AT Sept 2017

Cael & Dad's Appalachian Trail Hike - Georgia/NC September 2017

Cael and I were hiking the last day of our July AT trip and finishing a little short of our goal (Dad's schedule had been a little optimistic for an 8 year old's hiking legs). Cael asked, "Can we come back soon and finish off Georgia?" I was thankful for his enthusiasm and of course said yes! When we got back home I looked at the calendar and school was only a few weeks away, but luckily Labor Day Weekend would give us a 3-1/2 day window to get the remaining 30+ miles to hike into North Carolina. I put together a hiking plan and made the shuttle reservation.

Day 1 - Unicoi Gap to Tray Mountain Shelter Mile 58.6 (September 2, 2017)
Mileage - 5.7 miles
Total Trip - 5.7 miles
Total AT Miles - 67.4

I left work early and got the truck packed with our gear then headed for Tega Cay Elementary. Cael came running across the lunch room to meet me, I waved at his teacher, and we headed for Deep Gap parking lot in North Carolina, about a 4 hour drive from Fort Mill. We drove in on the last 6 miles of Forest Service road deep into the mountain range of the Nantahala National Forest. We had arranged several weeks ago for Ron's Appalachian Trail Shuttle to meet us there at 4:00 pm and bring us to Unicoi Gap where we would then hike towards our truck over the weekend. Ron has been shuttling AT hikers for over a decade and had loads of advice and stories. It was the Friday of Labor Day weekend and Hurricane Harvey had just wreaked havoc in Texas a few days before. Ron told of us how many gas stations were already out of gas due to the pipeline being shutdown from Houston, with his busy weekend ahead he knew it would be tough!

Ron drove us in a 1998 Toyota Rav4 that had 403,000 miles on it! That is alot of hiker shuttling!! We arrived to Unicoi Gap, said goodbye to Ron as he gave us his signature Tootsie Pops, and we were hiking by 5:00 pm. We had a straight 1,000 foot climb ahead of us. It was really wind as we hiked due to being on the far outskirts of Harvey as it pushed through West of us. The forecast called for temps in the 40's at night and windy but dry for the weekend.

Top of our first big climb!

Taking a break in the clouds

Our original plan was to hike 3.6 miles to Cheese Factory Campsite, named due to it being a former site of a small Cheese Factory in the 1800's. Cael and I hiked quick and we were there by 6:15 pm. No one else was staying there so we went and filtered some water. Cael and I decided since it was early yet we would hike another 2.1 miles and make it to Tray Mountain Shelter, our hope was we could find a spot in the shelter to sleep and get out of the wind.

Water and snack break at Cheese Factory campsite

Rocky Mountain

We hiked quick and make it under an hour to Tray Mountain Shelter. As we hiked the blue blaze trail to the shelter we met one man cooking his supper outside his tent. He informed us that the shelter was full and so were most of the camp spots around it. A little bummed, we hiked back to an camp spot we saw just back on the blue blaze. I setup our hammocks as Cael ate a sub sandwich and trail mix that Anne had packed for us. It was getting dark and the winds were really howling on Tray Mountain. Cael finished his supper and crawled in his hammock almost before I had it fully up. I ate my sub as it began to rain and then quickly put our gear in a dry spot for the night. I said good night to Cael and climbed in my hammock as the rain turned into a downpour.

Happy Hiker

I didn't sleep all that well with the wind, luckily the rain stopped within a half hour. The wind gusts supposedly got over 30 mph during the night. Cael slept through it all and didn't stir until after 6 am. I was glad he slept well as I had worried through the night. I don't feel all that comfortable sleeping on top a mountain with high winds and hearing branches fall.

Day 2 - Tray Mountain Shelter to Dick's Creek Gap Mile 69.6 (September 3, 2017)
Top O' Georgia Hostel Stay
Mileage - 11 miles
Total Trip - 16.7 miles
Total AT Miles - 78.4

Temps were around 50 in the morning and with the wind we were chilled after getting out of the hammocks. I made Cael a breakfast of Mountain House Biscuits & Gravy (our favorite) and it completely hit the spot! We walked by the shelter where everyone was still sleeping and filtered water at the a piped spring, it was nice and cold.

Filtering water at the piped spring at Tray Mountain Shelter

Earlier in the morning as I lay in the hammock I looked at the guidebook and maps getting a new itinerary together since we hiked in farther the night before. I also checked the weather and it called for a nice day with temps near 70, but Saturday night lows around 48 and winds gusting to over 20 again. It would be exactly 11 miles to Dick's Creek Gap so as Cael ate breakfast I called the Top O' Georgia Hostel which is only a 1/2 mile from Dick's Creek Gap. We were in luck and they had spots in the bunk and 1 last cabin for tonight. I booked the cabin over the phone and let them know we would arrive mid-afternoon.

It felt good knowing we would be out of the wind that night and we began hiking by 7:30 am. As the first ones on the trail we spent lots of time clearing branches off the trail that had fallen in the winds over night. We were happy to be hiking and it was a beautiful day with blue skies and cool temps.

Just a few miles in, we were hiking along a ridgeline with trees on the slopes above and below us. We heard something rustling in a tree limb that was just overhead on the slope to our right. We looked up and sure enough saw a smaller black bear. She was busy eating acorns which had just ripened. We watched her for a few minutes, she ate and never even noticed we were there. Not knowing if another bear was close by, we decided to hike on and leave the bear to her breakfast. It was such a great sight and definitely an awesome bear encounter! Cael was excited to have seen his first bear on the AT.

We continued on just enjoying the hike in cool temps, warm sun, and no rush to get to Dick's Creek Gap.

SWAG of the Blue Ridge (an awesome trail spot name)

Cael was fascinated how this tree trunk grew down but all the branches went up

Leaving Tray Mountain Wildnerness

Around mile 8.5 into our day was a blue blaze trail to an overlook. The overlook was 0.4 miles off the trail but all the guidebooks said the view was a must see! We took the turn and had planned to have lunch there. As we arrived we met a group of 7 hikers from Florida who were part of a group. They were with another group who had started near Hog Pen Gap that same morning. They had left cars on North and South ends and were hiking towards each other, they would then swap keys when meeting and hike on. They were all around 20 and it was great to see the young enthusiasm they had to be out as friends for the weekend.

The view was completely worth the hike. We sat out on the rocks eating a lunch of bagels with Justin's nut butter and I made myself a cup of coffee.

Proud little hiker

Cael hikes for the views

Photo courtesy of Cael

Blue blaze to our lunch spot

After heading off the blue blaze it was a 2.7 mile hike down to Dick's Creek Gap and almost all downhill. By this time of the day the trail had become busy with day and weekend hikers. Downhill at the end of a day is always nice, but on tired legs it doesn't seem to go very quickly. We celebrated after getting to the parking lot of Dick's Creek Gap. It was a big psychological victory as it had been our original destination in July. We had shorted that hike after realizing we weren't going to be able to do a 15+ mile day and Anne picked us up at Unicoi Gap instead. We now felt more like hikers and that we could finish off Georgia after-all.

We finally got to Dick's Creek Gap!

Dick's Creek Gap, filled with Labor Day weekend hikers

We had gotten to Dick's Creek Gap by 2:00 pm and a crowded parking lot. It was a short 1/2 mile road walk down to the Top O' Georgia hostel where we were immediately welcomed. We took off our hiking shoes and went in the main building. Every hiker gets a free drink so I had a hot cup of coffee and Cael had a root beer. Our host was a former 2013 thru-hiker herself and we talked about the hike. She said at 4:15 she would be taking a shuttle into Hiawassee and then returning later in the evening. She got us our key to our cabin and showed us around. I can't say enough about this place, it is truly a gem on the trail!!

A true gem on the AT!

Many places in our rear-view mirror including Springer Mountain 69.6 miles!

Our cabin for the night, what a cool setup!

Cael enjoyed the rocking chairs after a hot shower.

Backyard view from the porch

The owner's 10 Golden Rules for Thru-hiking

One of the TOG shuttle vans

We took the shuttle into Hiawassee that evening and were the only ones. We got dropped off at a Mexican restaurant and enjoyed a large hot meal. We then walked to the Ingles grocery for a couple items (new batteries for our headlamps, and bananas for breakfast). The shuttle picked us up again at 6:30 pm and we headed back to the Hostel. We met a couple of hikers who had just gotten in for the evening. One was a man from Florida who was finishing his hike short and driving back to Florida in the morning. He had planned to go farther but his knees were bothering him. The other man was from Iowa and he had just driven down that day. He was getting a shuttle to Springer Mountain in the morning and planned to hike to Fontana Dam in just 12 days. We hope he had a good trip but am sure he ended short as Hurricane Irma blew in just a week later creating huge blow-downs and making the trail impassible in many areas for almost 2 weeks as crews cleared trees.

Cael and I retired to the cabin by 8:00 pm and had a great night sleep out of the wind.

Day 3 - Dick's Creek Gap to Deep Gap Mile 85.4 (September 4, 2017)
Mileage - 15.8 miles
Total Trip - 32.5 miles
Total AT Miles - 94.2

We awoke to temperatures around 46 degrees and it felt like a nice fall morning! We got ready and packed our bags for the hike out. Top O' Georgia hostel offers an all you can eat cereal breakfast with juice and coffee. Cael had 3 bowls of cereal and a banana with orange juice, his hiker hunger hits early! I enjoyed a nice cup of coffee with cereal and we were ready.

Our bags packed and ready

We got a shuttle ride back to Dick's Creek Gap and were hiking by 8:00 am. Hiking out of a gap always includes a big climb and today was no different. The nice temps made it easier and we were greeted with an amazing sunrise through the trees and fog. I will let the pictures speak for themselves but it was truly God's glory on a Sunday morning.

Our plan for the day was to hike 12 miles to Muskrat Creek Shelter and stay the night there, but we both knew we would only be 4 miles from the truck at that point so we may try to accomplish it all in one day. It was a much warmer day with temps in the 80's by afternoon and full sun.

First major goal of the day was to make it to the Georgia-North Carolina border at Bly Gap. We hiked quickly to get there and stopped just momentarily for a quick snack break at Blue Ridge Gap.

More blow-downs from the wind

Entering Nantahala Forest

We crossed alot of Forest Roads in the last few miles of North Georgia and being a nice day, lots of people were out. We saw day hikers and even a large group from a Jeep club drive by with over 20 Jeeps, a nice break as we came out of the woods. We hiked quickly hoping to put Georgia behind us but at the same point not trying to miss the sign. As we came around a corner on a ridgeline we saw a group of 2 couples taking pictures by a tree, we knew we had hit the border. Cael and I got there and said hello, they took some pictures of us and we took some of their group.

We learned from Ron our AT shuttle driver that the NC/GA is not exactly on the border, but instead placed on a tree which is at the same elevation as the top of Spring Mountain. So essentially you spend 80 miles and wind up at the same elevation. In reality you gain 23,100 feet in elevation and drop the same in descent. We had a lot of fun looking back at Georgia, it was a great learning experience for hiking together but in the summers views are extremely limited and it is certainly humid. I think we will continue North on the trail and see what else there before we come back to Georgia. Just 0.1 miles up the trail from the border we came to Bly Gap. The knarly oak tree marks the location and we also filtered water at a small creek. There were lots of people enjoying lunch in the Gap.

Old and twisted tree

Looking out from Bly Gap

Once you leave Bly Gap the State of North Carolina kicks you in the butt with steep climbs! First are two climbs which take you up 800 feet in just over 2 miles. They are very steep and overgrown climbs as well. We learned the trail here was already less traveled and not maintained like Georgia with shoulder high grass that almost covered Cael up at times. We just placed our poles in front of us and kept moving. Couthouse Bald had a beautiful overlook to Hiawasse just near the summit. We looked out at the mountains we climbed today and could see the town where we dined the night before. We met a group there of 7 guys from Alabama who were also headed for Deep Gap that evening, we said we would all be glad to see our trucks later but completely soaked in the view before us.

View from Couthouse Bald

Cael takes in the view and the break from climbing, the mountain range to the left we came up over the morning.

Hiawassee to the right

It was getting warm so we drank as much water as we could to stay hydrated and now our legs were feeling the miles. We hiked down to Sassafras Gap and saw a group of ultra runners fly by us on a training run. We also saw lots of hikers climbing up the other side.

Break with a view - 4 miles to go!

We stopped at an overlook with just over 4 miles to go, it was only 1:30 so we had a Snickers bar I had gotten at Ingles the night before. Our legs were tired but we both agreed we would love to finish the day up and head home. The last 4 miles were tough and warm but thankfully almost all on the downhill or flat. We made it into Deep Gap where the parking lot was full for the weekend. We met a Dad with his 19 year old Daughter out hiking for the weekend. It was great to see so many families out and I hope Cael and I can still do this when he grows up. It was another great trip filled with memories for Cael and I to have experienced together.