Rainman jr
04-04-2004, 20:17
Uga, Grey Dog, and I hit the trail this weekend to join the heard of North bound hikers on the start of their journey. We met a lot of great people on the trail this trip. We arrived at Amicalola Falls around 10:30 and hopped on the trail close to 11 am. Cold and windy.. real windy. We climbed to the top of Springer Mt. and saw the bear warning signs posted right before reaching the shelter. Two ladies hiking north bound were came from the direction of the shelter and reported it was empty. We decided to goto Stover Creek where we ran into a slew of through hikers. The wind was much lighter at Stover Creek, and we were glad to see a group of Boy Scouts pass right by the shelter. We lost our first through hiker that night. He never made it to Stover Creek.
Whoever left the champaign at the shelter for the south bounder, he never stopped at the shelter to drink it. The poor guy probably camped on top of Springer with a huge youth group that arrived at the parking lot while we went to Stover Creek. Hopefully, he caught a ride to the lodge for a bath and a warm bed! Congrats if you are reading this!
We left Stover Creek around 8:45 and it was cold. That early spring cold makes it hard to get out of bed. We parted ways with our group from the night before including Cruiser, Skylander, and the other guys and gals spending the previous night there. We set out for a long day with Woody Gap in mind. We stopped in Cooper Gap for lunch and ran into a number of thru hikers. Bob and Walter from Florida left the trail. It was sad to see them go, but they were both having some real problems making it to their goal at Neal's Gap. We ran into Cruiser and Skylander again, and Cruiser happened upon one of his old trail friends while we were all there.
The wind whipped around the gaps and mountain tops for all of the after noon. The East side offered protection in most cases, but the gaps and peaks were vicious. A mile before the new Gooch Gap Shelter we met up with Tim, who we met the day before. After discussing our pizza plans when we made it to Woody Gap, Tim decided to join us and forgo sleeping at Gooch. Chris Also joined us and we winded our way through the last few miles until we approached Woody Gap.
Best wishes to Tim, Chris, Skylander, Cruiser, Lisa and the others we met this trip. Uga, Grey Dog, and I really enjoyed the group at Stover Creek! I hope the Boy Scouts don't overrun Blood Mt. while everyone tries to make it to Neal's!
Whoever left the champaign at the shelter for the south bounder, he never stopped at the shelter to drink it. The poor guy probably camped on top of Springer with a huge youth group that arrived at the parking lot while we went to Stover Creek. Hopefully, he caught a ride to the lodge for a bath and a warm bed! Congrats if you are reading this!
We left Stover Creek around 8:45 and it was cold. That early spring cold makes it hard to get out of bed. We parted ways with our group from the night before including Cruiser, Skylander, and the other guys and gals spending the previous night there. We set out for a long day with Woody Gap in mind. We stopped in Cooper Gap for lunch and ran into a number of thru hikers. Bob and Walter from Florida left the trail. It was sad to see them go, but they were both having some real problems making it to their goal at Neal's Gap. We ran into Cruiser and Skylander again, and Cruiser happened upon one of his old trail friends while we were all there.
The wind whipped around the gaps and mountain tops for all of the after noon. The East side offered protection in most cases, but the gaps and peaks were vicious. A mile before the new Gooch Gap Shelter we met up with Tim, who we met the day before. After discussing our pizza plans when we made it to Woody Gap, Tim decided to join us and forgo sleeping at Gooch. Chris Also joined us and we winded our way through the last few miles until we approached Woody Gap.
Best wishes to Tim, Chris, Skylander, Cruiser, Lisa and the others we met this trip. Uga, Grey Dog, and I really enjoyed the group at Stover Creek! I hope the Boy Scouts don't overrun Blood Mt. while everyone tries to make it to Neal's!