Georgia Side Note:

- The outfitter at Neels Gap has everything a hiker could need: equipment, shower, and a place to stay. The outfitter is all there is on a winding road in Georgia, but the staff and the amenities are more than a hiker could ask for. If you have doubts about your trip, Neels Gap provides a great place to change any and all equipment. - Dicks Creek Gap, Hwy 76, leads you to the town of Hiawassee. Upon arriving at Dicks Creek, there is a parking lot across the road. You may want to ask fellow hikers with cars about a lift into Hiawassee. There is also a creek not far from the trailhead sign at Dicks Creek on the north side. Hiawassee has a motel, Blueberry Patch (family run hostel -owner and son have thru hiked the AT), Dairy Queen, Subway, large grocery store and other amenities.

Ben prepares to set out from Springer Mountain - April 3, 2003

If you want to drive to the trail – Billy:
I got my father to drive me to Amicalola Falls State Park, approximately 2 hours north of Atlanta. At the welcome center: you can sign the guest book, weigh your pack, and get the opportunity to see Amicalola Falls (the tallest cascading waterfall east of the Mississippi River), before taking the fairly easy 8.8 mile trail to the top of Springer Mountain. There is lodging available at Hike Inn, but you have to make reservations well in advance.

If you're flying to Atlanta and taking public transport – Ben:
From Hartsfield International Airport, make your way to the Greyhound bus terminal- just ask an airport employee if you can't find the bus terminal. The bus for Gainesville departs approximately twice a day. I stayed over in Atlanta at a motel for about $65, got up early and took the morning bus. A hiker I met at the Atlanta Greyhound station knew of a shortcut to bypass the approach trail and I was happy to both have somebody to share the (~$80) cab ride with and to skip the extra miles. There were cabs waiting when the bus pulled in to Gainesville and the driver was used to taking hikers to Amicalola, but didn’t know this route. The shortcut is a convoluted drive up forestry roads and I was worried the taxi would ground out or we’d get lost. Eventually we arrived near the trail, two miles North of Springer. The alternative of getting dropped at Amicalola is probably the safest and best bet for most.

There were a couple of other hikers at Springer going through their farewells to loved ones and posing for the obligatory photographs. Also there was the douche-bag ridge-runner we were to have run-ins with further up the trail. I wasn’t yet spoiling for trouble, so listened to his Leave-No-Trace spiel and headed out. It is an incredible feeling to be at the start of such a big adventure. The previous year’s experience had given me a pretty good idea of what to expect of the trail in terms of daily routine, the shelter system and hiker “culture”. However, joining the trail as sectioners in the Mid-Atlantic had meant that we always felt somewhat like outsiders (albeit welcome ones). Now I felt like a “real” hiker

The hiking in GA is pretty moderate - you often hear otherwise, but this is probably because many aren’t well prepared for it. What do we mean by being prepared? Your feet and knees will take a lot of abuse and, unless you’re used to climbing hills, your thighs will be aching for most of your first week. Having the lightest possible pack you can manage, getting your feet and legs used to the idea of standing and walking all day, and having some overnight trips to see what gear you don't use in a day, will get you prepared. Ounces add up to pounds. We found the biggest challenge to be negotiating the crowds of our fellow hikers at every shelter. Crowds of dreamers start the Appalachian Trail between March 1 and April 1. Hiking folk are generally some of the nicest you’ll meet, but neither of us are good with lots of people and at this stage there were still a couple of large groups of college-age kids partying up the trail - stopping early at shelters to smoke dope and make noise. There were plenty of likeable folk out too, and we enjoyed their company. Sadly we’d rarely see them for more than a couple of days before a difference in pace put us out of sync with them.

The weather held fair for the first two days, but had turned to thunderstorms by the third. This was the morning I climbed Blood Mountain - highest point in Georgia - and the lightning started as I neared the summit. I was able to take refuge in the stone shelter at the top. There I met an Israeli southbounder preparing to finish his thru hike. I don’t know when he started out, but he’d been hiking over the winter and would have faced the antithesis of our problem - endless solitude. I think it may have sent him a little batty - he certainly seemed a little odd and he sat huddled in his Tyvek suit waiting for nice weather to end his journey at Springer. I hope he got it. On the way down, the trail was slick, but I made it, if not safely, then at least without incident to Neels Gap.

The outfitter at Neels Gap, thirty or so miles in, is the first stop/resupply of the trail, and for many the last - the attrition rate at the start of the trail is very high. They’re well set to cater for, and profit from, the needs of Northbounders - the outfitter will ship parcels and their hostel attracts brisk business with tired hikers. I shed some excess that I had been unable to get rid of in the rush to the trail and picked up a few essentials - most importantly a copy of the Data Book.

It was at Neels Gap that I met seven-time thru hiker “Baltimore Jack” - on his way to making it eight. A couple of days later I found myself sharing a Hiawassee motel room with him and two brothers from Maine. He’s a good guy and I enjoy meeting those happy few that ignore convention to live their lives their own way - he loves to hike the Trail, so every year that’s what he does. There is nothing I can write to adequately convey the sight and smell of a hotel room inhabited by four hikers. Each year scores of hotel rooms along the length of the trail must be subject to the same abuse. The entire contents of every backpack is brought out and draped wherever space can be found. Everything is filthy and stinks to high heaven. Within minutes the bathroom looks like it’s been used to hose-down cattle - but not before they’ve trampled mud and Triskets deep into every inch of the carpet. The atmosphere is muggy from the sodden clothes hung out to dry, and the aroma of crotch and feet is quite dizzying. Billy and I never quite managed to recreate this level of carnage during our time together, but whatever the state of the room; there is something about a motel-stop when hiking that is quite unique and wonderful. However modest the accommodation, it is as though you are able to truly appreciate such things as hot water, television and pizza delivery for the first time. Maybe if we were all brought up without these things, we’d be able to live the rest of our lives in this delirious state - skipping and jumping back to our rooms with buckets of ice, scarcely able to contain our joy in man’s wonderful creations. It is one of life’s great tragedies how quickly familiarity replaces this feeling with apathy and contempt.

Towards the end of Georgia’s trail, the climbs begin to take on a slightly more serious disposition. My last night in the state was spent on the top floor of the rather grand Deep Cut Gap Shelter. Company for the night was a young guy named Charles whom Billy and I both got to know a little and would see again in Virginia. The next day I awoke to find that the wonderful flatbread I had purchased the day before had been ravaged in the night by the shelter mice. The horrible creatures had bored a one inch hole through each and every slice. Demoralised, I trudged off though the damp mist and into North Carolina.

Photos of the Georgia section of the Appalachian Trail:
Woods Hole Shelter	Hiawassee motel room	Hiawassee motel room	Ben tarps out for the night
GA/NC State Line

Continue on the Appalachian Trail:  North Carolina / Tennessee