Dicks Creek to Rainbow Springs Campgroun d

“Oops, I meant merrier.”

“Papa John, send me your e-mail address and I'll keep you updated on this trip. Anyone is welcome and we'll have a good time.

MDSHiker@aol.com”

“You should have an email from me. If not, addy is kennedy92@comcast.net

Count me in on this hike. Should be a great time.

Thanks,
Papa John”

“great, we'll see you then!”

“Any further developments on this hike?

John”

“all i know is we are still going!”

“Still Going!!

Wahoo!!

I'm gonna use a new backpack - 2nd one I've ever owned.

AND

I'm switching over to alcohol for cooking, we'll see how that goes.

I'm ready!!”

“you sound pumped up MDS!”

“MDSHiker - a liquid break fast of MD20/20 does NOT constitute alcohol cooking! OK, well maybe it doesn.

I'm looking forward to the trip as well. Accuweather forcasts for the Tuesday before the trip shows rain. That's as far out as it will forcast now. Maybe that means a cold front is coming through and Wed and Thur will be cooler and clear with clouds coming back over the weekend. That has been the typical pattern over the last month in the SE.”

“and will drive up Wednesday night. Anyone from 'bama want to coordinate a ride?

John”

“Where are you Papa John. I'm in Pell City, just east of B'ham. I'll be getting up EARLY Friday morning and heading over. I'm going to catch up with the group Friday morning and just do a Fri-Sun. trip”

“Papa John - you're going to have a looooooong drive. E-mail me so we can figure out where to meet and where to park.

MDSHiker@aol.com

I live in Huntsville, maybe we can work something out concerning a carpool. The fastest way to the AT from H'ville is to drive to Chattanooga and then drive East.”

“Just checked accuweather again. From Sun - Wednesday it is calling for rain for the Helen, Ga area. Maybe it'll be all rained out. No campfire for us.”

“Dohh, I now see where Papa John says "Hey, I'm from Mobile, anyone want to carpool".

dayhiker---Hey Papa, where ya from.

Oops.”

“It is a long drive, but I do it a lot so it's not too bad. I usually drive up 65 to Montgomery and 85 to Atlanta then up 400 to God's country. Sure is a shock when leaving and having to go from the woods to Atlanta.”

“...are you getting them?
kennedy92@comcast.net”

“I sent you an e-mail PapaJohn, we'll see if that works!

Papa, if you want you can meet Prowler and me at Unicoi Gap around 9am on 3/14/02.

Prowler, can you pick me up at the backcountry parking lot? I'll be in a van - on Sunday, we can get everyone in the van and drive them back to their cars. What'cha think? Will that work?

I'll e-mail you directions to the backcountry parking lot.

Don't forget, we'll pick up dayhiker on Friday morning at Dick's Creek Gap.

I'm bringing plenty of alcohol.




For Cooking!!”

“Papa John, I have an entry in my AT journal about coming off the trail at Neals Gap and being shocked at what I saw. Cars buzzing by, trash all over the ground, etc. I've almost got my web pages ready that have that entry and I'll post the url when I get it done.”

“Anyone been to Dick's Creek Gap? MS Travel Planner found it, so I have directions. Just wondering if there is any inside scoop.”

“where do i find directions to the dick's creek parking lot?”

“Travel planner has it to Dick's Creek Gap. I'm assuming the parking lot is nearby. Can anyone confirm?

Josh email your fax # and I'll send you the directions. dayhiker@tidefans.com”

“i don't have a fax.
backpacker482@yahoo.com”

“im gonna walk the 3.5 to the shelter thurs night, then backtrack w you guys fri morn. prowler already designated me the beer #&%!$.”

“actually you can fax me at work at 513 791 4615
thanks a lot”

“I was able to save it in html format with a map and directions. I'll try that first so that you can print in color instead of a blurry fax.”

“Did you get it?”

“Oops, it is driving directions from my location. If you want to email your hometown or home state I could redo a travel plan and email that to you.”

“LOL @ dayhiker.”

“That fax # is in Ohio. I could do a travel plan from Chattanooga. I'm assuming he'll pass through there on the way South.”

“josh I have theWMA map so dont worry about directions!

MDS thats not a problem giving dropping off your van!

MDS are you a doc??”

“No, but he's stayed in a Holiday Inn Express and has to put up with docs on a daily basis.”

“No, but I play one on TV.”

“http://www.mdshiker.com/tt.htm

(cut and paste)”

“i got it. thanks, i had to go to work. sorry i didn't confirm it.”

“Small parking lot so get there as early as you can. There might be room for 10 vehicles! It is a very popular spot. Unicoi is huge and we shouldn't have any problems parking there.

MDS, since we are both going to SIM backcountry, we could leave one van there and drive back to Unicoi Wednesday night. What do you think? That would save Prowler the trip up there. We would then be in place for an early start.

John”

“if the lot's full can i just park on the side of the road somewhere? that probably shouldn't be a problem anyway if i get there thursday.”

“Yall are going to have to get an early start to meet me at the trailhead by 9EST. Would it help if yall skipped breakfast and I bring a sackful of biscuits for everyone. That would allow yall to hit the trail earlier and you could pack one less meal. How does this sound?

I think we have 4 besides myself. What about 10 sausage biscuits?”

“YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES”

“mmmmmmmm! Yummy ! Sounds good to me.”

“The parking area is right at the gap which isn't very big. THe roads curves coming up into and leaving the gap and can be hazardous just walking across the road. You might be able to park further down the road off the top a ways and then walk back up. There are some houses nearby, they might let you park there. If you get in there Thursday night you shouldn't have a problem. The lot fills up on weekends from dayhikers and picnickers.

Biscuits would be good, very good! We should be there pretty early since we will be up the day before. We might even try to get to Unicoi the night before depending on what time MDS gets up there. I plan to arrive around 6PM at the backcountry parking lot.

Papa John”

“How many do we have going? From memory it's Prowler, MDSHiker, JOSH, Papa John, and myself. Mmmm, warm biscuits. I'll see yall then. Oh, and I may be bringing 1 extra person.

Other food ?

If a friend comes I'm thinking of splitting meals. Friday night I'll take chicken alfredo. I'll grill chicken Thursday and then freeze it. Should be thawed after a day on the trial. Probably just do summer sausage and ritz crackers for sat. night.”

“mmm! so you feeden ALL of us? lol

ill bring some chili for one night!”

“SuperTroll has me hooked on the meals from Enertia Foods.

www.trailfoods.com

I'm gonna bring some of those babies along ... and some summer sausage too!”

“I guess I misspoke. The buddy will carry one meal and I'll carry the other one. We'll swap out each evening.”

“dam, i was hopen you would feed me lol!”

“Hey youse guys, let's change the subject, all this food talk isn't helping me any - it's making me think about food!

(Don't forget the biscuits.)


Just wanted to mention the weather for March on the GA AT. Be prepared for anything. I HATE cold weather so I'm preparing for the worst. Although, I must say that most folks I know like cold weather. I've been reading some AT journals and many hikers report temperatures anywhere from 10F to 60F.

Hey Papa John, we'll figure out something on the shuttle. I'm not sure if I'm gonna be there Wednesday night or Thursday morning. I'll let you know soon.”

“The latest accuweather forcast:

Thur: PC 56/42
Fri: Cloudy 55/43
Sat: Cloudy and rainy 56/43
Sun: Mostly sunny 55/24

Maybe the front that seems to be coming thru on Sat will be delayed til Mon. These 2 week forcast change pretty quickly.”

“We are off to Mexico for a week, will check in when we get back.

MDS, no problem, let me know your plans whenever you get them finalized. I will be up there ready to be picked up early in the AM.

Papa John”

“You guys had me confused, I just noticed its 52 instead of 37 dahhh!
Owell looks like im hiking 52 then!”