View Full Version : GA-NC Section hike
Hello everyone, Im plannaing a section hike through Georgia to NC in early December. I was wondering where the southern most acess to the trail in NC is, im trying to figure out where I would need to be picked up at etc in NC. How far from the GA/NC border is the first place i can be picked up?? Thanks for the help!!
max patch
11-11-2010, 11:06
Deep Gap, NC is 7 miles N of the border and can reached by FS 71 (a good dirt road).
My preference, however, is to hike the blue blazed Kimsey Creek Trail at Deep Gap 3.5 miles to Standing Indian Campground and get picked up there rather than waiting in the middle of the woods. Better for both you and the person picking you up (all paved roads).
Sounds like a much better paln to me as well lol. So if im understanding you correctly, it will be about 10 additional miles to a place where i can be picked up after i cross the GA/NC border?
Ladytrekker
11-11-2010, 12:16
http://www.cs.utk.edu/~dunigan/at/
This is a good website on the distance between shelters.
http://www.mountain-forecast.com/
This one is good for mountain weather
max patch
11-11-2010, 12:47
Sounds like a much better paln to me as well lol. So if im understanding you correctly, it will be about 10 additional miles to a place where i can be picked up after i cross the GA/NC border?
Yes, 7 on the A.T. and 3.5 on the Kimsey Creek Trail. You can also tag the border and backtrack back about 9 miles to Dicks Creek Gap if that is easier on the person picking you up.
bigcranky
11-11-2010, 14:37
+1 on ending at Standing Indian Campground. That's a great place for someone to pick you up in a car.
Thanks for the links and thanks for the info, Im going to have to talk with my friend and decide if well backtrack or keep going. We havent decided yet if were going to try and get a family member to drive us up drop us off and then come back and pick us up or if we will park our car in GA and try and get a ride from NC back to GA. Does anyone offer shuttle any services for that far of a distance? Or is there a local bus service that could take us back from NC to GA to get to our vehicle? Any info is greatly appreciated since im new to section hiking the AT!!
wiregrass
11-11-2010, 17:37
Tom with Appalachian Adventure Co 706-265-9454 operates a shuttle service in that area. I did the same hike in September. Tom picked me up at Deep Gap. Tom is very reliable. He is based near Springer.
MkBibble
11-11-2010, 17:37
You will enjoy the Kimsey Creek Trail. Very nice. Near the end of the trail you will walk a short distance on a dirt road before the trail turns left off of the road. After I stayed with the trail and was told later by the caretaker/security/store manager that staying on the road shaves off a little distance - I didn't verify this. If you stay on the trail you will pop out near the campground's ampitheater. Follow the road(s) from there to the store; there is a public phone a short distance before you reach the store, if you need it.
MkBibble
11-11-2010, 17:39
If you haven't already arranged a shuttle, Joyce and Sally (Hiawassee, GA) are very familiar with the area, and resonably priced. Give them a call at 706-896-9339.
generoll
11-11-2010, 21:31
the Standing Indian Campground is a good suggestion. Leave your car there and get shuttled to Springer if that's where you want to start. That way your car is waiting when you finish. You could park your own car at Deep Gap if you wanted and be shuttled from there, but you'd need to confirm with the Forest Service that they won't be closing the road.
Ill be calling and setting up plans next week. Im thinking that it will take me 6-7 days to get cover the distance from GA-NC as long as the weather dosent hold me up what do the experts think??(i can do 15 miles a day in Fl in about 6 hours if i stop for breaks) Trying to pinpoint a date for my shuttle etc.
Ron Haven
11-12-2010, 00:09
Asap, I hope you have a great adventure on your hike. If your other contacts don't pan out in December call me. I shuttle to Springer cheeper than all the rest in Franklin area and can help you to shave off lots of steps in the Kimsey Creek area. 828-524-4403 :)
You will enjoy the Kimsey Creek Trail. Very nice. Near the end of the trail you will walk a short distance on a dirt road before the trail turns left off of the road. After I stayed with the trail and was told later by the caretaker/security/store manager that staying on the road shaves off a little distance - I didn't verify this. If you stay on the trail you will pop out near the campground's ampitheater. Follow the road(s) from there to the store; there is a public phone a short distance before you reach the store, if you need it.
Staying on the road may shave off a little distance, but you end up with a stream crossing that you will have to wade. It's shallow, but wide. In the grand scheme of things, it's not a difficult ford, but in the winter I'd usually walk the extra distance on the trail than get my feet wet in the last mile of hiking.
generoll
11-12-2010, 10:25
hey Marta, ask Two Speed about that ford. as you're coming down the trail from Deep Gap if you'd walked about 20 yards to your left you'd have found a very nice wooden bridge to cross over on.
mikecordes
11-12-2010, 20:28
We have used Joyce and Sally at hiawassee 5 or 6 times over the past 6 years.....Very reliable and they wont scare you to death with their driving...Agree that the Kimsey Creek Trail is the best takeout point for your hike if you don't want to backtrack from ga=nc line to Dick's Creek Gap (US 76)..The fs 71 is closed sometimes in december...
MkBibble
11-13-2010, 13:33
Ill be calling and setting up plans next week. Im thinking that it will take me 6-7 days to get cover the distance from GA-NC as long as the weather dosent hold me up what do the experts think??(i can do 15 miles a day in Fl in about 6 hours if i stop for breaks) Trying to pinpoint a date for my shuttle etc.
asap, for me, the georgia mountains were very humbling. i just finished that section a month ago, and i would recommend a couple extra days. i think it is possible to hike out on day 7, but that means several long hard days.
wish i was there... have lots of fun!
Mongoose2
11-13-2010, 20:40
Asap, Springer to NC is a much harder hike then your Florida hikes! You will have a great time, but the terrain will challange you.
asap, I have the first 66 miles of Ga done and I can tell you it ain't like anything in Fl. Better give yourself a couple extra days like someone else mentioned. There are some tough climbs. Pack light and have fun!
Butch
"SoLo"
hey Marta, ask Two Speed about that ford. as you're coming down the trail from Deep Gap if you'd walked about 20 yards to your left you'd have found a very nice wooden bridge to cross over on.
Oops. One of the funniest hiking adventures I've ever had was when I was hiking the Standing Indian loop with my son, Forrest. I was getting ready for the JMT and deliberately decided to ford the creek. It was Forrest's spring break, in March. Wicked cold.
I went through the water, but Forrest decided he could leap from the bank to that big tree that bends out over the creek, and then make his way along the trunk to the other side, without getting his feet wet.
He made his leap and caught the tree trunk. Unfortunately he hadn't factored in the weight of his backpack, which pulled him upside down. He was hanging from the tree like a sloth, a couple of inches above the water. Using superhuman strength (of the type only a 20-year-old guy possesses), he pulled himself slowly, agonizingly up around the tree until he was on top of it. He made it across the creek without getting so much as a pinky toe wet.
The fact that we were both laughing so hard we could scarcely breathe made the feat even more amazing.
Ok everyone thank you for all the input into my topic!! Great stories sounds like im going to have a blast i cant wait! Couple last minute questions, anyone know a good place to leave youre car unattended for a little over a week?? lol I was planning on starting my trip at the USFS road # 42 and hiking south a mile on the trail to start my trip. Is that the desired way to on the AT without alot of extra miles?