Georgia: Friendly in every way

It was great to be back in the land of the curious, the rododendros and the good barbecue! Georgia welcomed us in all the forms that we could have asked, including relatively soft climate and beautiful and unreasonable spaces. The excellent conditions quickly facilitated the march of the miles and absorb the special charm of hiking of the end of summer. An experiment with a faster rhythm and a somewhat strange advice to «listen to the stream» helped me to remember that this trip is not a race.

To the box score

• Friendly People – 75/75
• Interesting wild creatures – 0
• Errors – 1
• Injury report: intermittent left shoulder pain and hip pins pain and designed left, large fingers

We saw fewer people in Georgia, but the abundance of kindness made the sky per capita very high in the state of the peach. We had not established many of the details of reaching a road in the south of the terminal, so it surprised us and happy to find that the camp in AMICALOLA FALLS STATE PARK I had space at the last minute. The useful people in the Lodge gave us beautifully detailed instructions for the road unit that would lead us to an easy mile of the southern terminal in Springer Mountain. In a few miles to reach the path, I met the rumored resident of Stover Creek Shelter and received his useful advice to pass through the stream, because he talks to you if he listens. Shortly after, Blue Bear met a team of trails that joked they were ordering because they heard that it would come. While I did not have the path completely for me, it looked a lot to the path that Arpifa was only for me! Finally, good people in The happy Hawg In Hiawassee he reminded us how the barbecue should be done. Together with all that kindness, I was lucky that Beancounter’s friend leads from his home in Atlanta to join me for a day. I barely knew what to do with all the hospitality!

My mistake this time was a social error, driven by Hurry. I was enjoying the beautiful maintenance of trails of the Georgia Appalachian Trail Club (GATC) when I met two section hikers for a long weekend. They seemed excited about their time in the forest and interested in my trip. Among other questions, they asked me where I had received water recently. I answered quickly, without thinking too much about the question behind the question. It occurred to me, too long after they had passed, that may not have had a clear idea of ​​where to get water. While the safety and well -being of each hiker is their own responsibility, I believe that a bit of kindness is very useful. I regret not to take the two minutes that I would have required to ensure that they had the information they needed.

Burning silk

This particular network did not end on my face.

I learned that hikers like to invent jargo to cover the oddities of this alternative reality. One of my favorite phrases covers the experience less than Silky to enter Spider Webs. Until I left the main current of hikers, this was never a big problem for me. I could always count on an early elevator or southern hiker that takes me out of the way. This week, I had to learn the web relocation of Fine Arts of Spiders. In Georgia, I spent a lot of time stirring my trekking posts in front of me, as an absurdly as if I were trying to launch spells in the forest, in an attempt to eliminate as much networks as possible. But when the sunlight was at the wrong angle or was very concentrated in my balance, I ended up with a face full of web and a spider hanging from the bill of my ball cap. I am directly in Team Spider (unless we are talking about the University of Richmond, but that is another issue) and I appreciate that the role they play undoing annoying insects, I really don’t want them in my face.

2.0> 2.7

For 1730 miles from my trip on the trip, I could reliably count an average of approximately 2 miles per hour, except in New Hampshire. This included all time bits during the day that were not a productive movement towards Maine: filter water, eat snacks, enjoy views, take photos, chat with hikers who passed, go through rocks and roots, see and avoid snakes, ski the poison ivy. This statistic is not particularly relevant at all or impressive in relation to faster hikers, it simply helped me plan my days.

The base is very friendly in Georgia, these few rocks are as difficult as it is put!

In Georgia, I found myself looking at a meteorological forecast for the afternoon storms and, with my crazy handling of the crest about Harper Ferry in a storm of still fresh rays in my mind, I asked me what would be needed to finish the miles of the day before the lightning began. I have heard reports that Georgia Mud is «slippery» and I didn’t feel like trying my luck against that; He had also determined that Georgia’s rocks are not the type of grip you can trust in the rain. He had 21.4 miles (4760 ascent/4590 ancestry) planned and approximately nine hours before the Sky Electric show was expected. A 2 mph rhythm was not going to work, so I decided to try. Initially, I just wanted to cover myself before the storms, but my stubborn competitive brain expanded the pressure to see how fast it could go. How would you feel to move along my maximum speed?

In elevation, the heat and moisture of Georgia’s summer were not a problem!

The conditions were perfect: it had new shoes with the maximum grip and cushion, the path would remain above 3000 feet of elevation all day, making heat and humidity less oppressive, there were very few people on the way to talk, the land promised a constant base, the water was available directly on the trail and (my apologies, Georgia) was not much to see or photograph. The only problem was the aforementioned silk aroma, which ended at the moment I passed to my first hiker to the south.

The results:

• I hit the rain for an hour; No ray came with him.
• I arrived at Unicoi Gap exactly eight hours after starting the day, after having averaged a rhythm of 2.7 mph, including stops, for 21.4 miles.
• There were no injuries, creature attacks or venomous ivy encounters.
• I drank around 2/3 of my normal water, so I felt dehydrated.
• I woke up the next night with the Munchies, a safe sign that was under heat for the day.
• I caught a record of six spiders hanging from the bill of my ballot.
• I am not to stop making sure that weekends hikers have the knowledge of where to get water.

After all, the fastest pace was more stressful than useful. I feel quite proud and it is useful to know that I can increase it if the need arises. With less humidity and better land, could you go so fast at 3.0 mph? Maybe, but I know that 2.0 is greater for me.

Curiosities of the path

Mountain crossingsA shelter and costumes lodged in a beautiful stone structure built in 1937 by the CCC, is found in the mile ~ 30 of the Path of the Apalaches. The hikers who end the path or that are made with the pair of private shoes that use them will throw them into the trees in front of the store. Looking at the collection of shoes about me, I had many questions. How often do shoes cut? Does anyone ever try to reuse them? Is everything just staged, in an attempt to sell more shoes? That adhesive tape that maintains one of the shoes together?

Remember to look for beauty

I rarely inclined my gaze directly while walking, but in this case I am glad to have done it. A little early autumn color with the right light made it look a lot like stained glass.

State Limerick

The gentle hills and the services in Georgia were a delight.

• Up and holes, the winds on the path
• A better prepared path that will not find
• My walk was fast pace
• I did not love the rush
• People and land were very friendly!

This is the first white fire at the southern end of the AT.

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