I couldn’t blog from the woods, but here is my belated journal. Read it here in chronological text format, or look at the back-dated blog entries with photos here. A work in progress.
April 2
Arrived in Atlanta day before yesterday. Amanda Robinson Cramer, my inseparable/giggles buddy from junior high, picked us up at the airport. Still waiting for USPS to deliver our box with all our hiking gear! Amanda’s husband Philip had a day off, so we went to hike Stone Mountain today. Saw 3 life list birds – my first sighting of: Red-Headed Woodpecker, Carolina Chickadee, and Black-Headed Vulture. Also saw cardinals and house finches.
April 5
Amanda & Philip drove us from Atlanta to USFS 42 in Amicalola Falls State Park. This access road skips the official Approach Trail, which starts at the Park HQ and adds 8.8 miles to the AT hike. Starting about 2:30 pm, the four of us walked the two-mile round trip from USFS 42 south to the summit of Springer Mountain and back. Halfway to the summit, it occurred to us that we should have left our packs in the car for these 2 miles! Saw some kind of a vireo on the way there. There were tiny (tiny) red spiders all over the trail, about the size of a period. Apparently only Philip and I could see them. Jeff and Amanda say we hallucinated.
Jeff and I left Amanda and Philip in the parking lot, and walked to Stover Creek Shelter, which is 2.8 miles north of Springer! Go us!
April 6
Rained last night. We stayed put until about 9 am to give the tent time to dry. Learned how not to cook oatmeal – I burned the dry milk to the bottom.
Stopped at Hawk Mountain Shelter for lunch, where we met Toubab, Yoon, Sleddog, and a pair who have been dubbed the “Florida Boys.” This dynamic duo wore jeans and university hoodies, said they were hiking the trail to lose weight, and asked if there was a trash can near the shelter. Remember kids, Cotton Kills!
In Vermont and New Hampshire, where I’ve done most of my hiking, it’s easy to tell whether or not you’re at the summit. Not so in Georgia. I thought I had climbed Sassafras 3 times, and then that I had summited Justus twice. Wound up camping in Coopers Gap, between Sassafras and Justus, in an inch of snow and driving wind funneled through the gap. Wanted to make Gooch, but didn’t know what Justus would be like in the dusk and snow.
9 miles
April 7
Woke up early, and thirsty. Drank liters of snowy and icy water from the blessed Justus Creek. Only walked to Gooch Mountain Shelter. We barely slept last night, and haven’t been warm unless walking since we sat down at Cooper Gap. Saw a warbler – believe it was a Hooded Warbler. Reasonably sure of this one. Have seen many small gray birds. They look like Juncos, but I don’t think they are the right shape, too small and skinny – gray all over, slate blue/gray. Didn’t see a white belly, but it might be there.
April 8 Gooch Mountain Shelter à Woods Hole Shelter, 12.4 miles
Had intended to stop at Woody Gap, but the hostel we wanted was full. Slow, leisurely morning and long hard afternoon, doing 7 miles from 1:30 to 8:30 pm. Saw 3 cedar waxwings on Burntside Mountain.
Saw lovely bird I can’t identify: robin-sized, brown-hooded, coming to a V on white breast. Cinnamon/rufous wings distinct from head color. Black eyes. Ground bird, hid from me in a hollow log, but not flighty. Possible light whistling sound. Walked instead of hopping.
April 9 Short trek but a long day. Woods Hole Shelter à Neels Gap, 3.4 miles
Saw 2 Eastern Bluebirds, male and female.
Looked up yesterday’s mystery bird – identified it as a female Eastern Towhee. Life list bird!
Showered and did laundry. Not enjoying this hostel’s culture, find the people – both hikers and staff – trying. Found a friend in Willow, and her hiking parter Goethe. Toubab also very nice.
Perhaps the less serious people are those that will drop out? Maybe with the thinning of the herd, I’ll find unique/solitary souls I will enjoy.
Feel good about our prospects for completing, though.
Will probably do the Neels Gap pack shake-down tomorrow. Resisted today, feeling I could figure a lot out. Did a bit of work myself but should probably also have their thoughts. 2 of many things right now.
April 10 Neels Gap à Low Gap Shelter (tenting) 10.2 miles
A rainy day in Georgia.
Rained from before we left this morning, until about 9 pm. I’m still soaked in bed right now. Warmest night yet outside. Probably 35 degrees Fahrenheit feels positively balmy!
Cooked dinner in the rain, just under the edge of the shelter roof. Ate halfway under the shelter, watching Charlie the Chef and Voodoo trying to direct the rainwater away from their sleeping mats. A full night at the shelter!
Recom, a retired congressman, thinks my gray Junco-like birds are Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers. My field shows white eye-ring. Will have to look tomorrow.
Brrrrr!
April 11 Low Gap Shelter à Blue Mountain Shelter, 7.5 miles
Stayed late at Low Gap, trying to dry out & failing miserably. Moved into the shelter as everyone else left, and hung everything up. We made pancakes. They were soooo yummy, but it was really hard to make on the canister stove. They were half-dollar pancakes only, and took a lot of fuel.
Willow and Goethe met us for lunch. Goethe heard that I found no fleece at the Neels Gap store, so he gave me his fleece. Has helped enormously (size XXXL!) and is long enough to change my pants in full privacy in front of all the guys. I’m living in it when I’m not hiking.
Saw a male Eastern Towhee. Both male and female are so pretty,
We left Low Gap at 2:30 pm, and arrived at Blue Mountain Shelter at 7:30 pm. Jeff immediately went to bed. I spent an entire fuel canister to heat soup in that bitter wind, after dark. I was last to bed in the shelter.
April 12 Blue Mountain Shelter à Tray Mountain Shelter, ~8 miles
Left Blue Mountain early. Freezing sleepless night, as usual. Boots hurt so badly I could hardly walk. 4th left toe is swollen double. Eventually cut flaps in the left boot and took out hard plastic frame to give toes room to swell. Now it rains tomorrow – wonderful. Speed was so much better after I cut the boots. Tired of slow days. The body wants to do more but the feet can’t take it. Tenting tonight – have learned that lesson, at least. No more shelters for me.
Saw a real Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher today. The other gray bird is not. Suspecting it really is a Junco even though it looks a little different from the ones at home.
April 13 Tray Mountain Shelter à Dick’s Gap, 11.0 miles
Shuttle driver was looking for Larry and Charlie the Chef, but found us. Sally was a delight. We exchanged New England canoeing recommendations. She lives next to the Blueberry Patch. We spent the night at Mull’s Motel. Ate well at the buffet for $8 each. It was a hiker’s reunion, with 15+ of us there.
April 14 zero
Bought new boots!!!! at Buckhead House in Hiawassee. The lady there was fantastic. Bought cinnamon J, and spent the night at the Blueberry Fields Hostel. Again, a ride showed up for someone else, but took us. Gary & Lennie remembered Blythe from last year. Entertaining evening with Richard, a needy and annoying old psychiatrist; Adris, who was renamed Acorn for the 2 pounds of acorns a squirrel stored in his pack last night (no joke, I saw photos); Photoshop, who is hiking from Georgia through North Carolina with a 3 pound tripod; Andrew, an engineer from the Midwest who lived for 2 years building an oil pipeline in Turkey; John “Screefreak” Terry, a scrawny 5’8”-ish Brit who is carrying 75 pounds and loving it. What a crew!
