Georgia AT

“Me and my two brothers are planning a 8-10 day trip on the Georgia portion of the AT. If Hiking at a normal pace how long does this section take (with good weather)?

Any other info on this portion would be helpful. We are planning for late May or early June.”

“You could probably get close to the Smokies with that many days. I don't recall the mileage to Fontana for sure, but think it's around 120 or so.”

“http://www.mikecalabrese.com/users/mikec/applications/atdist/atdist.html


75 miles to the NC line.
161 to the Smokies. Looks like I was off on my guess.

Wesser or Silers Bald might be a better goal than the Smokies.”

“When we started the AT this past spring, it took us about 7 days to Franklin, NC. That includes a day that we did the Approach Trail.

If you are feeling ambitious, a great place to end would be the Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC) in NC which is about 134 miles from Springer. The descent into NOC is a b*tch though. ;)”

“for those of you who don't know there is an AT database on here.

http://www.thebackpacker.com/trails/at.php”

“"for those of you who don't know there is an AT database on here."

That would be me...”

“kinda of old data unfortunately - circa 2000”

“thanks HOI, I hadn't paid much attention to the age of it. Maybe this needs to fall under a Hey Matt please update thread :)”

“I would like to get down there and hike from Springer to Dick's Creek Gap sometime this spring. I've gone from DCG to somewhere before, I think the Standing Indian Campground.

That was a few years ago. Dayhiker, do you remember where we ended up finishing that hike? For some reason I think we bailed a day earlier than we had planned on.”

“springer to nc state line in 8-10 days is defineitely do-able, and by going in late spring, i would think you would avoid most of the thru-hike crowd, altho you might meet some late-starters. there is a great outfitter at neels gap, and dont forget the blueberry patch at dicks creek gap. good chinese/thai buffet in blairsville, too”

“nothing say backpacking like a Thai buffet... lol. Thanks for the help. I will be sure to check out the blueberry patch.”

“you say that with sarcasm, but all you can eat buffets are the very heart and soul of long-distance hiking, and thai is similiar to chinese”

“I agree with LMG. The NOC would be a cool place to end your trip. You can do some whitewater kayaking if that floats your boat ;p”

“verry punny”

“ductape - we bailed at Deep Gap. Prowler crashed and burned and decided to leave. He was the shuttle for the whole trip so we were stuck. He pretty much left us high and dry. I had been sick the week of the trip and was hurting bad, but not wanting to quit and then he bails. I've since done from Deep Gap north about 20-30 miles. It seems like my next trip ended at the side trail to a big Poplar tree, but I don't recall the name of the gap.

I also lake from the Walysi (sp) to DGC to finish out Georgia. I believe that's about a 3 day hike.”

“Oh, that's right. It was raining so he wanted to go home. I remember more now. I had a good chuckle thinking about how p!ssed he was after he and MDS went up the side of that mountain and then realized that it was the wrong way. I also remember how his water bag busted all over everything. I offered him a fleece to sleep in and he gave me an attitude about whether it was clean or not. I remember thinking, "does it really matter at this point?"

Good times.”

“Prowler remains the only TT'er I've ever met that I wouldn't want to hike with again. Everyone else has been just peachy.”

“Crap, I meant to say I lack from Walysi to Dicks Creek Gap.”

“the first time i hiked with ductape, prowler bailed on us, after it was his idea to go. ducky and i finally make it to the red, but not after i took us the wrong way for probably half an hour. im so glad ducky was a forgiving guy”

“I'm seeing a theme here.”

“That was an interesting night. That was the second time in a row Prowler pulled something like that on me, and the last time I've made plans with him that didn't also involve a group of people. At least that time he left me with someone. But you're right, it was all his idea. He hounded me to take off work to go hiking then he bailed at the last minute. The best part was he was calling and calling me telling me to hurry up, and when I got to his house I was informed he wasn't going anymore because his wife had a "feeling."

The time before that was the one that really p!ssed me off though. I took off work for 5 days to go to the Smokies with him. Taking off for a whole week is a big deal to me, I imagine it is for almost everyone else out there as well. Two days before we were set to leave, he talks me into taking an extra day off so we could leave earlier. Then, the day we were leaving, he decides he's gonna go out west instead. He ended up at Montanapalooza that time. He was like, "Just go by yourself, it'll be good for you." I know some of you like this, but I don't generally enjoy taking a week off work from a job I didn't get pto at to be by myself. That was no secret either.”

“Does the NOC allow a shuttle car to be left there for several days? I need to get started back on my AT sections from the GA/NC state line northward.
I like to have my car waiting at my quit point.”

“BTW, Crash, that is still my favorite RRG hike that I've done. The last section of trail through the Clify Wilderness up on that ridge was totally awesome.”

“SS - I don't know if they do or not, but their lot is huge. You might call and see if they'd do the shuttle for you.”

“ATC Shuttle List:

http://www.appalachiantrail.org/atf/cf/%7BD25B4747-42A3-4302-8D48-EF35C0B0D9F1%7D/ATshuttleWEB_Dec%2028_2006.pdf

I'll use Fred and Joyce Woodward again for the shuttle if I can't con some TTer into it. ;-)


Great people and fair rates for the shuttle.”

“im sure something can be arranged, stove. either at the NOC, or nearby, maybe at one of the campgrounds. i vaguely remember a campground being about a mile away by road”

“Dude, call Binks. He drove from Nashville to the Smokies just to shuttle MileMonster and I from Davenport Gap to Fontana Dam. I think he did it just so he could drive 125 mph on I-40 and see which one of us crapped our pants first.”

“duck, i was hatin life as we hiked up out of parched corn creek, because i so did not want to take one more step with that pack on. but i was glad you forced me onward, because day 2 was long enough without having to do part of the rough trail.

at the beginning of this past december, 6 of us did it as a one-day dayhike. we were whipped at the end of the day
last edited: 1/17/07 10:48:55 AM”

“I'll wait till the night temps up high hover around freezing. Most of the Spring rush of thrus should be over by then.”

“youll have to wait til around may if you want to avoid the thrus
last edited: 1/17/07 10:50:52 AM”

“stove, if you have a 4-season tent (or maybe a zero bag with a 3-season tent), you could be comfortable at night probably 99 percent of the time, even in winter”

“I have both but prefer not to carry them, LOL.

Not that I want to avoid the thrus.....
I just don't want to camp with 30-50 of them each night. ;-)
last edited: 1/17/07 10:58:54 AM”

“the thing i like about temps on the southern AT, is that it is similiar to midwest temps, due to the warmer weather of the south and the colder weather of the mountains more or less canceling each other out.”

“call Ron Haven in Franklin. Plus he has a motel you can stay at if needed. He shuttled us this past weekend”

“SS - when are you doing this?

I don't think Binks shuttles anymore. He did that shuttle since he and I had to bail on that trip. I still regret not getting to do that trip, for many reasons. The job issue that kept me from it was a field issue that I've had to write $80k in checks to fix. Fun, fun.”

“Don't know, dayhiker.
I may have to use the leave time on my house.
This is the thinking phase. ;-)”

“Oh yea, the Binks thing was a joke. I still can't believe he did that.”

“I know what you mean SS. I have so many ideas for trips. It drives my wife crazy.”

“You two knucklheads need to be on the one this weekend.
last edited: 1/17/07 11:18:55 AM”

“I did the Approach Trail to Neel's Gap last May, and this May(probably 5-14 to 5-19) I'm doing Neel's Gap to Deep Gap, NC and then to the Standing Indian Campground(via the Kimsey Creek Trail). Last year, we kinda lollygagged mileage-wise(39.3 miles in 4 1/2 days). This year it'll be 55.4 miles in 5 1/2 days, and that is still kinda slow. But it's vacation and I'm in no hurry. Your 8-10 day time frame is more than enough. The weather that same week last year was wonderful(but a little unpredictable), no bugs, no big crowds, plenty of water. Have fun!

Bigben”

“Thanks bigben! You had me at "no bugs."”

“

"Not that I want to avoid the thrus.....
I just don't want to camp with 30-50 of them each night. ;-)
last edited: 1/17/07 11:58:54 AM"
StoveStomper

The thru hikers are seldom a problem. The problems and crowding can be credited primarily to the Spring Break hikers!”

“i'll help shuttle and join in on some of these GA/NC section hikes.”

“You're a good man, OPIE.”

“hes an even better woman”

“only when you hold me close scott *wink*”

“I might be in the area to help out with some shuttling myself. DK plans yet, but I want to hike some of the AT.”