minnesotasmith
05-28-2008, 11:06
The answer you received from Larry Wheat is an accurate representation of the Pinhoti Trail in Georgia relative to your questions.The north end of the Pinhoti Trail is somewhat remote. As Larry said, there are no other practical exits from the terminus other than the way you came in, the Benton MacKaye Trail north, or the Benton MacKaye Trail south.
The most expeditious route to reach Springer is probably to return down the Pinhoti Trail 7 miles to the junction of the Pinhoti Trail and the Mountain Creek Trail. Here, continue another 1.6 miles to reach a road that passes Hills Lake on its way to the paved Gates Chapel Road. Turn left, follow Gates Chapel Road for 4.8 miles to Georgia Highway 52. Turn left (east) on Highway 52. In 5.2 miles, reach Ellijay, Georgia. Continue on Georgia 52 east of Ellijay for 21 miles to reach to the gate of Amicalola Falls State Park. Turn left, enter the park, and reach the visitor's center and trailhead for the Springer Mountain Approach Trail in less than 1/2 mile.This is the most direct route you will find.
There are a number of complex road walks that might be safer and more scenic, but there is no direct way out of the Jacks River Valley in the general direction of Springer Mountain. It is possible to walk east through Watson Gap on a road to Blue Ridge, Georgia, but the directions are lengthy and are beyond what I am willing to write in a simple email message.
I don't know who in Alabama thinks the AT will be extended there, but the press gloms onto it, and suddenly it sounds like a unified goal of everyone working on the Pinhoti. Your expectation of a continuous shelter system, now or in the future, is a largely a figment. [Never said I had such an expectation--M.S.] I don't believe shelters for Georgia are even on the radar screen. With this in mind, you should be aware that the last shelter you will see while traveling north on the Pinhoti is the Davis Mountain shelter roughly two miles north of U.S. Highway 278 in Alabama. There is another primitive campsite 3 miles further north and one 6 miles beyond the first (Spring Branch, just into Georgia). 2.5 miles after crossing into Georgia begins a long road walk. Overnight stays should be restricted to lodging in Cave Spring, Lock and Dam Park on the Coosa River, and the U.S. Forest Service land where the trail leaves the road.North of Dug Gap (the edge of Dalton, Georgia), use lodging along in the vicinity of Interstate 75 and Georgia Highway 52 or at Chatsworth. The Chief Vann House State Historic Site does not currently have a campsite. The Forest Service land west (trail south) and east (trail north) of the wide valley at Dalton has a number of good campsites with water from nearby streams, but does not have any shelters. I hope this answers your questions in some detail.
Marty Dominy
================================================== ==========================
This has been sent to me a couple of times already. Greg (Assoc. Press) and I talked about this and after I investigated it I found that at this time it has little merit. The AL clubs leaders are not excited about it at this time. It could be that it is politically driven.
Larry Madden, President, GPTA
-------------- Original message --------------
http://www.wavy.com/Global/story.asp?S=8265934&nav=menu45_2
Hello. I tried sending this to the info address, and three other GA Pinhoti Board email addresses, and had three bounce as invalid, and one never answered me. I am hoping you are still associated with the Ga Pinhoti.
I intend to thruhike the Pinhoti starting at the end
of Dec. 2008 as a prelude to an AT thruhike. I successfully thruhiked the AT once before, in 2006.
I have several questions about the GA section for which I am hoping for help.
The top two are:
1) My interest in hiking the BMT is minimal, and avoidable major backtracking (hiking multiday sections of the BMT or AT twice during our upcoming thruhike) is even lower. The route shown on Pinhoti maps for getting to the AT is rather less than ideal, given those priorities. Is there a backpacking route from at or near the end of the Pinhoti to Springer or (preferably) Amicalola you can advise us on? No If I have to roadwalk a day or so, or arrange for a shuttle, so be it. Self plan
2) I have yet to find any list of trail shelters along the GA Pinhoti section to match the list of roughly 7 that currently exist along the AL section. As we both know, the AT Pinhoti Trail ClubPlease give me a name for your source at ATC. Word from ATC to GPTA and AHTS and ATA is that there is no desire nor move to incorporate the Pinhoti Trail into the AT. It will definitely have to include negotiations with all of the builder maintainer groups in GA and AL, plus the involved forest service agencies. At this point in time, as I stated in an interview with Associated Press recently, GPTA has no interest in incorporating the Pinhoti into AT. Also the clubs in Alabama share this thought. yearns to have the official start of the AT changed to starting in their state, so it is apparently adding AT-standard trail infrastructure toward making their section an acceptable AT extension. Are there any currently-completed or planned shelters along the GA section of the Pinhoti No, and if so can you tell us a link to that information?
Also:
3) I am very much in the market for guidebooks and maps that will be the most current at the time I begin my hike (roughly Dec. 28th). When this year will the online ones for the GA Pinhoti section be as updated as they ever will be when the end of Dec. comes around? The best source would be www.pinhotitrailalliance.org <http://www.pinhotitrailalliance.org/>.
Whatever advice you can give me prior to my hike would be much appreciated
(MS)
Thanks for your interest in the Pinhoti Trail and good luck. I recently met a gentleman that has already done the AT and wanted to add the southern component by starting at Key West, FL and hiking through AL and GA to Springer Mountain. He was on day #72 and was just west of Rome, GA.
Larry E. Madden, President, GPTA
================================================== =========================
Thanks. There are no shelters in Georgia along the Pinhoti. I will think some about the link between the end of the Pinhoti and Springer. Given where the Pinhoti ends ( at the intersection with the BMT in the middle of deep forest in northwest Georgia ), you will need to hike at least part of the BMT to get you to roads that will lead to Springer. The BMT is a fine trail going over remote and high mountains on the west rim of the Blue Ridge as it makes its way towards the AT.
Mike Leonard
================================================== =========
Hi,
Try out this link -> <http://picasaweb.google.com/Johnsonc80>
Mr. Parkay ( Chris Johnson ) gps'd his AT thru-hike which included AL
& GA Pinhoti. The maps include
water source and other pertinent information.
I hope this helps.
Best regards,
Conrad
GPTA web-guy
===============================================
Hello Luke,
Regret that you had difficulty contacting other Board members. I have copied Marty Dominy on this as he is our resident expert on hiking and he knows the eastern part of the trail better than other members. I have been on the Board for a few years and will give you what information I can.The best detailed written information about the Pinhoti trail in Georgia is in our Trail Guide on the website. Go to www.georgiapinhoti.org (http://www.georgiapinhoti.org) <http://www.georgiapinhoti.org/> , click on the Maps button, and when the new page appears, click on the Trail Guide button at the bottom of the page (you can choose between Word or .pdf files). The best online topo maps depicting the Pinhoti are on the SORBA website, at www.nwgasorba.org (http://www.nwgasorba.org) <http://www.nwgasorba.org/>. Then follow thier maps links.
Marty may correct me if I mis-state something, as I am not familiar with most of the Pinhoti trail east of I-75/Dalton, GA. I am an equestrian and we are not allowed on much of the trail east of I-75, and there is no decent parking near the parts we are allowed to ride.1. I am not aware of any hiking trails from the Pinhoti to the AT that avoids the BMT. Marty may be able to help. There are books on hiking trails in Georgia, but I do not have that book.2. There are no overnight shelters along the Pinhoti in Georgia. The Pinhoti in Georgia is 154 miles long, with about 100 miles being actual trail and the other 50 miles are public roads. The Trail Guide explains all sections of the trail in great detail.3. The Trail Guide is current, as are the maps on the SORBA site. We are in a sloooow process of developing brochures about key trail sections, but they will not have more map details than currently exists. Marty has access to a compendium of the best topo maps of the trail, and if you send him your postal mailing address he may be able to find a copy for you. That is the best map option.Hope you enjoy the trail.
Larry Wheat
==================================================
Hi I will answer best I can.
I don't know of a backpacking route from the end of the Pinhoti to Springer.
If you do not want to hike the BMT I would suggest a shuttle.
There are no shelters on the Ga section of the Pinhoti. I am not aware of any planned at this point. All funding is low at this point.
I think the present information will stil be the best in Dec.
I know this is not a lot of good information and not a lot of hope for improvement but hopefully in a few years funds and gov. interest will improve.
The GPTA is really about 8-10 volunteers who most still work full time jobs .
Mike Dillard
=================================================
The most expeditious route to reach Springer is probably to return down the Pinhoti Trail 7 miles to the junction of the Pinhoti Trail and the Mountain Creek Trail. Here, continue another 1.6 miles to reach a road that passes Hills Lake on its way to the paved Gates Chapel Road. Turn left, follow Gates Chapel Road for 4.8 miles to Georgia Highway 52. Turn left (east) on Highway 52. In 5.2 miles, reach Ellijay, Georgia. Continue on Georgia 52 east of Ellijay for 21 miles to reach to the gate of Amicalola Falls State Park. Turn left, enter the park, and reach the visitor's center and trailhead for the Springer Mountain Approach Trail in less than 1/2 mile.This is the most direct route you will find.
There are a number of complex road walks that might be safer and more scenic, but there is no direct way out of the Jacks River Valley in the general direction of Springer Mountain. It is possible to walk east through Watson Gap on a road to Blue Ridge, Georgia, but the directions are lengthy and are beyond what I am willing to write in a simple email message.
I don't know who in Alabama thinks the AT will be extended there, but the press gloms onto it, and suddenly it sounds like a unified goal of everyone working on the Pinhoti. Your expectation of a continuous shelter system, now or in the future, is a largely a figment. [Never said I had such an expectation--M.S.] I don't believe shelters for Georgia are even on the radar screen. With this in mind, you should be aware that the last shelter you will see while traveling north on the Pinhoti is the Davis Mountain shelter roughly two miles north of U.S. Highway 278 in Alabama. There is another primitive campsite 3 miles further north and one 6 miles beyond the first (Spring Branch, just into Georgia). 2.5 miles after crossing into Georgia begins a long road walk. Overnight stays should be restricted to lodging in Cave Spring, Lock and Dam Park on the Coosa River, and the U.S. Forest Service land where the trail leaves the road.North of Dug Gap (the edge of Dalton, Georgia), use lodging along in the vicinity of Interstate 75 and Georgia Highway 52 or at Chatsworth. The Chief Vann House State Historic Site does not currently have a campsite. The Forest Service land west (trail south) and east (trail north) of the wide valley at Dalton has a number of good campsites with water from nearby streams, but does not have any shelters. I hope this answers your questions in some detail.
Marty Dominy
================================================== ==========================
This has been sent to me a couple of times already. Greg (Assoc. Press) and I talked about this and after I investigated it I found that at this time it has little merit. The AL clubs leaders are not excited about it at this time. It could be that it is politically driven.
Larry Madden, President, GPTA
-------------- Original message --------------
http://www.wavy.com/Global/story.asp?S=8265934&nav=menu45_2
Hello. I tried sending this to the info address, and three other GA Pinhoti Board email addresses, and had three bounce as invalid, and one never answered me. I am hoping you are still associated with the Ga Pinhoti.
I intend to thruhike the Pinhoti starting at the end
of Dec. 2008 as a prelude to an AT thruhike. I successfully thruhiked the AT once before, in 2006.
I have several questions about the GA section for which I am hoping for help.
The top two are:
1) My interest in hiking the BMT is minimal, and avoidable major backtracking (hiking multiday sections of the BMT or AT twice during our upcoming thruhike) is even lower. The route shown on Pinhoti maps for getting to the AT is rather less than ideal, given those priorities. Is there a backpacking route from at or near the end of the Pinhoti to Springer or (preferably) Amicalola you can advise us on? No If I have to roadwalk a day or so, or arrange for a shuttle, so be it. Self plan
2) I have yet to find any list of trail shelters along the GA Pinhoti section to match the list of roughly 7 that currently exist along the AL section. As we both know, the AT Pinhoti Trail ClubPlease give me a name for your source at ATC. Word from ATC to GPTA and AHTS and ATA is that there is no desire nor move to incorporate the Pinhoti Trail into the AT. It will definitely have to include negotiations with all of the builder maintainer groups in GA and AL, plus the involved forest service agencies. At this point in time, as I stated in an interview with Associated Press recently, GPTA has no interest in incorporating the Pinhoti into AT. Also the clubs in Alabama share this thought. yearns to have the official start of the AT changed to starting in their state, so it is apparently adding AT-standard trail infrastructure toward making their section an acceptable AT extension. Are there any currently-completed or planned shelters along the GA section of the Pinhoti No, and if so can you tell us a link to that information?
Also:
3) I am very much in the market for guidebooks and maps that will be the most current at the time I begin my hike (roughly Dec. 28th). When this year will the online ones for the GA Pinhoti section be as updated as they ever will be when the end of Dec. comes around? The best source would be www.pinhotitrailalliance.org <http://www.pinhotitrailalliance.org/>.
Whatever advice you can give me prior to my hike would be much appreciated
(MS)
Thanks for your interest in the Pinhoti Trail and good luck. I recently met a gentleman that has already done the AT and wanted to add the southern component by starting at Key West, FL and hiking through AL and GA to Springer Mountain. He was on day #72 and was just west of Rome, GA.
Larry E. Madden, President, GPTA
================================================== =========================
Thanks. There are no shelters in Georgia along the Pinhoti. I will think some about the link between the end of the Pinhoti and Springer. Given where the Pinhoti ends ( at the intersection with the BMT in the middle of deep forest in northwest Georgia ), you will need to hike at least part of the BMT to get you to roads that will lead to Springer. The BMT is a fine trail going over remote and high mountains on the west rim of the Blue Ridge as it makes its way towards the AT.
Mike Leonard
================================================== =========
Hi,
Try out this link -> <http://picasaweb.google.com/Johnsonc80>
Mr. Parkay ( Chris Johnson ) gps'd his AT thru-hike which included AL
& GA Pinhoti. The maps include
water source and other pertinent information.
I hope this helps.
Best regards,
Conrad
GPTA web-guy
===============================================
Hello Luke,
Regret that you had difficulty contacting other Board members. I have copied Marty Dominy on this as he is our resident expert on hiking and he knows the eastern part of the trail better than other members. I have been on the Board for a few years and will give you what information I can.The best detailed written information about the Pinhoti trail in Georgia is in our Trail Guide on the website. Go to www.georgiapinhoti.org (http://www.georgiapinhoti.org) <http://www.georgiapinhoti.org/> , click on the Maps button, and when the new page appears, click on the Trail Guide button at the bottom of the page (you can choose between Word or .pdf files). The best online topo maps depicting the Pinhoti are on the SORBA website, at www.nwgasorba.org (http://www.nwgasorba.org) <http://www.nwgasorba.org/>. Then follow thier maps links.
Marty may correct me if I mis-state something, as I am not familiar with most of the Pinhoti trail east of I-75/Dalton, GA. I am an equestrian and we are not allowed on much of the trail east of I-75, and there is no decent parking near the parts we are allowed to ride.1. I am not aware of any hiking trails from the Pinhoti to the AT that avoids the BMT. Marty may be able to help. There are books on hiking trails in Georgia, but I do not have that book.2. There are no overnight shelters along the Pinhoti in Georgia. The Pinhoti in Georgia is 154 miles long, with about 100 miles being actual trail and the other 50 miles are public roads. The Trail Guide explains all sections of the trail in great detail.3. The Trail Guide is current, as are the maps on the SORBA site. We are in a sloooow process of developing brochures about key trail sections, but they will not have more map details than currently exists. Marty has access to a compendium of the best topo maps of the trail, and if you send him your postal mailing address he may be able to find a copy for you. That is the best map option.Hope you enjoy the trail.
Larry Wheat
==================================================
Hi I will answer best I can.
I don't know of a backpacking route from the end of the Pinhoti to Springer.
If you do not want to hike the BMT I would suggest a shuttle.
There are no shelters on the Ga section of the Pinhoti. I am not aware of any planned at this point. All funding is low at this point.
I think the present information will stil be the best in Dec.
I know this is not a lot of good information and not a lot of hope for improvement but hopefully in a few years funds and gov. interest will improve.
The GPTA is really about 8-10 volunteers who most still work full time jobs .
Mike Dillard
=================================================