Section hiking with my wife. Ga section.

[tolowo80]

Hello everyone. After weeks of discussion, planning, thinking, and frustration. We've decided to hike the Georgia section of the AT in a week, instead of the North Inlet of Rocky Mountain National Park. Any advice on how or where to start planning this adventure? We plan on doing the trip the first week in july. We live in MD. Any advice is appreciated.

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[MuddyWaters]

Hello everyone. After weeks of discussion, planning, thinking, and frustration. We've decided to hike the Georgia section of the AT in a week, instead of the North Inlet of Rocky Mountain National Park. Any advice on how or where to start planning this adventure? We plan on doing the trip the first week in july. We live in MD. Any advice is appreciated.

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Not to dissuade you, but in July in the south, I would head for the highest elevations I could find , which would be the Smokies or the NC AT. Expect GA to be very hot in day time, and warm, humid, and sticky at night. Personally I dont mind the day temps as much as the night ones.

Aside from that, all you need is a copy of AWOL's AT Guide, and start walking. Ask about water sources prior to trip, there could be dry stretches depending on rainfall.

Start by deciding where you will enter and exit the trail, and how you will get to/from those points. If driving, you will want to leave your car at your exit trailhead(or a safe alternative) and get a shuttle to your starting point. Typically to hike GA, you will start at Amicalola Falls or Springer mountain depending on your preference, and then at the other end you have a couple choices, because the trail doesnt have a trailhead at the state line. You can exit at Dicks Creek Gap and call it close enough (8 miles short of NC line), or hike to Bly gap and then backtrack to Dicks Creek Gap (adds 8 miles) , or hike to Standing indian campground in NC(adds a few miles as well) .

[tolowo80]

Thanks this is exactly what I was looking for. We both overlooked the heat and humidity in july. Keep the grat info coming we greatly appreciate it. We would rather plan a fun trip over a suckfest any day..

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[tolowo80]

Sofar the plan was to start at Springer to Standing Indian Campground... I think its like 90miles.

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[slbirdnerd]

I'll be on that section in early June. You'll probably need a shuttler, I highly recommend Joyce and Sally and they will go into NC. Hiker Hostel is amazing, but they do not. Lots of other shuttlers out there as well. The AT Guide will be extremely helpful.

Depending on your experience hiking this kind of terrain and potential weather (could rain a lot), I think 90 miles in a week could be a bit ambitious(do you mean a week as in 7 days or a week as in hit the trail Saturday and come off a week later on Sunday?). When planning your days, keep in mind using a shuttler to come on or off trail takes time so don't expect to start hiking at 8 a.m. on day 1 or come off trail late on day 7.

Also, a stop at Mountain Crossings/Neel Gap or the new Top of GA Hostel at Dick's Creek Gap may result in a shorter day of hiking.

[bigcranky]

That's a great section. July is warm, but it's cooler in the GA mountains than in the mid-Atlantic. It'll just be a summer hike, which is fine.

Get a copy of one of the guidebooks, either the Thru-Hiker's Companion or the AT guide. That will help with logistics.

We're all happy to provide more advice, but it would help to know how much experience you have so we can give useful advice. If you're new to long distance hiking, then I would give different tips on things like where to leave your car....