March 30, 2016 - Day 12

The day's hiking brought with it some of the most spectacular scenery to date.  They went through Mooney Gap, identified as among the wettest places in the eastern U.S. with an estimated annual precipitation of 93.5 inches per year.  They made it through dry...something to be thankful for.

Shortly after starting out for the morning, 'The Wayward Traveler' (a/k/a David Wolf) provided a welcome treat along the trail...he had hot dogs, apple fritters, chips, fruit, candy bars, etc.  David is from the little town of Otto, NC and is one of the good trail angels for that section of the trail.  He has a website:  www.waywardguide.com.  In Ken's words, "he had the best tasting hot dogs he has ever had!"  Now keep in mind that Ken has been living off of protein bars and dry trail food for days...I suspect even pig snouts and beef knees on a bun taste good.  Ken enjoyed talking with the Wayward Traveler and the kindness shown to all the hikers.

Right after the brief rest, it was miles of hard trail...the Wayward Traveler had allowed them to rest and build their strength for what was to come.

Near the 100 mile mark is Albert Mountain (elevation 5,250).  On top of Albert is a firetower with more amazing views.  It was a hard hike up the trail and they were on hands and knees pulling themselves up.  As you can imagine, this was exhausting.  I think Jill captured the moment best:



Jill (IWOX) enjoying a rock-hard rest at the firetower

The views were worth it and Ken climbed the firetower for these shots:

 

The Rock Gap shelter and campsites were all full (Mile 106) when they arrived so they hiked to the first flat spot (Mile 108) and set up camp on the top of a mountain.  Too bad they didn't have a crystal ball...

 

Mile 108

Elevation 4,300

 

 



March 29, 2016 - Day 11

The mountain of the day is Standing Indian Mountain.  This mountain, at 5,499, is the highest point of the AT south of the Smoking Mountains.  Luckily, the AT doesn't go to the top.  However you can take a blue-blazed side trail to reach the summit.  Guess what our fearless folks did...yep, they hiked to the top. 

Ken took a video with his phone and sent it to me.  The resolution was bad and it was upside down.  I'll work on trying to flip it and clean up the resolution.  If I can, I'll add it to the post.  If not, you will have to image the majestic scenery of a 360 degree view.  The cliff-top views have the nickname "Grandstand of the Southern Appalachians."

Ken had a little better cell signal today and was able to talk for a few minutes before it cut out.  He sounded very tired and said they all are doing well but it was a very exhausting day.  They were hiking along and saw a huge mountain to their right.  They were SO glad they didn't have to climb it when the trail took a turn and they had an "Oh NO!" moment when they started heading right for it!

This is actually still Standing Indian Mountain.  What they didn't realize was that once they came to the summit from the west, the trail looped down and around and they are heading back to it.  From looking at aerial trail maps, it appears they will round the summit on the east at a slightly lower elevation.

I'm sure they will be glad when this beast of a mountain is truly behind them.

They stopped for the night at Carter's Gap and hope to break into the 100 Mile club tomorrow.

Mile 93.9
Elevation 4,540

March 28, 2016 - Day 10

North Carolina!!!  Our intrepid hikers passed their first state line and ended up for the night 4 miles into North Carolina.  There isn't much to announce the special place, only a rough board tacked to a tree.  For a North Bound (NOBO) AT hiker, this humble sign is better than the neon lights of any city...or Broadway!


The North Carolina/Georgia State Line on the AT

Ken didn't have a good cell signal, so could only text.  Speaking of cell service, just like there are dog people and cat people, on the trail there are Verizon people and AT&T people.  What is nice about our beloved hikers is that they have a mixture of Verizon and AT&T.  So when one doesn't have a good signal, the other usually does.  Unfortunately, today was a Verizon kind of day and Ken has AT&T.

He was able to communicate that it was a very hard day.  There were 'huge' mountains one after another.

Not far into North Carolina is a narly oak tree.  This is the most photographed tree on the AT.  I have seen many other blogs, VLogs, and online articles.  Most include a picture similar to this:


The Narly Oak of NC

They stopped along the trail and made camp for the night.  I'll bet their sleeping bags felt good after a long day.

Mile 82
Elevation 4,500'

March 27, 2016 - Day 9

Today was a 'zero' day.  In trail-speak, that means that no advancement was made on the trail.  However, today was Easter and that made it much more than a zero kind of day.

The day started with an interdenominational Easter sunrise service. 

Later that morning, they attended the Easter service at the local McConnell Baptist Church.  The church had a beautiful service with a huge choir and orchestra.  The church seats 700 and it was full!  They post their sermons online and I look forward to listening to their Easter sermon once it is posted.

The weather report was for possible rain that evening, so they stayed one more night and spent the afternoon relaxing and watching movies about the Appalachian Trail that were on YouTube.  Now I have to admit I found this ironic...and I'm not sure if knowing what is ahead of you is good or bad.  Dennis definitely knows what is coming, so I guess it is only fair that Ken and IWOX do, too.

The plan is to make the North Carolina border tomorrow.

March 26, 2016 - Day 8

Saturday dawned and they headed on their way.  Afternoon found them at Dick Creek's Gap.  The weather report was calling for bad rain again that night.  (Question:  when you are on the trail, isn't all rain 'bad'?) The following day was Easter and all wanted to go back to Hiawassee to stay in the same motel as before and attend Easter church service the next morning.

So when they arrived at the road crossing, they caught a ride back into town and the motel gladly put them up again.  They walked to a local brewery and sampled 8 beers for $3.  A good deal, by any standards!

They went back to the Scarlet O'Hara for supper and enjoyed a nice relaxing evening.

Dick's Creek Gap
Mile 69.6
Elevation 2,675'

March 25, 2016 - Day 7

Our trekking trio left the hotel after breakfast around 9am.  They started back to the trail and another friendly trail angel picked them up and gave them a ride back to where they had left off yesterday. 

This day brought many "ups and downs" and they started right off with a big 'up' to Rocky Mountain. 



Rocky Mountain (Mile 54.3, Elevation 4,017')

While the total elevation was only from 2,949 to 4,017 feet, it was a steep climb up the 1,050' or 1 1/2 miles of trail.  The view was worth it and after a brief rest, they hiked down to start the next big up to Tray Mountain (elevation 4,439').  A few more ups and downs and they arrived at their stopping point for the day at Sassafras Gap.  There were a few other hikers there and since they were still in bear country, all had to hang their food bags.

Sassafras Gap (Mile 63.3, Elevation 3,500')
 

They set up camp after a long tiring day and enjoyed the sunset over the mountains.



A beautiful ending to Day 7 on the A.T.

Mile 63.3
Elevation 3,500'

March 24, 2016 - Day 6

This morning started the same...teamwork coffee (Jill's camp stove, Ken's fuel, one of the three to provide the water and instant coffee)...

Reading of Our Daily Bread daily devotional scripture and the daily devotional story.  They use Ken's small camo New Testament Bible that had been blessed and provided by our local church, The Lawrence United Methodist Church.  They take turns reading and are amazed at how the day's scripture fits in with their recent experiences.  We all know this is part of God's plan and they feel His presence... 

Breakfast of whatever sounds good from their packs.

More 'trail magic' at lunch time...at the Chattahoochee Gap, a Christian group from Alabama had a set up and made all the hikers the biggest hamburgers they had seen...with all the fixin's!  Plus many other goodies.  This group has their own Facebook site (https://www.facebook.com/mindthegapsvbc/) and took pictures of the hikers...Ken, Jill and Dennis were one of them! 



The day got exciting when they were approached by a ranger early afternoon who told everyone to get off the trail and into town as quickly as possible...a storm was coming and it was a bad one.


They made it to Unicoi Gap (Mile 53 - see picture left) and at the GA-75 crossing started hiking the 11 miles west into Hiawassee, GA. 

















They hadn't gone very far when a truck stopped and asked if they needed a ride into town.  Trail towns along the A.T. are very friendly to Thru-Hikers and will always stop and ask if they need a ride.  They enjoy the hikers and look out for them.  There have been times when shelters, hotels or hostels are full and they will take hikers home with them!  Ken, Jill and Dennis were able to get rooms at the motel.   Ken was able to get a signal outside the motel and while sitting there, it started to sprinkle and then it was a gully-washer!  It started raining and blowing hard and they were (once again) warm and dry for the night.

Unicoi Trail Angels

By now, over 60% of the Thru-Hikers have washed out and would not complete the hike.  Many had to leave the trail due to knee injuries caused by the steep terrain.  Ken's knees started to ache and so (as a precaution) he purchased knee bracing.  They have made a big difference and will (hopefully) save his knees for the many miles to come.

Good weather is anticipated for tomorrow and they will resume their hike.