Georgia – It’s in the books

Last week I arrived at Amicalola Falls State Park early Saturday morning, with about 17 pounds of gear, 3 days of food, and 2 liters of water. My goal was to walk to the North Carolina border on Friday, October 17th.

Below is a summary of my first week on the Appalachian Trail.

Climate

Temperatures ranged from 50 degrees at night to 70 degrees each day. No precipitation – nothing, absolutely nothing. So, it was a perfect week of weather on the road.

The Beginning – Amicalola Falls State Park

I wanted to walk through the arch at Amicalola Falls State Park and hike the access trail. The extra 8.8 miles was the price I had to pay. It was worth it.

If you’re not ready, the Georgia section of the AT will slap you in the face and remind you that you signed up to go up and down mountains, not to go to a spa. The climbs catch your attention from the beginning. But the adrenaline I felt upon realizing I was fulfilling a 20-year dream helped offset any lack of preparation.

After reaching the south end of the AT and taking a photo, I continued walking from Springer and arrived at the second shelter: Stover Creek around 3:30 p.m.

A group of about 8 students from the University of Georgia was at the shelter. They were completing the field portion of a “backpacking 101” physical education class. I set up my ZPacks tent before 2 more groups of 4 hikers each entered camp. I also met Stephan, a mechanical engineer from Charlotte who helps design and build power plants. It got pretty busy with about 20 hikers spread out across the shelter and adjacent tent sites.

The walk: some notes

far

FarOut – It’s a great and accurate app! It helped me dispel any doubts when my brain doubted reality. Like when I thought I should have reached the top of a climb but realized it’s just another false summit. It also helped him plan his water refills.

Cobwebs

If you are the first one on the trail in the morning, you will be able to walk through every spider web that crosses the trail. Seeing someone walking in the opposite direction is cause for celebration: they’ve probably cleaned the nets you would have walked through. If cobwebs aren’t your thing and you don’t mind looking silly, I’ve found that waving your hiking poles like an airplane guide guiding a plane to its gate as you walk works 90% of the time.

Team Shakedown

I brought too many clothes for the weather conditions. But I consider the extra weight insurance against hypothermia and worth it. Since I wasn’t actually drinking coffee or tea, my cup wasn’t necessary. A 700 ml pot to prepare dinner was enough. I also had too much in my medical kit; I’ll take a closer look and compare safety to weight in the future.

Food

I started eating a cold breakfast because I enjoyed breaking camp early and getting a few miles in before the temperature rose. I’m not a coffee drinker, so it wasn’t much of a compromise to give up a hot drink. A cold lunch worked for me: some jerky or beef sticks, peanut butter and crackers, a chocolate bar, etc. It was enough to fill me up and fill me with energy. For dinner, I turned off the stove and had Raman, instant potatoes, added some meat and a Baby Ruth.

you will bring

The toilets get better and cleaner as you head north into Georgia. That being said, after a couple of days, you will gain a new appreciation for indoor plumbing.

Fellow hikers

If you like meeting new people, which I do, the trail is a great place. These are some of the hikers I met:

• Steph, thanks for the conversation up and down the summits, you kept my mind off the pain as we crushed those first climbs. Thanks for the quick FarOut tutorial. Good luck clearing your AT sections in the coming years.
• Becky: Thank you for sharing your family’s stories and hearing mine. Sorry about the driveway that was destroyed by Helene.
• Just Bill, thanks for adjusting the backpack in Mountain Crossing. I will remember your motto «wear it, don’t carry it» for the rest of my life.
• Delicious – thanks for the inspiration, talking to someone who recently completed a hike kept me in a positive frame of mind.
• Michael – Thank you for your 20 years of service and good luck building your home in Southern Arizona.
• Rocky: Your encyclopedic knowledge of sports was impressive.

Downtime

I took two short breaks. One stop is too convenient to pass up: You literally have to walk through the Mountains Crossing building on the AT. They have a bunk bed with kitchen, bathroom and bedroom with bunk beds. It is important that you arrive before 5:00 pm to check-in; then they close. Additionally, rooms are booked on a first-come, first-served basis without reservations, so plan ahead when descending the treacherous Blood Mountain. Rumor has it that the best BBQ in Georgia is right down the street at Booger Hollow (I didn’t make that name up). I settled for a frozen ‘Blackjack’ pepperoni pizza which, after eating Raman for a couple of days, tasted like it came from a 5-star restaurant.

My second chance was in Helen, GA. Helen is a German themed resort town (I mean that in a good way) that was celebrating Oktoberfest. I highly recommend Big Daddy’s if you’re in the mood for a big, tasty burger.

Harder stretch

The 13.1 mile section from Unicoi Gap to Deep Gap Shelter was challenging. The ‘3 Devils’ as I called them were 3 climbs of Rocky Mountain, Tray Mountain and finally Kelly Knob. The 3 devils kicked my ass well. The second hardest stretch was the climb up Blood Mountain, but it came earlier in the week. That said, I think I was still benefiting from training at 6,500 feet above sea level in Colorado.

Sometimes hiking gets personal. The trail challenges you physically and mentally. It forces you to dig deep and hit back. I found myself cursing the trail as if it were a living thing.

Easier stretching

The section from Plumorchard Shelter to the North Carolina border. Although I had already completed 8.1 miles, I did the additional 8.8 miles with a light load after leaving most of my food, trash, sleeping bag, mat, etc. behind. in the shelter. Packing lightly on that 8.8 mile round trip was one of my best decisions of the week.

Advice from fellow hikers

When you haven’t seen another human being in miles, you tend to want to have at least a brief conversation with a fellow hiker as they approach you from the opposite direction. That said, be careful when relying on updates. They often offer a great glimpse of what lies ahead, but some hikers told me they had been climbing continuously only to have a 200-foot climb over a tenth of a mile down the trail. I also had 3 people tell me I had 4 miles to the top of Blood Mountain: one when I was 5 miles away, another at 4 miles, and another at 3 miles (was I hiking in a loop?). The trail can do strange things to your mind.

Shuttle drivers

Thanks to Gracie and Ron who drove me around North Georgia and always arrived early. They offered welcome advice and encouragement. Ron even hands out tootsie pops.

‘Run’ to the border

On Friday morning, I got an early start and arrived at Plumorchard Shelter around noon. I had lunch and left most of my gear at the shelter. I then ‘packed’ it to the North Carolina border. The 8.8 mile round trip took me about 4.5 hours to complete. Mission accomplished!

Some statistics

Saturday 11/10: Amicalola Falls SP to Stover Creek Shelter, 11.6 miles, ~7 hours.

Sunday 10/12: Stover Creek Shelter to Gooch Mountain Shelter, 12.9 miles, ~7.5 hours.

Monday 10/13: Gooch Mountain Shelter to Mountain Crossings (Neel Gap), 15.6 miles, ~9 hours.

Tuesday 10/14: Mountain crossings to Low Gap Shelter, 11.7 miles, ~7 hours.

Wednesday 10/15: Low Gap Shelter to Unicoi Gap (Helen, GA), 9.7 miles, ~6 hours.

Thursday 10/16: Unicoi Gap to Deep Gap Shelter, 13.1 miles, ~7.5 hours.

Friday 10/17: Deep Gap Shelter to Plumorchard Shelter. Also, a round trip to Bly Gap (North Carolina border), 8.1 + 8.8 = 16.9 miles, ~8.5 hours.

**

Total miles 91.5 miles (~13.07 miles/day), 52.5 hours, average pace was about 1.74 miles/hour.

**

Bonus miles -> Saturday morning – hiked back to Dicks Creek Gap from Plumorchard Gap Shelter – 4.5 miles, 2 hours.

Total progress

Total miles traveled: 78.3 (not including approach trail)

Total miles to Katahdin: 2,119.1

Next steps

I will return next March to continue my hike to Mount Katahdin. I’ll start at the North Carolina border. I don’t expect the weather to be so favorable, but I think I have a better understanding of what awaits me.

After a week on the road, I’m thinking maybe I’m crazy enough to pull it off.