Mountains Under Foot

In lieu of Hazard’s detailed post Spoon writes:
Day 4 – 5 – May 13-14, 2009

From: Corbin Horse Stamp, GA
To: Tray Mountain Shelter, GA
From: Tray Mountain Shelter, GA
To: Hiawassee, GA (May 15, 2009)

Hello friends and family,

Just letting you know that we are safe and sound. We are actually a day ahead of schedule! Yesterday we hoofed it over 22 miles and stayed at Tray Mountain Shelter. We got in late and everything was wet in the morning. Today is our first city day in beautiful Hiawassee, GA which means only about 10 miles until we are back at our normal stomping grounds, i.e. – North Carolina.

Two nights ago, we did the foolish thing and camped right in the middle of the ‘Bear Zone’ which has a sign pictured in the photos section. Needless to say, at 6:30am, a massive black bear was spotted 15′ away from where we were sleeping and ripped the top off of Hazard’s pack. The damage was actually minimal, thankfully. It ran off scared when we yelled at it and didn’t take any of our food.

We have met many very nice people out here; Jake, Leprechaun, and the Roman Noodles. Each has a great sense of humor. The Roman Noodles were actually the couple who gave us a ride into Hiawassee. They give trail magic out here and just happened to see my thumb poking out of the road.

What more is there to say about the hiking? It hasn’t rained on us yet whilst hiking. According to some stranger at Neels Gap Outfitters, “This is the year.” We have had rain though, but it has always been while we were sleeping in a shelter. The Tray Mountain Shelter was infested with rats and unfortunately Hazard’s Nalgene was filled with 3 dead ones last night. Don’t worry, it’s been cleaned…

The weather has been very windy and foggy over the past two days but before that it had been pleasantly sunny. Strangely enough it has been very cold.

We can’t seem to find any other thru-hikers out here who can keep up with us, but we are very far behind the initial rush. I suspect we will catch up with them. We’ve had no injuries except for my persistent knee problem and Hazard’s constant sweating. I figure that if my feet hurt worse than my knee then I am alright. We are starting to feel our bodies transform to the conditions out here; our feet are getting harder and as long as we stretch in the morning nothing is too sore. We have basically been turned into zombies of the trail. We don’t know how far we’ve hiked until we hit a landmark and the walking tends to blend together.

“It’s not about the miles, it’s about the smiles!” – from the Neels Gap Outfitter receipt

-atspoon

From Hazard’s Notes:
Day 1 – May 10, 2009
Travel:
From: Amicalola Falls State Park, GA
To: Stover Creek Shelter, GA
Beginning:1pm
Ending: 6pm
Number of miles hiked:
a) Trail -3.1
b) Other -8.5
c) Cumulative -11.6
Weather:
AM: Sunny on the ride up
PM: Started to drizzle around 3pm
Condition of the trail: Some of the nicest trail since it was at terminus.
People: “Two Lions” (had a stuffed lion strapped to the outside of his pack, stayed the night with Sarah and Eric who will hike up until the end of Virginia.
Animals: Giant wild turkey crossed our trail and did not seem to care that we were there.
Money spent: $0 (day), $0 (cumulative)
Notes of the day:
AM: Was up until 4:15am and was awoken by dad at 4:30am. We stumbled into the car at about 5:00am and were off to GA. I tried to sleep some in the car but it was not comfortable. Stopped at Shoney’s for a breakfast buffet. We ate like it was our last meal…
PM: Dad dropped us off at Amicalola Falls State Park. We took some pictures in front of the sign and we said goodbye. The approach trail included the hike up to the falls which consisted of multiple flights of stairs totaling 600 steps. So before our hike even begins our muscles are already burning. But we powered up the approach trail passing at least 9 other groups of hikers. This boosted our confidence and we surged to the top of Springer mountain where we met “many sleeps” who works for th ATC. His name came from his thru hike where he thought it would take many sleeps to get the hike finished. He took our info in his notebook and took our picture at the southern most white blaze (the white blaze we will follow to Maine). It was fun when people asked us where we were headed to and we responded “Maine”. We moved on to Springer Mountain shelter where we met “Two Lions”, fueled up with some snacks including my mom’s granola bars, and filled up with water at the spring. It had started to rain just before we got there so we put on our Marmots and threw on our pack covers. When we said goodbye, everyone was surprised that we were leaving. The shelter was already crowded by 5pm, and the next shelter was only 2.8 miles ahead, about an hour away. The move payed off in a big way, there were only two people at the next shelter and it could hold 16 people. Big floor with a loft and covered picnic table. Ate food, brushed teeth, bear bags up, and in bed by 7pm. Time for some real sleep.
Main Concern of the day: Hiked 2.8 miles more than planned. Feels good to be ahead of schedule…