Appalachian Trail Planning

Our plan is to do our first section hike of the AT during the 2015 summer. Our plan is to hike from Springer Mountain, GA to USFS Road #71 in North Carolina. That way we complete the Georgia section of the trail.

I am current contacting by email several places to find out about staying overnight on the nights prior to hiking and the night we come off the trail. Some items to solve is where to keep the car and shuttles. Our plan (see below) calls for us to stay at two hostels over the six night we are out. That way we can re-supply and lessen food weight during the hike.

Using various sources our plan looks as below (Comments appreciated)

Day	Mileage	Total Mileage	Location – Overnight Resupply	Information (Water)
1	8.1	8.1	Hawk Mountain Shelter	Shelter, sleeps 12, privy, picnic table, water (stream 300 yards behind the shelter), bear hoist cables. Next water six miles.
2	7.1	15.8	Gooch Mountain Shelter   -or-	Shelter, sleeps 14. Privy (moldering), bear cables, covered picnic table, shelves, good covered "front yard patio. Water (100 yards behind shelter)
2	1.5 (9.2)	17.3	Gooch Gap	Camping, water
3	3.8	21.1	Woody Gap	Shelter, picnic table and privy – water (A spring is on a poorly marked side trail west of the A.T) Suches, GA is 2 miles if needed)
3	10.6 (14.4)	31.7	Neel Gap - Resupply	Hostel – Mountain Crossing http://www.mountaincrossings.com (first come, first serve – bunk, shower, towel, laundry, $15pp per night) Resupply food
4	11.5	43.2	Low Gap Shelter	SHELTER, CAMPING, WATER- Sleeps 7. No privy. Right via side trail into cove. Food-hoist cables available. Water source is crossed at the shelter; a second source can be found 30 yards in front of the shelter. The water for this shelter should be treated. There are a lot of good spots nearby for tenting.
5	5.0	48.2	Chattahoochee Gap	Water - A blue-blazed side trail leads east to Chattahoochee Spring, source of the Chattahoochee River that supplies drinking water to Atlanta.
5	10.4 (15.4)	58.6	Tray Mountain Shelter	Shelter- —Sleeps 7. Privy. Food- hoist cables. Excellent overnight spot for taking in the sunset and sunrise from the summit or from viewpoints along the 0.2-mile trail to the shelter. Water source is a spring located 260 yards behind the shelter. The side trail to the shelter has some of the most scenic campsites on the Georgia section of the Appalachian Trail. An amazing amount of wind that can funnel directly into the shelter
6	4.7	63.3	Sassafras Gap	Camping, water
6	6.3 (11.0)	69.6	Dicks Creek Gap (Hiawassee, GA)	Hostel – Top of Georgia Hostel http://www.topofgeorgiahostel.com Call for reservations 706-982-3252 Resupply, free shuttle to town, bunks, laundry and food.
7	8.9	78.5	Georgia/North Carolina Border
7	2.9	81.4	Muskrat Creek Shelter	SHELTER, WATER- Muskrat Creek Shelter (rebuilt 1995)—Sleeps 8. Privy. It has a picnic table under the roof overhang. Muskrat Creek and water is available from the spring next to the shelter. There are Several decent tent spots in the woods around the shelter.
7	4 (15.8)	85.4	Deep Gap	USFS Road 71 PICK UP Reached via highway US64 and Forest Service 71. From Franklin, NC, go West on US64 13.6 miles (from overpass where US23 turns South toward Atlanta) to FS71. Turn is just past top of hill with 'Clay County' sign. From West, follow US64 East past Hayesville, NC, make long climb up mountain, and near top of second climb, watch for sign for FS71 on right. FS71 is a 6-mile single-lane gravel road, normally quite passable for autos. Note that this road is closed during the Winter -- usually between Jan. 1st and March 15th. Follow FS71 to parking area at end; the AT crosses through this parking area.

 

Mississippi Palisades Park

Last weekend we spend three days at Mississippi Palisades State Park, located just north of Savannah, Illinois.

There had been much rain and standing water on the campsite so the flying critters were in abundance! The screen tent went up so we could spend time out of the camper while hanging around the campsite. My special needs step-son joined us which does limit our activities when camping.

 

We took a 90 minutes cruise a paddle boat on the river. As you can see the day was perfect. An announcer gave us all the information about the sights along the river with the Quad Cities on the shore along with the history of the area. It was fun trip and our first time on the mighty Mississip!

 

 

We were unable to do any hiking this trip yet has a chance to visit a few overlooks from the park. The river has a train line going along the eastern shore with heavy traffic. It seemed freight trains were constantly moving on the line in both directions up and down the river.

 

 

A sad note about the park...seems staffing is always an issue in state parks these days. The park office and store were closed. The store was empty so closed for good. Of the three buildings that house bathrooms and showers, only two were open. The one urinal in the men's room of the building closet to our site was overflowed when we got there. After the second day, the men's room was closed. The third bathroom/shower building is located on the other side of the park, not walking distance. The second one was not opened due to problems at ours. Sigh.

 

Otherwise we enjoyed ourselves and found our camper is completely dry during heavy rain!



Continued Training and Planning

Last Sunday Mickey and I walked 10 miles with only a small day pack which we traded carrying. It was a beautiful day and our hike took us around the loop trail at our local forest preserve. Since this preserve is in the middle of a urban/suburban area, the preserve was crowded with picnicker, walkers, hikers, bikers and roller blade enthusiasts. The surface was either like walking a road so felt hard on the feet. But we made 10 miles!

The following morning we were up at 5am and hiked our usual 3 miles with our backpacks. I was having a grinding feeling on the bottom of my right foot and thought a blister was forming. When we got home I found a large silver dollar sized blister on the ball of  that foot. I lanced the blister without removing any skin. I walk about two miles round trip to my part-time and it was tender the following two days. Otherwise it has healed with a roll of skin which I assume will turn into a callus.

We continue planning for our first AT hike next year and looking at gear, making a list and checking it twice. We have some guide books on the way from the ATC for further planning.

Root66

OK, OK - The Appalachian Trail

Celebrate!

Mickey (Michelle) and I are reading a great deal about hiking The Appalachian Trail. I have read the Stumblin' Thru books and we are both following blogs of thru-hikers walking the trail now. Last year in 2013 we camped at Smokey Mountain National Park and hiked a few miles on the AT.

After some serious discussion we decided life is short and we should attempt to follow our passion. Much of the AT is only twelve or so hours from our home so we want to section hike the AT Nobo (northbound).  Now would we love to complete the entire trail, of course. Next year I will be 67 and with our life situation (family, work, etc.) would only be able to hike at the outside 50 - 100 miles a year. Our goal is to hike for as many years as possible.

So we have our conditioning work cut out for us. We have talked about starting May but not sure we will ever spend an overnight on any trail this year. Gear is not cheap and we will need to not only build up gear time along with our conditioning. The more I think about it going in September, 2015 would give us some chances to hike with overnights prior to starting the AT.

Some books are on order from the Appalachian Trail Conservancy starting the planning process. We are so looking forward to our adventures. Since our first section is the Georgia section of the trail another good resource is Georgia Appalachian Trail Club. Amicaloa Falls State Park has a wonderful looking inn which would be a good place to stay a night before hiking and after before driving home. We hope the Hike Inn will allow our car to stay between nights as we hike.

I do say thank you to Mickey for suggesting the idea we do the AT! Thanks Love!!

The adventure awaits......

Springer Mountain, AT Southern Terminus

 

 

Root66, June 7, 2014