came 8 miles from the west side, and the road wasn't that bad. They plan to drive out that way, after a 7 or 8 hour out-and-back hike, their first on the A.T. Another vehicle drives by on USFS 42 as we chat. Seems to be a busy morning, to be this far up in the mountains!
Finally, Sarah and I hit the trail for good around 10:30. Right away we notice two things. For one, this part of the trail is much better maintained. The weeds are not overgrowing it. And... when you start your hike from the top of a mountain, you wind up hiking mostly downhill, which isn't such a bad way to start!
The sun has come out. The trail reminds me so much of South Carolina when I was a boy in the upstate area (Powdersville for me). The sandy red clay soil, some pine needles to walk on. What a nice feeling for the real start of our hike. I'm enjoying this already! Feeling like a kid again. Even my pack feels light ... and it is. I practice with 40 pounds of water in it on hikes around Radnor Lake State Natural Area in Nashville, but for this hike, it weighed only 24 pounds (before I put in my Camelbak). My new Lowa Renegade hiking boots feel more like tennis shoes on my feet than my old, heavy, all-leather hiking boots used to feel.
About a mile and a half down the trail from the parking area, Sarah and I stopped off at the Stover Creek Shelter to see what it was like. Much smaller than the Springer Mtn Shelter, and only one story, and dark. We enjoy the mountain laurel and rhododendron and streams. Continuing on the A.T. we are on an old logging road amidst hemlocks, which the guidebook says may be a virgin stand. Walking on a bed of needles on the flat, wide old road is pretty easy hiking. Oops, spoke too soon! Sarah just slid on a muddy bank onto her backside trying to avoid a puddle left by the rain across the entire old road.
We told the boys not to go any farther than “Three Forks” and to wait on us there. There they are as we come upon a log footbridge across Chester/Noontootla Creek right at USFS #58 at 12:30. It is about 72 degrees. It has been a short and easy hike so far, but it was still fun to stop, take off our hiking boots and wade in the stream, take photographs, and just “kick back” for a while. I am surprised that so many vehicles (two or three) drive by on USFS 58 during the hour we spend at Three Forks. I was surprised at the amount of traffic I heard all weekend.
It tries to drizzle on us, so after a lunch of peanut butter and crackers, we leave Three Forks, generally following Long Creek. Within a mile, we take the short side trip to Long Creek Falls, which are beautiful. The kids climb all over the falls, posing for photographs. It’s about 1:50 now. I find the first of several well-chewed MRE ration foil containers that I find along the trail the next 3 days. Apparently the Army Rangers who practice in the area aren’t immune from rascally animals any more than hikers are. It’s still overcast and still tying to rain on us, but isn’t quite succeeding. We even hear the thunder.
I love the rhododendron tunnels we get to walk through every once in a while. After leaving Long Creek Falls, we begin climbing steadily. Within a mile we come out at a field planted especially for the wild turkeys, according to the sign. There is a gravel road, and the guidebook says the Hickory Flats Cemetery is to the right, with picnic tables used by hikers. Sarah and I hike down this road almost half a mile and find NO such cemetery, so we hiked back up the road and continue along the A.T. instead. The boys have gone ahead once again.
We have seen deer twice today. It won't be the only time.
We continue to hike upwards and we skirt the north side of Hawk Mountain. We arrive at the Hawk Mtn Shelter around 3:45. There we meet "Hi Ho 1624" who was on a 9-day hike south to Springer/Amicalola. He turned out to be a “trail angel.” Upon learning the boys had not brought any meals of their own, he promptly pulled out three extra Mountain House meals and gave them to the boys, insisting we not even offer to pay. Let me tell you, hungry teenage boys like the sight of free food.
The Hawk Mtn Shelter is the first one we stay in. It seems very substantial and roomy, compared to pitching a thin nylon tent. It is still trying to rain on us, as it has tried all day, but never quite does so. We filter water from the spring and enjoy a hot meal. The kids play cards as I string up a hammock, first outside, then later in the shelter itself. I pull on my Frogg Toggs for warmth and fall asleep easily.
Around midnight, the sky made up for the day's weak efforts with a thunderous downpour!!! But we were snug and dry in the shelter. Did I mention that my nice, thick, comfortable Therma-Rest pad was also nice and dry and back in my garage at home??? Ooops, in loading the van hurriedly in the rain, it had been set back in the dry garage for a moment ... never to make it back into the van. Fortunately, I had advised Colin to take two of our foam pads, for extra comfort. Well, that morning in the parking area at Springer, I had taken one of them away from him! Around 3:30 in the morning, I crawl out of the hammock and into my sleeping bag on the floor of the shelter, on that pad. For the next three nights, I awoke with sore shoulders from trying to sleep on my side on that too-skinny pad. I did have a nice pillow though ... the tent from my pack, which I hauled for three and a half days, apparently just so it could be my pillow (since we stayed in shelters each night).
DAY TWO (about 8 miles, Hawk Mtn Shelter to Gooch Mtn Shelter)
The next morning (Friday) we got up around 8:00. Hi Ho 1624 was already packing up. We got down our food bags from the bear cables, and discovered mice had gotten into our peanuts and our M&Ms. More food challenges! We had had an easy time with the 8 miles on Thursday, and only had 8 miles to do on Friday, so we were very leisurely. Hi Ho took off for Springer to our warm “goodbyes.” I filtered water from the spring and we prepared our breakfasts of hot chocolate or tea with honey and instant oatmeal or grits. Hawk Mountain Shelter has a privy nearby. A luxury in the woods, in my opinion, which I made use of! As I policed the area, I found an expensive titanium MSR spoon. We took another shelter photograph and finally hit the trail at 10:30 (the same as the day before, where does the time go?).
The kids went on ahead. Day Two started like Day One, hiking down. Within half a mile, I come out at Hightower Gap at the junction of USFS 42 and USFS 69. After crossing the gravel road, there is a short slight climb, but then over a mile and a half of gentle descent.. I could get used to this. The trail runs somewhat parallel to USFS 42 for a while. You can not see the road, BUT surprisingly I hear traffic on it once or twice on this Friday morning. It seems odd to hear traffic when I feel so far out in the woods.
The morning’s hiking has brought me out at Horse Gap where the trail intersects USFS 42 again. I half expect traffic to drive by any time. I'm at the foot of Sassafras Mountain. The kids are no where to be seen. I had told them to meet up on top of Sassafras. I took about 15 minutes to make some adjustments to my gear and drink some electrolytes. My Gregory Reality pack has been great. It adjusts about two dozen different ways. Whenever a part of my body feels the strain, I adjust a couple of straps and avoid any pain, chaffs, or raw skin. (NOTE: For the entire four days, I never had a blister, a sore muscle, or aching feet! I did have a sore shoulder from sleeping in my natural position, on my side, on that thin foam pad. Next time, that Therma-Rest goes in the van for sure!!!)
I have enjoyed eating blackberries along the trail. Also, I’ve seen plenty of different kinds of wildflowers, including some taller than I am. I promise myself to look them up back home in my wildflower books. (DONE... they are Black Cohosh.) I love all the fields of fern we see from time to time. Also I’ve seen something very strange, something I’ve never seen before. That is whole families of earthworms writhing en masse on the trail. Sometimes they have “boiled up” out of little mounds. Other times I don’t see them, but feel them squish under my boots. What’s this all about? A frenzy of eating? Of procreating? Avoiding drowning in the wet soil? I have no real idea.
At noon I start up the 663 foot Sassafras Mtn. Twenty minutes later, dripping with sweat, I top out the steep part of the climb. In another ten minutes of gradual climbing, I meet the kids waiting for me on top. (We all considered this the toughest mountain of the weekend.) We take photos and enjoy some lunch. We also examine the topo map to determine which mountains we have climbed getting here. Colin reports he had seen a black snake of some sort with yellow stripes.
Now we start the 500 foot descent towards Cooper Gap, but we enjoy blackberries along the way again. In fact, Colin is in the lead and suddenly freezes. He is convinced we just scared a bear away from the blackberry brambles to our left in front of us. We decide the spoils go to the victors, so we munch a bit on some of the juicy berries (but leave plenty out of our reach among the briars and poison ivy for the bear).
The sun has stayed out a bit more, and we haven’t been threatened as much by rain. In fact, it has turned out to be a warm, sweaty hike all over Sassafras. At Cooper Gap we once again cross a junction of USFS roads. This ain’t the wilderness, it’s a dang highway system in the mountains!
Then we climb Justus Mountain, which is only 400 feet, a wimpy thing after Sassafras. With one more down and up, we begin a long descent and at the bottom at 2:45 come to Justus Creek, just what the doctor ordered! A COLD mountain stream. Not deep at all, but enough to lay down in for the stout-hearted, to cool off nicely. We take our afternoon break here and enjoy a snack and more photos.
We know the trail has been re-routed ahead, and the new Gooch Mountain Shelter is not marked on the topo map, so we aren’t sure just what is ahead, but we suspect it is not more than a mile or two of hiking for today.
The new trail is nice and we arrive at the new (1998) Gooch Mtn Shelter at 4:30. The shelter was great and the evening was SO NICE. More trail angels had left some oatmeal packages. Our food situation was not as bleak as it might have been. We wondered if the newness of the shelter might mean no mice, but reading the register soon robbed us of that hope. One very nice thing was the absence of poison ivy in the vicinity of the shelter. Not only was the shelter new, but it had a new-fangled, organic, above-ground privy. I only examined it and took a photo for posterity, not posterior.
This was our second 8-mile day. Tomorrow was to be a 12-mile day to the Wood’s Hole Shelter, so we vowed to leave before 10:30 in the morning! Sarah read in the register that some fellow from Mississippi had lost his spoon at the Hawk Mountain Shelter (but he didn’t give his address, so I can't send it to him!). Sarah wrote in the register that we had found it.
Little furry critters tried their darndest to keep us awake, but to no avail ... we slept the sleep of tired hikers once Colin tired of trying to spot the scurrying critters with a quick flash of my little Princeton Tec Blast flashlight. This night I slept in the loft with Sarah and Paul while Colin had my hammock down below. That wasn’t to last long, as Colin was soon up in the loft with us.
DAY THREE (about 12 miles, Gooch Mtn Shelter to Wood's Hole Shelter)
Saturday morning I got up at 6:15, got down the foods bags, and started boiling water for breakfast. Before the water started to bubble, the Primus gas canister gave out!!! This is even though we had checked to make sure it was close to full weight before the trip. So now we’ve run out of fuel. Well, I did discover that the 9-hour candle I had packed would boil water! So, we did have hot water for our morning cocoa and tea and oatmeal.
I started out at 7:30 and found myself clearing spider webs from the path for the kids, who were to follow me shortly. But the early morning hike was so nice. Sunlight streamed in at angles through the leaves and among the mist. Within a mile and a half, I came to the first sign for the Gooch Mountain Shelter, but had been told to take the second one if I wanted to see that shelter, so I kept going along the A.T. In a short while I came to Gooch Gap, where USFS 42 once again crossed the A.T. To the right was the sign for the other path up to the Gooch Gap Shelter. Out of curiosity, I took it and am glad I did. It made me appreciate the Gooch Mtn Shelter even more. The Gooch Gap Shelter is a small thing, right on the ground. I took a photo and returned to the trail. The arrow and “happy face” I had drawn on the ground on the trail for the kids was still there, so I assumed they had not yet caught up with me.
I crossed USFS 42, saw a bear-proof trash can where we could dump our trash, which the kids were carrying. So, I drew a new arrow on the ground to point it out to them, as it was not at all clear what the metal box was. I went on up the trail, beginning a long ascent. After a few minutes I saw someone ahead. It was the two boys. They had not seen my “happy face” and arrow at all! Sarah was coming behind at her own pace, enjoying some solitude.
The next mile or two were wonderful, walking along a steep ridge, just under the ridge line, with the sun coming from that same side of the ridge. You could look down several hundred feet amongst the trees, it seemed. Plus, over the ridge crest, we found ourselves in rhododendron tunnels again, something I just love. Every few of them had lingering blossoms.
At 9:10 we stopped on Ramrock Mtn for a snack of summer sausage. Sarah caught up with us. We also found our second garter snake. We had seen several deer. I had also scared up some quail, I believe, which had startled me more than them. The salty summer sausage was good and we debated rationing it, as our food stock was low, but decided to have it all. We enjoyed the view and took more photos of each other and again tried to figure out on the topo map which peaks we had climbed to get here. We think we’re doing pretty well on this 12-mile day.
At 9:50 we hit the trail again. The kids go one ahead at their own pace. Around 10:30 I begin to hear loud voices ahead. Either the kids have run into something of great interest, or I’m going to run into our first other hikers on the trail. Turns out to be the second. A group of about a dozen youngsters, with a man and a woman leaders, is getting water from a small waterfall along the trail. I chat with the boys, and ask what group they are. They don’t seem sure, but say “Boy Scouts.” Just then two older gentlemen come along, also southbound, and pass us all by. Wow... a busy juncture on the trail after two days of nobody.
The group’s male leader tells me they are on a 19-day hike from North Carolina to Springer and that they haven’t made their planned daily mileage because not all the boys have been up to it. Also, that the boys each packed their own packs, subject to not carrying more than 25% of their own weight. They all seem pretty grubby, but I am envious of getting to take such a long hike! We say goodbye and I continue northbound and their noisy conversation continues southbound.
Soon I am hearing vehicular traffic noise, getting louder and louder. Another odd sound, though I’ve heard tires on the gravel USFS roads several times during the hike. It’s 72 degrees and sunny. A very pretty day.
At 10:40 I arrived at Woody Gap, where the kids are waiting on me in the far parking lot. Georgia highway 60 crosses the A.T. here, and there is plenty of traffic of all sorts, cars, trucks, bicycles, skateboards, and so forth. We’re in civilization! We decided to ask someone to drive us into Suches to get fuel and food. Soon my daughter has sweet-talked a fellow in a pick-up truck to drive her and Colin the 2 miles into town. They were back in 15 minutes with beanie weenies, pop tarts, candy, and a fire log. Ah, thank God for "trail angels!" We take some photos there.
At 11:40 we start up Big Cedar Mountain from Woody Gap, but a few minutes later I discover I left my “Buff” sweatband back on the rocks at Woody Gap. As it was a gift from my Belarusian exchange student daughter, I don’t want to abandon it. Colin, who is in tennis shoes, volunteers to leave his pack alongside the trail and run back for it. He takes off and we take his pack and begin carrying it up the mountain, along with my own. Actually, the total weight isn’t much more than I practice with anyway. After a while, I put it down part way up the mountain for him, but Sarah picks it up and carries it more. By the time he catches back up with us with my “Buff,” we’re almost at the top with his pack. A fair trade!
At 12:15 we got to the top of Big Cedar Mtn and laid out on the sunny rocks to soak up some sun. We munch on the candy Sarah got us. Colin decides to rock climb some and finds himself staring into the face of a medium sized copperhead while climbing back up to us. I hope the photos turn out! Then we enjoyed some lunch as rain drops started to fall, then to pour just as I finished my beanie-weenies. Thank goodness for rain-proof pack covers ... and plastic garbage bags!
In that downpour, with thunder booming, and wind blowing, we are walking on level ground, where the footpath is worn into the ground. We are sloshing through water up to our ankles in the storm. Suddenly a young deer jumps onto the trail in front of us, seems surprised to see us there out in that weather, and studies us for about five minutes. Finally it bounds off into the brush, so we can proceed.
From the top of Big Cedar Mountain, we descend, descend, descend. The boys have gone ahead. After about two miles we bottom out (is this Henry Gap?) and are supposed to start back up, but is THIS the trail? We’re on an old road, and there is no white blaze to be seen on this trail that leads up to the left. After huffing and puffing up for a while, Sarah and I are ready to turn back, but I begin to turn around and look for white blazes southbound and soon I see one, so we know we’re on the right path.
Soon we top out this ascent and shortly come to a fork. (Is THIS Henry Gap?) Again, there is no white blaze either way to tell us where to go. I take the left fork, but soon come to the backyard of a new house still under construction and turn back. Sarah shouts that she has found a blaze down the right fork, so off we go, sure again we’re on the A.T.
A short ways up the trail we catch up with our two boys and three other guys. Turns out two of them are also weekend northbounders and the third is a Georgia Appalachian Trail Club “trail maintainer.” He’s weed-whacking the trail, for which we’re grateful. Some of the trail has been nicely cleared for the past two days, and some not cleared at all. I have noted a big difference here and there. The other two northbounders go on ahead and we chat with the GATC trail maintainer for a bit before heading off ourselves.
We got to Jarrard's gap and again met the two fellows hiking from Woody Gap to Neels Gap, and also a novice (even compared to us!) father and young son team doing the same. Sarah and Paul tried to get water down the old road, but the source was dry. We’ll have to make it the rest of the day without much water. The second time this has happened to us.
While Sarah and Paul were gone for water, the two northbound fellows head off. I chat with the father and find out this is his and his son’s first outing. They have “book bag packs” without even belt straps, so I know they’re traveling light. They head out too, not sure if they’ll stop at Wood’s Hole Shelter, or go on to Blood Mountain Shelter.
At 3:45 our own group of four headed out from Jarrad Gap. The kids went ahead of me as we began the climb up Gaddis Mountain. Soon I was hot and sweaty, but ... it began to pour rain. And thunder. And the wind blew. Cooled me right off. Felt GREAT. When I topped out and saw the cut-off to Wood’s Hole Shelter, I also saw a tarp up ahead, so I kept going up the trail to see what's what. There were the two fellows we had seen twice and also the father and son, all trying to decide what to do in the downpour. The father-son team had no raingear at all. I invited them to stay with us in Wood’s Hole if they wanted and headed back to the cut-off to the shelter.
At 4:30 I arrived at the Wood’s Hole shelter still in a downpour. It’s half a mile off the trail! Once the rain let up I went for water. We all were out. We got out the fire log Sarah had bought in Suches and made a little fire ring under the protection of the roof overhand. Soon we were cooking up some "camp fire pizza" based on Colin’s recipe, which was GREAT and TASTY, probably our very best meal on the trail of the whole weekend. And to top it off, Sarah has been packing freeze-dried (?) blueberry cheesecake as a surprise for me the whole trip! It was great!
Due to the heavy cloud cover, it got dark early. No loft in this shelter either. We bedded down on the floor and went to sleep early after our 12-mile day, not having seen or heard any mice! It is pitch black. As black as any cave I’ve been in.
3:30 a.m. ... a TORRENTIAL MONSOONAL downpour woke us all. Some wind and lightning, but mostly RAIN. We are all expecting the local bears to head over to the shelter to get out of THIS weather!!!
DAY FOUR (about 4.5 miles, Wood's Hole Shelter to Walasi-Yi at Neels Gap)
Sunday morning, I get up at 7:30 and check out the privy. A bit nasty. I got our food bags down from the bear cables and started some of the fire log to boil water for breakfast. Once the kids got up I made cornbread pancakes, as we’ve gone through all our oatmeal and grits. Sarah takes off at 9:05 to fill all our water bottles and leave them by the trail for us. A little while later, Colin takes off. Finally, Paul and I are packed up for the last time and leave the shelter at 9:30. Paul hikes so fast that I won’t let him on my heels. When he’s behind me, I call him my French puppy dog, because he’s right underfoot. So, I put him in front and he soon leaves me behind.
At 10:00 I arrive at Slaughter Gap. The hike up to here has been gentle and easy. Now I’m ready for the real hike up Blood Mountain. It turns out to be pretty easy too, with good cut-backs as needed. At 10:30 I top out in a foggy cloud on the summit, enjoying some blackberries and rhododendron along the way.
As on Springer, we can see as far as the eye can see ... counted in yards, not in miles, though, on Blood. Can't see anything except the top of Blood Mountain. We took some photos, read and signed the register (as we did at all the shelters), and decided to head down. But where? There were no white blazes anywhere around the Blood Mountain Shelter that we could find.
After a while, we find a blaze on a rock and start down. But soon the kids are headed off the wrong way, again not finding a blaze, but a fellow coming up the mountain sees them and calls them back. Finally, we’re off the top and on the “regular” trail and the kids are off to the races, thinking only of Ben & Jerry’s. I meet another hiker coming up the trail. He’s from London, but lives in Atlanta now. It’s his first time out on the trail and he’s soaked too.
It begins to pour rain again, with some LOUD thunder this time. I enjoy the warm summer shower, the blooming rhododendron, the rhododendron and mountain laurel "tunnels," the balancing rock, etc. My clothes are soaked, I am soaked, my boots are full of water and squish with each step. I hear the first sounds of traffic and am sad ... I don't want to stop hiking!
But I do come out at Neels Gap and see the famous Walasi-Yi Center there and the kids waiting on me. Inside, my daughter is getting food and Ben & Jerry's ice cream, but I ask for a beanie-weenie, and the young fellow behind the counter asks me "What is a beanie-weenie?"!!!! Winton Porter, the proprietor, is there and says "Don't mind him, we brought him down from Pennsylvania!" and grabs me a can of beanie-weenies. Upon further quizzing, I did learn the fellow has learned a few things ... he did know what a "Moon Pie" is! LOL
Then we have to head to the "Women's Bathroom" to use the microwave. That's a bit of an odd feeling!
I walked down to the Byron Reece parking area to see if our friends got our van shuttled there or not. I said hello to a gentleman down there getting ready to hit the trail and it turned out to be John Cavender, the GATC Ridge Runner whom I had spoken with by phone within the week with last minute questions. What a gracious gentleman and what a treat for me to meet him in person and get a chance to chat for a while! Then I had to fire up the van and head back to where I had left the kids at the Center.
After showers (back in the Ladies' Room and in the dark!), some photos, and two 12-ounce cans of V-8 for me instead of Ben & Jerry's, we hit the road for home. (NOTE: Both boys got some good blisters on their feet coming down Blood Mountain. I assume the constantly wet feet tenderized their skin and their speed did the rest?)
I'm ready to go back right back!
Postlude...
We planned a hike for the last day of July through the first three of August. That means we thought it could be 95 degrees and 95% humidity, for which we were prepared mentally. However, a finger of cool air came down along the ridge of the Appalachians into Georgia for us. I looked at my zipper pull REI thermometer four times during the four days. The high was 74 degrees and the low was 68 degrees (all daytime). The kids actually got cold at night since they only brought zip-up fleece blankets. And it rained on us, a lot or a little, each day, which was refreshing. In short, the heat was not brutal at all, for which we were very grateful.
Rain Man
Nashville, TN
Springer Mtn-to-Neels Gap
Thursday, July 31-to-Sunday, August 3, 2003
Rain Man (age 52)
Prelude ...
I am hiking alone down from the summit of Blood Mountain towards Neels Gap and the Walasi-Yi Center on the last day of our 4-day August hike from Springer Mountain. The three kids are ahead of me. Thunder booms, but not too close. Rain pours, as it has once or twice each day and every night of our hike. I am soaked to the skin. My boots, full of water, squish with each step. My pack sways gently as I descend rocks, roots, and mini waterfalls. I pass through tunnels of flowering rhododendron. I hear the sounds of traffic growing louder. How do I feel? What am I thinking? ... "I do NOT want to stop hiking yet!"
Wednesday, July 30, 2003 we leave Nashville around 8:45 p.m. after loading the Dodge Caravan in the rain. I love rain. My earliest childhood memory is of a summer shower. That also happens to be a GOOD memory. I love summer showers and that love will come in handy on this four-day A.T. outing.
My 19-year-old rock-climbing daughter, Sarah, had announced plans to through-hike the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine starting in March 2004. I read of hikers who couldn't even find the beginning of the trail, and thought that was a good excuse to propose that she and I go hike the first few miles together for practice. Being a wonderfully good sport, she agreed to humor "the ancient one." We agreed we should take Paul, a 14-year-old French boy living with our family for a month this summer. He and his parents readily agreed and he came prepared. During preparations, we also added Colin, a 19-year-old country music band drummer from our church. He readily agreed but was totally unprepared (Colin hiked in “tennis shoes”). We outfitted both boys with packs and gear they lacked.
Sarah has checked with the folks at Cumberland Transit, the outfitters store where she works in Nashville, Tennessee. I have checked online with the Georgia Appalachian Trail Club. We feel pretty good about our 32-mile, three and one-half day hike we have planned, and have lots of good advice and also directions off the GATC web site.
DAY ONE (about 8 miles, Springer to Hawk Mtn Shelter)
Thursday, July 31 around 2:30 a.m. in a heavy, foggy rainstorm, we are lost east of Ellijay, Georgia just off Roy Road, trying to find U.S. Forest Service road #42. We have discovered that directions good on a sunny afternoon are sometimes useless in a foggy, middle-of-the-night downpour. After a few backtracks, we finally begin the slow, 7-mile drive up the washboard, pot-holed USFS #42 and arrive in the parking lot 9/10ths of a mile north of Springer Mountain at 3:30 a.m. The rain is coming down as heavy as ever. I propose we hike up to the Springer Mtn Shelter to sleep. The kids will have nothing of that idea and strongly announce they intend to sleep right in their seats in the van. Who am I to argue?! After a little re-arranging, Sarah has chosen to lie on the floor behind the front bucket seats and in front of the middle bench seat (the rear seat was taken out to provide space for our gear). As soon as Paul and I recline the bucket seats, Sarah finds herself totally trapped, but decides that’s better than a hike in the dark in the rain. As the adage goes, “you made your bed, now lie in it.”
Around 6:15 a.m., the rain has stopped and the sky has begun to lighten in spite of being completely overcast. We rouse ourselves, leave our gear in the van, and hike south towards the top of Springer. The trail is rocky, but pretty good, except for the plants on either side that lean in and meet in the middle, and are so wet from the rain. Our pant legs are soon soaked. Even with my two trekking poles I can't hold the wet plants back enough. I am hoping the entire trail isn't this overgrown!
About three-quarters of a mile up the trail we come upon a wooden sign that says "Shelter," so we side-track to check out the Springer Mountain Shelter. We've never seen a shelter and want to know what one is like. Very rustic, a second story loft, open on one side to the elements ... and what are these cables in the trees for? Oh yes, getting food away from bears! We read and sign the register, a spiral notebook. One is placed in all the shelters for hikers to record their random notes. Some are so good! It’s a treat to read these, we soon discover. Now, on to the top of Springer and the famous beginning (or end) of the Appalachian Trail.
We enjoyed a view as far as the eye could see ... and the eye could see about 50 yards in that fog! Interestingly, the plaques are not on the absolute summit. Instead on the summit a few yards away there appear to be grassy places among the trees for tents. Interestingly, there are also signs warning not to camp on top because of the danger of lightning. Hmmmmm. I also find the blue-blazed trail that leads eight miles down towards Amicalola Falls State Park, I assume.
We take a few photographs of various of us next to the two bronze plaques. Later I learned there is a register on top of Springer? We surely didn't see one nor a place for one. Where is it hidden???
We didn't dawdle on Springer, but headed on back down towards the parking area and our van and breakfast. About 8:30 or so we spread out on the gravel around the back of the van for oatmeal or cheese grits (yumm, my favorite!), during which fine cuisine I discovered the boys had brought absolutely no meals, only light snacks I had given them! Somehow between me asking my daughter to plan all our food, and this and that, there was obviously an excess of no communication. She had also forgotten to purchase the 15 power bars I had given her money to get at Cumberland Transit! The boys had virtually no food, but they did have deer-in-headlights looks of bewilderment on their faces. I wondered if they thought I was going to be carrying their food for four days! In any event, I learned a lesson about backpacking with "kids."
What were we to do? Drive back out somewhere for food? Forge ahead? Ration? What? I remembered that we always come back from camping and hiking trips with plenty of food left over (though those never included hungry teenage boys), so we decide to proceed. I'm wondering how much “road kill” we can plunder on a hiking footpath! I know we can get off the trail at Highway 60 in Woody Gap to go into the little town of Suches if nothing else.
So, the boys are anxious to get started. About 9:30, the two of them go on and head north, knowing to follow the white blazes, with instructions to wait for us along the way in a couple of hours.
As Sarah and I are locking up the van and leaving a key for Ellijay friends who have agreed to shuttle it up to Neels Gap for us, another van pulls up, with a South Carolina license plate. So, maybe we aren't going to have complete solitude after all? It's a mom and a dad and a young son. The has on an Easley High School t-shirt. I tell him my father graduated from Easley High (in the 40s). They just drove about 16 miles on the rough USFS road #42 from the other (east) direction and are interested to hear we only came 8 miles from the west side, and the road wasn't that bad. They plan to drive out that way, after a 7 or 8 hour out-and-back hike, their first on the A.T. Another vehicle drives by on USFS 42 as we chat. Seems to be a busy morning, to be this far up in the mountains!
Finally, Sarah and I hit the trail for good around 10:30. Right away we notice two things. For one, this part of the trail is much better maintained. The weeds are not overgrowing it. And... when you start your hike from the top of a mountain, you wind up hiking mostly downhill, which isn't such a bad way to start!
The sun has come out. The trail reminds me so much of South Carolina when I was a boy in the upstate area (Powdersville for me). The sandy red clay soil, some pine needles to walk on. What a nice feeling for the real start of our hike. I'm enjoying this already! Feeling like a kid again. Even my pack feels light ... and it is. I practice with 40 pounds of water in it on hikes around Radnor Lake State Natural Area in Nashville, but for this hike, it weighed only 24 pounds (before I put in my Camelbak). My new Lowa Renegade hiking boots feel more like tennis shoes on my feet than my old, heavy, all-leather hiking boots used to feel.
About a mile and a half down the trail from the parking area, Sarah and I stopped off at the Stover Creek Shelter to see what it was like. Much smaller than the Springer Mtn Shelter, and only one story, and dark. We enjoy the mountain laurel and rhododendron and streams. Continuing on the A.T. we are on an old logging road amidst hemlocks, which the guidebook says may be a virgin stand. Walking on a bed of needles on the flat, wide old road is pretty easy hiking. Oops, spoke too soon! Sarah just slid on a muddy bank onto her backside trying to avoid a puddle left by the rain across the entire old road.
We told the boys not to go any farther than “Three Forks” and to wait on us there. There they are as we come upon a log footbridge across Chester/Noontootla Creek right at USFS #58 at 12:30. It is about 72 degrees. It has been a short and easy hike so far, but it was still fun to stop, take off our hiking boots and wade in the stream, take photographs, and just “kick back” for a while. I am surprised that so many vehicles (two or three) drive by on USFS 58 during the hour we spend at Three Forks. I was surprised at the amount of traffic I heard all weekend.
It tries to drizzle on us, so after a lunch of peanut butter and crackers, we leave Three Forks, generally following Long Creek. Within a mile, we take the short side trip to Long Creek Falls, which are beautiful. The kids climb all over the falls, posing for photographs. It’s about 1:50 now. I find the first of several well-chewed MRE ration foil containers that I find along the trail the next 3 days. Apparently the Army Rangers who practice in the area aren’t immune from rascally animals any more than hikers are. It’s still overcast and still tying to rain on us, but isn’t quite succeeding. We even hear the thunder.
I love the rhododendron tunnels we get to walk through every once in a while. After leaving Long Creek Falls, we begin climbing steadily. Within a mile we come out at a field planted especially for the wild turkeys, according to the sign. There is a gravel road, and the guidebook says the Hickory Flats Cemetery is to the right, with picnic tables used by hikers. Sarah and I hike down this road almost half a mile and find NO such cemetery, so we hiked back up the road and continue along the A.T. instead. The boys have gone ahead once again.
We have seen deer twice today. It won't be the only time.
We continue to hike upwards and we skirt the north side of Hawk Mountain. We arrive at the Hawk Mtn Shelter around 3:45. There we meet "Hi Ho 1624" who was on a 9-day hike south to Springer/Amicalola. He turned out to be a “trail angel.” Upon learning the boys had not brought any meals of their own, he promptly pulled out three extra Mountain House meals and gave them to the boys, insisting we not even offer to pay. Let me tell you, hungry teenage boys like the sight of free food.
The Hawk Mtn Shelter is the first one we stay in. It seems very substantial and roomy, compared to pitching a thin nylon tent. It is still trying to rain on us, as it has tried all day, but never quite does so. We filter water from the spring and enjoy a hot meal. The kids play cards as I string up a hammock, first outside, then later in the shelter itself. I pull on my Frogg Toggs for warmth and fall asleep easily.
Around midnight, the sky made up for the day's weak efforts with a thunderous downpour!!! But we were snug and dry in the shelter. Did I mention that my nice, thick, comfortable Therma-Rest pad was also nice and dry and back in my garage at home??? Ooops, in loading the van hurriedly in the rain, it had been set back in the dry garage for a moment ... never to make it back into the van. Fortunately, I had advised Colin to take two of our foam pads, for extra comfort. Well, that morning in the parking area at Springer, I had taken one of them away from him! Around 3:30 in the morning, I crawl out of the hammock and into my sleeping bag on the floor of the shelter, on that pad. For the next three nights, I awoke with sore shoulders from trying to sleep on my side on that too-skinny pad. I did have a nice pillow though ... the tent from my pack, which I hauled for three and a half days, apparently just so it could be my pillow (since we stayed in shelters each night).
DAY TWO (about 8 miles, Hawk Mtn Shelter to Gooch Mtn Shelter)
The next morning (Friday) we got up around 8:00. Hi Ho 1624 was already packing up. We got down our food bags from the bear cables, and discovered mice had gotten into our peanuts and our M&Ms. More food challenges! We had had an easy time with the 8 miles on Thursday, and only had 8 miles to do on Friday, so we were very leisurely. Hi Ho took off for Springer to our warm “goodbyes.” I filtered water from the spring and we prepared our breakfasts of hot chocolate or tea with honey and instant oatmeal or grits. Hawk Mountain Shelter has a privy nearby. A luxury in the woods, in my opinion, which I made use of! As I policed the area, I found an expensive titanium MSR spoon. We took another shelter photograph and finally hit the trail at 10:30 (the same as the day before, where does the time go?).
The kids went on ahead. Day Two started like Day One, hiking down. Within half a mile, I come out at Hightower Gap at the junction of USFS 42 and USFS 69. After crossing the gravel road, there is a short slight climb, but then over a mile and a half of gentle descent.. I could get used to this. The trail runs somewhat parallel to USFS 42 for a while. You can not see the road, BUT surprisingly I hear traffic on it once or twice on this Friday morning. It seems odd to hear traffic when I feel so far out in the woods.
The morning’s hiking has brought me out at Horse Gap where the trail intersects USFS 42 again. I half expect traffic to drive by any time. I'm at the foot of Sassafras Mountain. The kids are no where to be seen. I had told them to meet up on top of Sassafras. I took about 15 minutes to make some adjustments to my gear and drink some electrolytes. My Gregory Reality pack has been great. It adjusts about two dozen different ways. Whenever a part of my body feels the strain, I adjust a couple of straps and avoid any pain, chaffs, or raw skin. (NOTE: For the entire four days, I never had a blister, a sore muscle, or aching feet! I did have a sore shoulder from sleeping in my natural position, on my side, on that thin foam pad. Next time, that Therma-Rest goes in the van for sure!!!)
I have enjoyed eating blackberries along the trail. Also, I’ve seen plenty of different kinds of wildflowers, including some taller than I am. I promise myself to look them up back home in my wildflower books. (DONE... they are Black Cohosh.) I love all the fields of fern we see from time to time. Also I’ve seen something very strange, something I’ve never seen before. That is whole families of earthworms writhing en masse on the trail. Sometimes they have “boiled up” out of little mounds. Other times I don’t see them, but feel them squish under my boots. What’s this all about? A frenzy of eating? Of procreating? Avoiding drowning in the wet soil? I have no real idea.
At noon I start up the 663 foot Sassafras Mtn. Twenty minutes later, dripping with sweat, I top out the steep part of the climb. In another ten minutes of gradual climbing, I meet the kids waiting for me on top. (We all considered this the toughest mountain of the weekend.) We take photos and enjoy some lunch. We also examine the topo map to determine which mountains we have climbed getting here. Colin reports he had seen a black snake of some sort with yellow stripes.
Now we start the 500 foot descent towards Cooper Gap, but we enjoy blackberries along the way again. In fact, Colin is in the lead and suddenly freezes. He is convinced we just scared a bear away from the blackberry brambles to our left in front of us. We decide the spoils go to the victors, so we munch a bit on some of the juicy berries (but leave plenty out of our reach among the briars and poison ivy for the bear).
The sun has stayed out a bit more, and we haven’t been threatened as much by rain. In fact, it has turned out to be a warm, sweaty hike all over Sassafras. At Cooper Gap we once again cross a junction of USFS roads. This ain’t the wilderness, it’s a dang highway system in the mountains!
Then we climb Justus Mountain, which is only 400 feet, a wimpy thing after Sassafras. With one more down and up, we begin a long descent and at the bottom at 2:45 come to Justus Creek, just what the doctor ordered! A COLD mountain stream. Not deep at all, but enough to lay down in for the stout-hearted, to cool off nicely. We take our afternoon break here and enjoy a snack and more photos.
We know the trail has been re-routed ahead, and the new Gooch Mountain Shelter is not marked on the topo map, so we aren’t sure just what is ahead, but we suspect it is not more than a mile or two of hiking for today.
The new trail is nice and we arrive at the new (1998) Gooch Mtn Shelter at 4:30. The shelter was great and the evening was SO NICE. More trail angels had left some oatmeal packages. Our food situation was not as bleak as it might have been. We wondered if the newness of the shelter might mean no mice, but reading the register soon robbed us of that hope. One very nice thing was the absence of poison ivy in the vicinity of the shelter. Not only was the shelter new, but it had a new-fangled, organic, above-ground privy. I only examined it and took a photo for posterity, not posterior.
This was our second 8-mile day. Tomorrow was to be a 12-mile day to the Wood’s Hole Shelter, so we vowed to leave before 10:30 in the morning! Sarah read in the register that some fellow from Mississippi had lost his spoon at the Hawk Mountain Shelter (but he didn’t give his address, so I can't send it to him!). Sarah wrote in the register that we had found it.
Little furry critters tried their darndest to keep us awake, but to no avail ... we slept the sleep of tired hikers once Colin tired of trying to spot the scurrying critters with a quick flash of my little Princeton Tec Blast flashlight. This night I slept in the loft with Sarah and Paul while Colin had my hammock down below. That wasn’t to last long, as Colin was soon up in the loft with us.
DAY THREE (about 12 miles, Gooch Mtn Shelter to Wood's Hole Shelter)
Saturday morning I got up at 6:15, got down the foods bags, and started boiling water for breakfast. Before the water started to bubble, the Primus gas canister gave out!!! This is even though we had checked to make sure it was close to full weight before the trip. So now we’ve run out of fuel. Well, I did discover that the 9-hour candle I had packed would boil water! So, we did have hot water for our morning cocoa and tea and oatmeal.
I started out at 7:30 and found myself clearing spider webs from the path for the kids, who were to follow me shortly. But the early morning hike was so nice. Sunlight streamed in at angles through the leaves and among the mist. Within a mile and a half, I came to the first sign for the Gooch Mountain Shelter, but had been told to take the second one if I wanted to see that shelter, so I kept going along the A.T. In a short while I came to Gooch Gap, where USFS 42 once again crossed the A.T. To the right was the sign for the other path up to the Gooch Gap Shelter. Out of curiosity, I took it and am glad I did. It made me appreciate the Gooch Mtn Shelter even more. The Gooch Gap Shelter is a small thing, right on the ground. I took a photo and returned to the trail. The arrow and “happy face” I had drawn on the ground on the trail for the kids was still there, so I assumed they had not yet caught up with me.
I crossed USFS 42, saw a bear-proof trash can where we could dump our trash, which the kids were carrying. So, I drew a new arrow on the ground to point it out to them, as it was not at all clear what the metal box was. I went on up the trail, beginning a long ascent. After a few minutes I saw someone ahead. It was the two boys. They had not seen my “happy face” and arrow at all! Sarah was coming behind at her own pace, enjoying some solitude.
The next mile or two were wonderful, walking along a steep ridge, just under the ridge line, with the sun coming from that same side of the ridge. You could look down several hundred feet amongst the trees, it seemed. Plus, over the ridge crest, we found ourselves in rhododendron tunnels again, something I just love. Every few of them had lingering blossoms.
At 9:10 we stopped on Ramrock Mtn for a snack of summer sausage. Sarah caught up with us. We also found our second garter snake. We had seen several deer. I had also scared up some quail, I believe, which had startled me more than them. The salty summer sausage was good and we debated rationing it, as our food stock was low, but decided to have it all. We enjoyed the view and took more photos of each other and again tried to figure out on the topo map which peaks we had climbed to get here. We think we’re doing pretty well on this 12-mile day.
At 9:50 we hit the trail again. The kids go one ahead at their own pace. Around 10:30 I begin to hear loud voices ahead. Either the kids have run into something of great interest, or I’m going to run into our first other hikers on the trail. Turns out to be the second. A group of about a dozen youngsters, with a man and a woman leaders, is getting water from a small waterfall along the trail. I chat with the boys, and ask what group they are. They don’t seem sure, but say “Boy Scouts.” Just then two older gentlemen come along, also southbound, and pass us all by. Wow... a busy juncture on the trail after two days of nobody.
The group’s male leader tells me they are on a 19-day hike from North Carolina to Springer and that they haven’t made their planned daily mileage because not all the boys have been up to it. Also, that the boys each packed their own packs, subject to not carrying more than 25% of their own weight. They all seem pretty grubby, but I am envious of getting to take such a long hike! We say goodbye and I continue northbound and their noisy conversation continues southbound.
Soon I am hearing vehicular traffic noise, getting louder and louder. Another odd sound, though I’ve heard tires on the gravel USFS roads several times during the hike. It’s 72 degrees and sunny. A very pretty day.
At 10:40 I arrived at Woody Gap, where the kids are waiting on me in the far parking lot. Georgia highway 60 crosses the A.T. here, and there is plenty of traffic of all sorts, cars, trucks, bicycles, skateboards, and so forth. We’re in civilization! We decided to ask someone to drive us into Suches to get fuel and food. Soon my daughter has sweet-talked a fellow in a pick-up truck to drive her and Colin the 2 miles into town. They were back in 15 minutes with beanie weenies, pop tarts, candy, and a fire log. Ah, thank God for "trail angels!" We take some photos there.
At 11:40 we start up Big Cedar Mountain from Woody Gap, but a few minutes later I discover I left my “Buff” sweatband back on the rocks at Woody Gap. As it was a gift from my Belarusian exchange student daughter, I don’t want to abandon it. Colin, who is in tennis shoes, volunteers to leave his pack alongside the trail and run back for it. He takes off and we take his pack and begin carrying it up the mountain, along with my own. Actually, the total weight isn’t much more than I practice with anyway. After a while, I put it down part way up the mountain for him, but Sarah picks it up and carries it more. By the time he catches back up with us with my “Buff,” we’re almost at the top with his pack. A fair trade!
At 12:15 we got to the top of Big Cedar Mtn and laid out on the sunny rocks to soak up some sun. We munch on the candy Sarah got us. Colin decides to rock climb some and finds himself staring into the face of a medium sized copperhead while climbing back up to us. I hope the photos turn out! Then we enjoyed some lunch as rain drops started to fall, then to pour just as I finished my beanie-weenies. Thank goodness for rain-proof pack covers ... and plastic garbage bags!
In that downpour, with thunder booming, and wind blowing, we are walking on level ground, where the footpath is worn into the ground. We are sloshing through water up to our ankles in the storm. Suddenly a young deer jumps onto the trail in front of us, seems surprised to see us there out in that weather, and studies us for about five minutes. Finally it bounds off into the brush, so we can proceed.
From the top of Big Cedar Mountain, we descend, descend, descend. The boys have gone ahead. After about two miles we bottom out (is this Henry Gap?) and are supposed to start back up, but is THIS the trail? We’re on an old road, and there is no white blaze to be seen on this trail that leads up to the left. After huffing and puffing up for a while, Sarah and I are ready to turn back, but I begin to turn around and look for white blazes southbound and soon I see one, so we know we’re on the right path.
Soon we top out this ascent and shortly come to a fork. (Is THIS Henry Gap?) Again, there is no white blaze either way to tell us where to go. I take the left fork, but soon come to the backyard of a new house still under construction and turn back. Sarah shouts that she has found a blaze down the right fork, so off we go, sure again we’re on the A.T.
A short ways up the trail we catch up with our two boys and three other guys. Turns out two of them are also weekend northbounders and the third is a Georgia Appalachian Trail Club “trail maintainer.” He’s weed-whacking the trail, for which we’re grateful. Some of the trail has been nicely cleared for the past two days, and some not cleared at all. I have noted a big difference here and there. The other two northbounders go on ahead and we chat with the GATC trail maintainer for a bit before heading off ourselves.
We got to Jarrard's gap and again met the two fellows hiking from Woody Gap to Neels Gap, and also a novice (even compared to us!) father and young son team doing the same. Sarah and Paul tried to get water down the old road, but the source was dry. We’ll have to make it the rest of the day without much water. The second time this has happened to us.
While Sarah and Paul were gone for water, the two northbound fellows head off. I chat with the father and find out this is his and his son’s first outing. They have “book bag packs” without even belt straps, so I know they’re traveling light. They head out too, not sure if they’ll stop at Wood’s Hole Shelter, or go on to Blood Mountain Shelter.
At 3:45 our own group of four headed out from Jarrad Gap. The kids went ahead of me as we began the climb up Gaddis Mountain. Soon I was hot and sweaty, but ... it began to pour rain. And thunder. And the wind blew. Cooled me right off. Felt GREAT. When I topped out and saw the cut-off to Wood’s Hole Shelter, I also saw a tarp up ahead, so I kept going up the trail to see what's what. There were the two fellows we had seen twice and also the father and son, all trying to decide what to do in the downpour. The father-son team had no raingear at all. I invited them to stay with us in Wood’s Hole if they wanted and headed back to the cut-off to the shelter.
At 4:30 I arrived at the Wood’s Hole shelter still in a downpour. It’s half a mile off the trail! Once the rain let up I went for water. We all were out. We got out the fire log Sarah had bought in Suches and made a little fire ring under the protection of the roof overhand. Soon we were cooking up some "camp fire pizza" based on Colin’s recipe, which was GREAT and TASTY, probably our very best meal on the trail of the whole weekend. And to top it off, Sarah has been packing freeze-dried (?) blueberry cheesecake as a surprise for me the whole trip! It was great!
Due to the heavy cloud cover, it got dark early. No loft in this shelter either. We bedded down on the floor and went to sleep early after our 12-mile day, not having seen or heard any mice! It is pitch black. As black as any cave I’ve been in.
3:30 a.m. ... a TORRENTIAL MONSOONAL downpour woke us all. Some wind and lightning, but mostly RAIN. We are all expecting the local bears to head over to the shelter to get out of THIS weather!!!
DAY FOUR (about 4.5 miles, Wood's Hole Shelter to Walasi-Yi at Neels Gap)
Sunday morning, I get up at 7:30 and check out the privy. A bit nasty. I got our food bags down from the bear cables and started some of the fire log to boil water for breakfast. Once the kids got up I made cornbread pancakes, as we’ve gone through all our oatmeal and grits. Sarah takes off at 9:05 to fill all our water bottles and leave them by the trail for us. A little while later, Colin takes off. Finally, Paul and I are packed up for the last time and leave the shelter at 9:30. Paul hikes so fast that I won’t let him on my heels. When he’s behind me, I call him my French puppy dog, because he’s right underfoot. So, I put him in front and he soon leaves me behind.
At 10:00 I arrive at Slaughter Gap. The hike up to here has been gentle and easy. Now I’m ready for the real hike up Blood Mountain. It turns out to be pretty easy too, with good cut-backs as needed. At 10:30 I top out in a foggy cloud on the summit, enjoying some blackberries and rhododendron along the way.
As on Springer, we can see as far as the eye can see ... counted in yards, not in miles, though, on Blood. Can't see anything except the top of Blood Mountain. We took some photos, read and signed the register (as we did at all the shelters), and decided to head down. But where? There were no white blazes anywhere around the Blood Mountain Shelter that we could find.
After a while, we find a blaze on a rock and start down. But soon the kids are headed off the wrong way, again not finding a blaze, but a fellow coming up the mountain sees them and calls them back. Finally, we’re off the top and on the “regular” trail and the kids are off to the races, thinking only of Ben & Jerry’s. I meet another hiker coming up the trail. He’s from London, but lives in Atlanta now. It’s his first time out on the trail and he’s soaked too.
It begins to pour rain again, with some LOUD thunder this time. I enjoy the warm summer shower, the blooming rhododendron, the rhododendron and mountain laurel "tunnels," the balancing rock, etc. My clothes are soaked, I am soaked, my boots are full of water and squish with each step. I hear the first sounds of traffic and am sad ... I don't want to stop hiking!
But I do come out at Neels Gap and see the famous Walasi-Yi Center there and the kids waiting on me. Inside, my daughter is getting food and Ben & Jerry's ice cream, but I ask for a beanie-weenie, and the young fellow behind the counter asks me "What is a beanie-weenie?"!!!! Winton Porter, the proprietor, is there and says "Don't mind him, we brought him down from Pennsylvania!" and grabs me a can of beanie-weenies. Upon further quizzing, I did learn the fellow has learned a few things ... he did know what a "Moon Pie" is! LOL
Then we have to head to the "Women's Bathroom" to use the microwave. That's a bit of an odd feeling!
I walked down to the Byron Reece parking area to see if our friends got our van shuttled there or not. I said hello to a gentleman down there getting ready to hit the trail and it turned out to be John Cavender, the GATC Ridge Runner whom I had spoken with by phone within the week with last minute questions. What a gracious gentleman and what a treat for me to meet him in person and get a chance to chat for a while! Then I had to fire up the van and head back to where I had left the kids at the Center.
After showers (back in the Ladies' Room and in the dark!), some photos, and two 12-ounce cans of V-8 for me instead of Ben & Jerry's, we hit the road for home. (NOTE: Both boys got some good blisters on their feet coming down Blood Mountain. I assume the constantly wet feet tenderized their skin and their speed did the rest?)
I'm ready to go back right back!
Postlude...
We planned a hike for the last day of July through the first three of August. That means we thought it could be 95 degrees and 95% humidity, for which we were prepared mentally. However, a finger of cool air came down along the ridge of the Appalachians into Georgia for us. I looked at my zipper pull REI thermometer four times during the four days. The high was 74 degrees and the low was 68 degrees (all daytime). The kids actually got cold at night since they only brought zip-up fleece blankets. And it rained on us, a lot or a little, each day, which was refreshing. In short, the heat was not brutal at all, for which we were very grateful.
Rain Man
Nashville, TN