Tray Mountain Shelter to Dicks Creek Gap

Appalachian Trail, 10.6 miles

Last day of this section hike -- bittersweet. Started out very early in bitter cold and wind. I am so happy it did not rain -- I think I would've died of hypothermia! Had to conquer a few moderate ups and downs, then huge, hard peak called Kelly Knob. Whoa. It was a big challenge. It was such a blessing to finally arrive at Dicks Creek Gap and see my car! I feel so proud of myself for completing such an aggressive, challenging hike.

Things I learned on this hike:

• If there's a possibility the temperature will be in the fifties or lower, bring gloves, earband, and long underwear. I can't believe how cold I felt. I thought this was the south.
• Bring a tea light for each night you plan to sleep in a shelter -- it seems to keep away mice and adds very little weight to your pack. Carl and Mike did this and it was nice to have constant light without worrying about flashlight battery life.
• If possible, dunk your feet in a cold stream at the end of the day to ease fatigue and tame blisters. For all the jawing Louie did, this was one helpful tidbit that made it worth listening to him for three days.
• Don't bring natural peanut butter or almond butter in plastic bags. The oil penetrates the bags and gets everything all oily. Eeew.

For a brief moment, the rain cleared and I snapped this picture from the trail.

Low Gap Shelter to Tray Mountain Shelter

Appalachian Trail, 14.9 miles

Oh my word, what a hard day. Started in the rain and aggravated my blisters all day with wet socks and wet shoes. Even worse, it was a three-mountain day: Blue Mountain, Rocky Mountain, and (finally!) Tray Mountain. This day definitely felt like passing through the fire. I was so proud of myself for finishing.

By the time I got to the shelter the rain had stopped -- I was so thankful. Keith showed up later that afternoon. I was glad of this, because everyone else -- Louie, Carl, and Mike -- was done with their hike and had stopped at Unicoi Gap. It would've been spooky staying at the Tray Mountain shelter alone. It got very cold and really, really windy at night. I wore my gloves, earband, long underwear, pants, shirt, fleece, and raincoat to bed -- in my twenty-degree sleeping bag! -- and I was still cold. It rained much of the night and I worried about how I could stay warm and dry the next day.

Blood Mountain Shelter to Low Gap Shelter

Appalachian Trail, 13.0 miles

Today I got up and started early because I was anxious to get to Neels Gap, two and a half miles down the mountain. There, I picked up mail from Jay and the kids, Janet, Eva, and a few others -- it made me cry and I miss everyone terribly. I don't know where my head was when I thought I could backpack alone for an entire month, let alone the week that I am undertaking right now.

It drizzled all day and started getting cold. I was the first at the shelter so I took Louie's advice and dunked my feet in the small creek running past the shelter. It helped tame a couple small blisters forming on the sides of each big toe. As I was standing in the creek in my undies (!) two thru-hikers arrived -- how embarrassing! Once I put myself back together, they introduced themselves as "Coyote" and "Ishmael." I hope those are their trail names and not their real names.

Keith and Louie showed up soon after, then Carl and Mike. So seven of us squeezed into the shelter! Once again, evening excitement: a small finch (which we at first thought was another bat) started flying at Louie's headlamp! Then there was a second one -- very bizarre! They both flopped around in the shelter, landing in turn on each of us, before Louie flung them underneath the shelter.

It rained hard from about midnight on.

A very foggy view of Blood Mountain, from Justus Creek. Dang that thing looks big, even from this far away.

Gooch Mountain Shelter to Blood Mountain Shelter

Appalachian Trail, 13.6 miles

Another hard day -- 13.6 miles. In the rain. It rained hard last night but let up a little by about 8 a.m., so that's when I left. Made it here by about 3:30. It's a pretty stone building, built in the thirties by the Civilian Conservation Corps. I hear it's terribly mice-infested -- guess we'll see tonight.

It was very foggy all day today due to the rain, so there's no view at all from this peak. Kind of disappointing, but I'm just glad I made it to the top. Saw a cute little turtle on the trail this morning.

Update from later in the evening: No mice in the shelter, but a bat flew in just as everyone was going to bed! Louie ("Black Cloud") was there; also Keith and two really funny guys from Jacksonville, FL named Carl and Mike. The bat generated quite a bit of excitement till it flew back out the window. Also: no bear cables in this shelter area; not sure why. So we all hung our food from the beams inside the shelter, which seemed questionable to me but since I'm such a bad food-hanger I didn't protest. No animals bothered the food, so I guess this was okay.

Stover Creek Shelter to Gooch Mountain Shelter

Appalachian Trail, 12.2 miles

What a day! It kicked my tail. Lots of ascents and descents that never seemed to end. I am so thankful to be at the shelter. Keith ended up here too, about half an hour ahead of me, along with a very quiet young couple and a sort of loud blow-hard type guy who calls himself "Black Cloud" (!). (This business of trail names is so bizarre to me!) He is a piece of work; I'll leave it at that.

There is some sort of military base near the trail and today as I was sitting by a creek, taking a break, I watched five astonishingly loud Blackhawk helicopters fly directly overhead, very low. That was about all the wildlife (!) I saw today.

Though it continues to be overcast, I was thankful again for no rain today.

The Gooch Mountain Shelter is new and nice -- it has a loft and nice picnic table and large overhanging roof. This shelter (and the Stove Creek shelter I stayed in last night) has a cable system nearby which you can use to hang your food out of reach of bears. I'm guessing all the shelters have this, at least the ones in Georgia. I hope so, anway.

Here's me at the top of Springer, still looking relatively clean and perky. I was pretty pleased with myself for having made it to the top in short order. At this point I only had about three miles before I got to my first stopping point (Stover Creek Shelter).

After a strenuous hike to the top of Springer Mountain, you're rewarded with this plaque, which marks the official beginning of the AT. It's hard to read it from my crummy picture, but the small writing says "A footpath for those who seek fellowship with the wilderness." How cool is that!?

This is what the approach trail looks like at the very beginning. It seems like an evil trick, but you actually start here and then have to hike 8.5 miles just to get to the beginning of the Appalachian Trail! Note the third line on the sign: Mt. Katahdin is 2,108.5 miles away.

Starting at the Beginning

The launch of my Appalachian Trail adventure! Amicalola Falls visitor center to Stover Creek Shelter. 11.3 miles

Left the car at Dicks Creek Gap and I-76, and got shuttled to the beginning of the approach trail. It was tough at times -- steep inclines that take you to the top of Springer Mountain. I'm staying in an AT shelter for the first time, with another solo hiker named Keith, who seems nice enough. I feel really good -- no hip pain at all, and no blisters. I'm eating less than I thought. There were lots of other people on the approach trail today -- I bet I passed like 25 people! But Keith is the only one I've seen since starting the "official" part of the AT.

I don't feel too spooked at all about being alone (surprisingly!) except there was this one stretch of the trail that was dark and tunnel-like because of all the overgrowth. Reminded me of something out of The Magician's Nephew or something. There I felt a little funny, but the landscape changed quickly and I was fine. I must admit, though, that I'm kind of glad this Keith guy is here. He showed up at the shelter about an hour after I did.

Yay for me! First day of my section hike done! Total miles = 11.3, in about six hours including breaks.