Category: Appalachian Trail 2021

Start: Gooch Gap (AT mi 16.9). Stop: Springer Mountain Shelter (AT mi 0.2). Today’s miles: 16.7 miles. Total AT mileage: 2192.9 miles.

So, I’m writing this post after the fact, because on this night I was so cold in my tent that I couldn’t stop shivering long enough to type, and when I finally stopped shivering, I was sound asleep! I think it worked out like it was supposed to though..

Anyway, I slept so good, snuggled into a cozy quilt. I did not want to get up, let alone at 6am.. but duty calls-we had to get Sundae’s dad to the Springer Mountain parking lot to meet her for her summit and then to hike the approach trail into Amicalola State Park. I’ll be doing that tomorrow.

Excitement got me moving. I packed quickly and when I went to the dining room, Mrs. Bonnie told me breakfast would be about 20 more minutes.. so I set the table and then went and crawled back in bed.. alarm set. Haha.. some habits die hard, or in this case-don’t die at all. When breakfast was ready, I got up and made my coffee. This morning was scrambled eggs (they had to have had something in them, because they were better than regular ole scrambled eggs), sausage, blueberry pancakes, and chocolate chip scones. For some reason, their orange juice is better than normal, too.

We ate it all up, chatting lightly and getting excited for the day ahead. Once finished, we loaded the car and headed out. It was cold, I was in my shorts but had my warm top layers on.. in the car I had my seat warmer on, so that helped up until the moment I got out.. ha. Mr. Paul took my picture at Gooch Gap and we all hugged goodbye. That sweet couple really felt like grandparents, loving and welcoming.. it seriously felt like being home for a holiday at their house. Part of me was waiting for mom to show up there. Being around them also got me thinking about my Granny Sara and PawPaw Bob. They’ve been tracking my progress throughout this whole trip, and I’ve been hoping they’ll come to Amicalola tomorrow when I finish. I don’t see them nearly enough, and I’d sure love to hug them!

I got moving but honestly didn’t have any real reason to hike fast. It was only 8:15, I had 17 miles to do over pretty easy terrain.. and getting to camp early would mean sitting still longer-and freezing. So, I hiked along leisurely, soaking up my last several hours on the trail thats held my attention for almost 6 months now. I listened to the birds and the squirrels squawk and complain to each other and attempt to chide me for interrupting their lives. I marveled longer than normal at the colors of the leaves on the forest floor under my feet. I talked to anyone with ears that passed me (and looked like they wanted to talk, too.. some were too out of breath and miserable for chatting). And, I teared up quite a bit, too.

The sky was cloudy, but the rain was gone. The ground stayed damp and squishy underfoot, but-still no falls in Georgia, yet. Maybe home was happy to have me back. I didn’t have many views, but I did pass a lot of water.. plenty of creeks and streams and some smaller waterfalls. When I stopped for lunch, I actually had a hot meal instead of a sandwich. I ate chicken and dumplings, plus the leftover casserole from last night (although that was cold). I sat there for an hour, taking bites and smiling at the scenery. I started an audiobook, “Braiding Sweetgrass” and it being about nature just sucked me in and had me touching trees and wondering how I’ll ever be able to do “normal life” again.

When I made it to the Springer Mountain Shelter, I was literally only 0.2 miles away from the finish of the Appalachian Trail. Seriously, only 10 more minutes of walking and I’d technically be done! But, because I wanted to hike the Approach Trail down to Amicalola State Park, 8.8 miles of “extra” trail but gorgeous scenery with the most stunning waterfall in Georgia, I didn’t let myself go to the summit. That way, the official “AT finish” and the day I finish hiking will be one and the same. I went and scoped out the campsites at the shelter area, picked one and set up. It was already only 39 degrees and I was starting to shiver, so I ended up in all my layers, and wishing I had more.

I carried my food bag to the shelter picnic table, got water to filter, and chatted with the guys already there doing the same. Two of the men there were on their day 1 of backpacking. In jeans. And had their hammocks set up inside the shelter. Thank goodness I wasn’t planning on sleeping in there. One of them insisted on explaining to me why his choice in water filter was better than mine. Cool bro.. mine only got me everywhere north of here to Maine, but sure-your filter may have made life easier somehow, I guess. They didn’t seem to appreciate my comment on jeans not being very warm in cold weather or a good choice for hiking in general, either, but whatever. Ya win some ya lose some.

While I was making my dinner, a man and his two sons joined me. They had just set up their tents and were on their first backpacking trip. They were so funny and entertaining, the 9 year old explaining the difficulty of the stairs on the approach trail and saying that the waterfall made it almost worth it, until he realized they could have driven to the top.. he was so animated and had me cackling for sure. The older son had some great one liners, and I was thankful I was spending my last dinner on trail with a good family out enjoying themselves, even with the struggles they faced.

I ended up cleaning up and going to get in my tent by 6-6:15. I was so cold that I couldn’t stop shivering and needed to get in my sleeping bag. I actually used it like it’s intended, a mummy bag, zipped to the top with my arms and legs trapped inside. I had my filter inside the sleeping bag, so it wouldn’t freeze overnight, along with my cellphone and the charging bank it was connected to.

As I was still shivering, I thought to myself I made a huge mistake and should have skipped the approach trail and had mom come pick me up from here tonight. But it’s too late for that now. Plus, mom, Uncle Keith, Aunt Kathy, and my friend Traci are all coming to see me finish tomorrow. And maybe my grandparents, too. So, for now, I’ll just have to suck it up and pray I get warm, soon.

Then, it dawned on me.. SoFarSoGood gave me hand warmers, what did I do with them? I popped up and started rummaging through my pack until I found them.. two of them.. and opened the package. Within 15 minutes I was no longer shaking uncontrollably, and within 30 minutes I was comfortably asleep. All before 7:30pm. I didn’t even have my earplugs in. I think that’s a pretty good way to have a last night on trail go.. I hope y’all slept that good too!

Start: Neels Gap (AT mi 31.3 miles). Stop: Gooch Gap (AT mi 16.9). Today’s miles: 14.4 miles. Total AT mileage: 2176.2 miles.

Sundae and I got to sleep in this morning two days in a row for me!). Breakfast was ready at 8:15, I was at the table with coffee in hand at 8:10. I could smell the bacon while I was getting ready. Mrs. Bonnie and Mr. Paul made us a spread: baked eggs in picante salsa with cheese (incredible, really. I think I’ll be making a whole30 version, sans cheese, when I get home), bacon, pancakes, and homemade gluten free muffins with almonds and other goodies in them. Plus coffee and juice! These two are quite the chefs!

Sundae and I took a picture before loading up in separate cars.. Mrs. Bonnie was taking me to Neels Gap, Mr. Paul was taking Sundae to Gooch Gap. I’ll be hiking today what she hiked yesterday, and then tomorrow I’ll be hiking what she’s hiking today.. obviously we both made a good plan since it’s the same itinerary!

Mrs. Bonnie dropped me off around 9:30 and I promised to update a pick up time for later when I had a better guess as to when I’d be getting to Gooch Gap. It was sprinkling, but not too bad, although the cold was definitely here to stay. I snapped a better picture of the Shoe Tree and then headed up the trail towards Blood Mountain. I’ve done this climb before, from another trail, and I was worried I’d be sucking wind and struggling. Honestly. I was at the top before I realized it.. the climb was nowhere near as hard as it was the last time I did it, then again, I was a good 30-40 pounds heavier then and hadn’t been hiking almost every day for almost 6 months when I did it before.

So, I made it to the top, rain coming and going, the cold staying put-making my hands red as the leaves when I’d take a glove off for a second to eat a snack (Mr. Paul’s muffins-I brought 4 with me..). Coming down the rock slabs originally had me nervous that I’d be slipping and falling like I did on the daily in New Hampshire and Maine-and yet-I stayed on both feet all day.. even during the descent with big rock steps. I was shocked and quite pleased with myself.

All of my views were stolen by the clouds, nothing to see but the same misty, foggy views from yesterday, but just like then, I still loved them. I could snap pictures of this trail weaving around trees with fallen leaves all around all day long.. clearly, because I do. The rest of the trail was a breeze. At some point I got hungry and wanted my lunch, but was too cold to sit and eat it. I took my day pack off, swigged some water, made my sandwich, put the pack back on and kept walking, eating as I went, trying to not get mustard on my gloves.

I got to a point and text Mr. Paul that I should be there by 4pm. I was actually going to get there a little sooner than that, but figured I could walk slow, upload pictures to the blog site, and if I got there too early I could start typing up today’s stuff. But, at 3:35 when I showed up, their car was there already and both Mrs. Bonnie and Mr. Paul were walking back from a little hike they decided to go on. I got a picture of them before we all got inside the car with the seat warmers on high.

They drove me back to the house in the woods, winding around curved roads with gorgeous views.. some better views than I got while hiking, honestly. They said every day the colors pop just a little bit more, then before long all of the leaves will have fallen and there will be a stark difference in the beauty-but still beauty all the same.

Once back at the house, I showered and then rested before dinner. Close to 7pm, dinner was ready and Sundae’s dad was here! He drove up today, will sleep here tonight, and then in the morning Mr. Paul will drop me off first, then take him to Springer Mountain to meet Sundae for her finish and the approach trail! He is so nice and we all four chatted throughout dinner.. which was spectacular, by the way.. biscuits and salad and a casserole with rice, chicken, corn, broccoli, cheese.. probably other things too, and then topped with shaved almonds.. whew. I won’t lie to you, I ate at least half of that casserole dish by myself, and when Mrs. Bonnie asked if I wanted to pack out the rest to eat tomorrow I made them all laugh over my excited “ohhhhh yesssssss.”

Mr. Paul is going to email me the recipe. It’s good.. like, not just because I’m a Thru hiker.. like it’s actually really good. Anyway. Now, I’m laying in bed, unable to get pictures to upload to Facebook.. and sore as can be, but over the moon reflecting on this experience. How lucky am I that my last “in town” stay was with a couple that treated me like their granddaughter? I’m so grateful, beyond words for this entire experience, and mostly for the people I’ve been blessed to meet.

Tomorrow, when they drop me off at Gooch Gap, I’ll be on my last “real” day of the Appalachian Trail. I’ll technically be stopping only a quarter of a mile from the southern terminus to camp for the night.. that way, when I get up Saturday morning and pack up to leave, I’ll get to the summit sign within minutes, and then only have the approach trail to finish this epic journey. I wanted to get to the end of the trail the same day as I finished the Approach Trail, so it’s all officially on the 6th of November-exactly 6 months to the day from when I started.

“They” say that on average it takes 5-7 months to complete a thru hike of the Appalachian Trail.. and on this one, I don’t mind being exactly average at all. I’ve never been the fastest hiker, I’ve never claimed to be a purist, but I’ll get to say I’ve walked the whole way. My feet have gotten me every single step of the way, most of the time with my full pack on, some of the time with the ease of only carrying that day’s necessities.. I’ve got a continuous footpath that I’ve created, from Georgia to Maine-starting in the middle and making it to Mount Katahdin in Maine, then coming back to where it all began and making it home to Georgia.. sometimes I hiked northbound, sometimes I hiked southbound, once I even hiked miles out of order.. but the path is connected the entire way. I’m pretty damn proud of that. And if something were to happen between now and Saturday, I think I have it in me to crawl the rest of the way if I have to. If New Hampshire and Maine taught me anything, it’s that I’m a whole lot tougher than I give myself credit for sometimes.

Anyway. I better get some shut eye. We have to be up early tomorrow to get Sundae’s dad to her so she can finish this thing 🙂 Sweet dreams, y’all.

Start:Unicoi Gap (AT mi 52.5). Stop: Neels Gap (AT mi 31.3 miles). Today’s miles: 21.2 miles. Total AT mileage: 2161.8 miles.

I slept hard with my earplugs in. When I woke up and tiptoed to the bathroom, I thought TownLegs and Jon were still asleep-they weren’t, they were hanging out in the hotel lobby until I woke up because they had already been awake for hours! It was only 7:45! Haha

I packed up my stuff and they drove me to Unicoi Gap, after kindly stopping at Hardee’s so I could get an egg and cheese biscuit (or three, don’t judge me..). We hugged bye, for the final time, and Jon took our picture. Her AT journey was complete now, day one of “after trail life” had begun for her, and it scares me a little.. because that day is quickly coming for me, too. I started up the relatively steep Blue Mountain as they pulled away, honking and waving to me as they went. They were in for a 9 hour road trip home after they stopped back by the hotel and loaded their belongings.

I took my time up Blue Mountain, finally posting a couple of the previous journal entries that I haven’t gotten a chance to upload-this time wasn’t because of lack of service, it was simply because I was spending every second I could with my friend and was too sleepy to attempt it last night after dinner. The uploading of pictures and journal entries distracted me from the climb itself, since I couldn’t attempt to hike fast while messing around on my phone.

Before I got to the top, I ended up in my rain gear.. cold creeping in on my hands and legs, and little spritzes of rain here and there, but the rain was only during that climb. When I did make it to the top, I felt successful-the blog was updated AND the hard part of the day was completed! From there the trail was mostly downhill and meandering. I still had a lot of miles to cover, so I tried to keep my pace up by listening to my marathon running playlist.

It was cold enough to keep me in my rain gear throughout the day, and in my fleece and gloves, too. The weather app claimed it would start pouring by 4, then not until 6, and then not until 9pm! Talk about getting lucky! I mean, I was hiking in a cloud all day, so their were no views, and I was cold, but I wasn’t wet AND cold. That’s really the important thing. It could always be worse. And with the dampness and the mist, the leaves were shimmering and the trees were looming overhead, I felt like I was walking through a movie scene.

I knew all day that I had a bailout spot if I was too cold and miserable to continue.. I could stop hiking and get picked up at 15.8 miles at Tesnatee Gap, or I could hike another 6 miles to Neels Gap.. if I went to Neels Gap, I was under the impression of more options for sleeping inside. With the rain coming overnight and continuing all night and all day tomorrow, I knew I wanted to be inside, warm and dry no matter what, and then would suck up the rain tomorrow-but probably get to another hostel at Woody Gap or Gooch Gap, depending on how far I got today. If I stopped early today, I’d have to hike farther tomorrow in the rain or push it off to my last day before the approach trail-which made me nervous. I didn’t want anything to happen to make finishing Saturday a problem.

So, when I got to Tesnatee Gap at 3:50pm, I was anxious about knocking out 6 more miles.. knowing I’d be hiking the last bit in the dark more than likely. I started calling places for a bed for the night. I called the cabins at Neels Gap-they’re apparently closed on Wednesdays. Weird. I called the store at Neels Gap because they had a hostel listed on GutHook-the man politely told me that they didn’t open the hostel this year, but I could camp out back for free. Crap. I don’t want to camp in the rain!

Last but not least, I called a bed and breakfast, Your Home In The Woods. Mrs. Bonnie answered and said she had room for me, and that I should text her husband Paul when I’m close to confirm a pick up time.. she’d be at church, and if I didn’t text him, he’d be sitting at Neels Gap waiting for me by 6:30, just in case I lost service and couldn’t update him. Wow. Talk about kindness.

I made it up and over Cowrock Mountain, Wolf Laurel Top, and Levelland Mountain in decent time, which had me walking into Neels Gap and Mountain Crossings stone building at exactly 6:30pm. I was shocked I had made it when I said I would, and managed to not need my headlamp yet-although I was probably about 10-15 minutes from its use being a requirement. I took a picture of the Shoe Tree.. the tree full of shoes hikers toss up, either in victory for Southbounders almost done, or in defeat for northbounders deciding to call it quits. Personally, I think it’s more of the latter-because I know I wasn’t throwing my shoes up there with more than 30 miles to go to the end..

As I snapped the picture of the shoe tree, Paul greeted me warmly and then let me load into his truck. He gave me a homemade lemon scone to munch on while he drove me to his home in Blairsville, only 15-20 minutes from where he picked me up. While he drove he pointed out things in the area, gorgeous views of the valleys and the pops of color showing off on some of the mountainsides.

I got a grand tour of he and Bonnie’s gorgeous home nestled in the woods. Then, he took me to my private room, with a private bathroom too! He told me dinner would be ready in about an hour, and that another hiker was here, too. He knew we had both heard of each other but hadn’t officially met yet-and I was excited to finally get the chance to meet the Sundae I’ve heard all about over the last 2 months! Lizard had hiked with her awhile, and so had Towelie and other friends, too! But, I didn’t let my excitement of meeting her slow down the chance of a hot shower, right now. Meeting new friends would have to wait until dinner.

I showered and dressed in my clean sleep clothes (thanks to TownLegs yesterday for letting me get everything washed while I wore her non hiker clothes), and then made my way to the dinner table. I finally met Sundae, and immediately saw why everyone adored her! She’s funny and open and a complete joy to be around. We never had a dull moment, between her, me, and Paul, conversation was ongoing and pleasant. Mrs. Bonnie ended up joining us at the tail end of our dinner, because she was at church for Wednesday night bible study.

Paul made us an incredible dinner: vegetarian chili with white rice, biscuits, and fresh salad. We all talked and ate, and then Sundae and I continued to talk and eat even more. Such a phenomenal home cooked meal, surrounded by wonderful people. Eventually, at almost 9pm, we retreated to our beds after determining a time to get up and get a move on in the morning. Sundae would be getting to Springer Mountain Shelter tomorrow night, and then wait to summit until Friday morning, when her dad got there to meet her! He will get to the parking lot and then hike the mile uphill to the shelter and they’ll do the summit and the 8.8 miles of the approach trail together.

As I was walking to my room, Paul let me know that he and Mrs. Bonnie would have room for me to stay tomorrow night too, since it’s going to be raining all night tonight and all day tomorrow.. which then, he said, “you could slack pack tomorrow, if that’s something you’d be interested in..” if only he knew I’m basically the slack pack Queen these days.. hahaha! I happily squealed a yes that made him laugh. Why wouldn’t I want to slack pack over Blood Mountain tomorrow when it’s going to be pouring on me all day and never get over 46 degrees?! I’m giggling still thinking about how the Unpolished Princess grew up to be the Slack Pack Queen! Hysterical, really.

Now, laying here I’m both happy and sad. I’m thrilled I’ll be done in three days, while also sad over the same thought. I won’t miss the cold or the rain, but I think I am going to miss this trail, this community, this freedom from the normal day to day life. Don’t get me wrong, I’m looking forward to some of that normal life, too. But I think the trail is something that calls to you-and then never quite stops. I guess we will see..

Goodnight, y’all.