Appalachian Trail Day 8 - Dick's Creek Gap to PIum Orchard Shelter ( miles 69 to 73.7 )

We Stayed in a hotel in Asheville, NC last night. 6:30 am we are off to the races. We Packed last night in preparation of an early start this morning. The hotel is 45 minutes from Hot Springs, where Kate is meeting us at 9. 

We park behind Laughing Heart Lodge. The proprietor, Gabe, is in the kitchen finishing breakfast service. He keeps an eye on the hiker's cars, and we donate the remainder of our fresh fruit and veggies to the hostel kitchen. 

An antique forest green Jeep Wrangler pulls up in a small cloud of dust.  A kind and handsome woman emerged with a black dog.  Kate and the pup named Hiker drive us on backroads of NC. Kate is fun and talkative, and the 2.5-hour ride passes quickly.

Back on the trail! 80°F and sunny.  The hike out of the Gap (a southern term for the passage between mountains) is a moderate uphill.  We meet Smiles, who is a delightful teenager with an infectious smile.  He is through- hiking alone! 

We reach Plum Orchard Shelter for a snack. Penny wants to stay here.  We meet a group of 2 men and 3 women who met on the trail and are now a " Tramily," or Trail Family. 

We enjoy light banter over a dinner of freeze-dried meals rehydrated with water filtered from the nearby spring, then boiled on our camp stoves. The 3 young women are recent Masters Grads who decided to pursue the Trail instead of jobs. They are so cute!

Today: Elevation - 1500' , miles - 4.6

The sun sets, and Hiker Midnight is upon us.  With no TV, artificial light, or cell phone reception, the hiker's tuck into their respective tents and hammocks to read. Sleep is not far beyond...

Appalachian Trail Day 7 - Unicoi Gap to Dick's Creek Gap and Hostel Around the Bend (mile 52.5 to mile 69)

Day#7 10/27/21 (Written by Penny) Last day of this journey, had to cut it shorter than our plan but will pick up where we left in the Spring.  Amy is already planning our trip for our Appalachian Trail continuation. This hike was our longest so far total mileage 18.9 / 11hrs 21 min. We had to finish in the dark the last 2 Miles. We started at Unicoi gap after a shuttle from Lisa, we slacked packed, which is taking out everything except snacks, water, water filters, extra clothes for cooler temps, head lamps. The hike started out climbing Rocky Mtn, we stopped at a cool site “Cheese factory Site" for lunch, meet a solo female hiker Lisa Webster Mathews and her dog Regina.  They were section hiking she was on her way to Unicoi Gap. Discovered she is also a trail runner and TJM nation and has run Badger Trail race in WI same one I want to run next August 2022. Small world I have said many times! We then hiked to Tray Mtn with such beautiful views and the Foliage was spectacular.  Finally finished our hike for this trip. Both of us were tired but happy with our journey. Arrived back at the Hostel with a group of friends that we discovered all nurses having a getaway. Very lively group, they departed after their partying to their cabins. Silence is golden when tired! Washed clothes, well deserved shower and packed up for tomorrow trip home. Sorry we had to cut it short but glad we didn’t have to deal with a multi-day storm. 

My favorite wool pants after a fall

 

Appalachian Trail Day 6 -Low Gap Shelter to Unicoi Gap (miles 42.8 to 52.5)

Day 6: Low Gap Shelter to Unicoi Gap. We have 4 days of food but really need a rest day. We can call Lisa, the owner of Hostel Around the Bend, to pick us up at Unicoi Gap and spend the night at the hostel.

Blue Mountain Shelter is only a few miles before Unicoi, and an easy downhill all the way to the Gap. A young couple has obviously been living here. The two have piles of gear in the shelter, spread out in a way no one-night hiker would take liberties to do so. They are polite and kind to move some things out of the way so I can sit slightly out of the wicked wind. My face is chapped, and I am cold.

Made it to the Gap at 2:45, which is really good for us! Shower, laundry, a Brewery. Great day!! Total through day 6: 30,632' elevation gain, 63.1 miles! Still hitting our 10mile/ day goal!

We did 11.5 miles and 1785', but it felt so much better! We are getting our trail legs

Trail Days 2022 - Damascus, VA

We are back on the trail!  Trail Days in Damascus yesterday, with the obligatory dance around the bonfire, Bongo drums beating out ferverish rhythms while a flame dancer tosses his double flaming stick into the air and grabs it one handed then swirls it around his body.  No containers of alcohol are allowed, but that has not stopped the imbibing. Solo cups are everywhere and the smell of weed permeates the air.

Penny met a hiker she has been following on Youtube. New Shoes, harmed for his habit of burning through more shoes than anyone has seen on the trail, chronicles his story via a Youtube Vlog.

We circle the bonfire a couple times then head to our much quieter corner of the park for the night. Sleep is slow coming, as the drums can be heard until midnight.

The next morning we pack up. The shuttle driver we secured to drive us the 2.5 hours to Hiawassee has backed out at the last minute!!  Frantic, I scroll through my emails to find another.  Kate. I text her, explaining the situation.  Very last minute, but this getting desperate!  There are shuttle drivers aplenty, but they are always booked in advance. Finally Kate gets back to me with a hefty price. I jump on it!

We spend the morning checking out the vendors. Penny loves looking at the wares and chatting up the owners.  We make some minor purchases and put our names in for many of the raffles offering free, normally expensive gear.

We cover miles of ground walking from one side of the town to the other, returning to the camp to heat up one of our freeze dried meals to

save money for our shuttle.  We caught some cute Iittle pouches at the Gregory Pack giveaway. Headed over to main Street for the hiker parade. This is a tradition where hikers raid the local thrift store for the silliest clothes they can find. After they wear them for the weekend, the clothes are returned to the store to be resold to next years hikers. There are a lot of men in dresses, frilly blouses, and big

hats. The town residents started the tradition of soaking the stinky hikers with hoses and water guns in order to rid them of the stench of 400 miles of trail.

Appalachian Trail Day 5 - Neel's Gap to Low Gap Shelter (miles 31.3 to 42.8)

The view from the balcony

Lots of packs waiting to go on a hike

Day 5 of Amy and Penny's Amazing Appalachian Trail Adventure (A&P's AATA)!  We spent the night at Neel Gap after the most amazing shower and clean clothes! Because of our shower and spending spree we had to set up in the dark up the hill from Mountain Crossing store. We were able to charge our phones and batteries for the next 3-4 days of backpacking.

Appalachian Trail Day 4 - Woody Gap to Neel's Gap ( Mile 20.5 to 31.3)

We woke up from a lovely warm night's sleep and packed in the dark.  Woody Gap is a large parking area off a busy scenic highway running through Chattahoochee National Forest.  One benefit of the close proximity to a road is the pit toilet. The downfall of being so close is the noise. Normally, mornings along the Appalachian Trail are relatively quiet and relaxed.  This morning, however, car doors have been slamming, groups have been heading north for the last hour, and the occasional horn beeps to alert the departing hikers that their car door is indeed locked. Since further sleep is out of the question, we get up and break camp.  

The sun breaks over the ridge around 7:30 am, and we hit the trail with the sole intention of making it to Mountain Crossings before 5pm.  The Crossings is a full-service hostel and store directly on the trail. We can shower, wash clothes, and resupply without hitching into town.  We are almost out of food and fuel.  Penny really needs a new pack.  And we all really need shower and clean clothes. The thing is we have to hike 11 miles over Blood Mountain!

Preacher Rock, Georgia

Appalachian Trail Day 3 - Hawk Mountain Shelter to Woody Gap (Miles 8.1 to 20.5)

We are up and packing at sunrise, which is 7 am. The Hawk Mountain shelter area is on a ridge, with dappled sun shining through the sparsely leaved trees. The best alarm clock ever!  The sky is cloudy, the temp cool, and the wind, which howled through the night, continues to blow. Penny is the first one up and halfway packed. I pack quickly, moving fast to stay warm. Within 20 minutes I am ready to head down the trail, as the other hikers start emerging from their tents.  Woody Gap is 12.4 miles down the trail. 

The sun cresting the ridge at Hawk Mountain