On Thursday the rain came and stayed. We spent the day inside and under the awning of the Airstream. Our breakfast was very tasty - Big Al's Famous Waffles! Tim and Alan unpacked and repacked their backpacks a few more times checking each necessary item. Jett and I in the mean time took short walks in the park when the rain was light.
The guys decided they needed one more trip to Mountain Crossings. While there we watched another backpack shakedown. The guys that do these are so knowledgeable. I learned a few interesting things and the value of going as light as you can on a hike. Ounces equals pounds.
The Mountain Crossings historic stone building had taken on an entirely different look than the day prior. Now shrouded in fog and mist it gave off quiet a tranquil feeling. However the shoe tree was very eerie looking.
Once done with the outfitter's store we went back into Blairsville for an early dinner. Then decided to run out to find the start of the forestry road we needed to take to get them to the start of hiking the A.T. We went through Wolf Pen Gap and found the little forestry road near the small town of Suches, GA. It takes thirty minutes to get to that point from base camp then another hour down that road to get to their destination. Once we found it we turned around and headed back to base camp at Vogel State Park.
Thursday night left us all with not much sleep. It rained all night. Then was still raining at daybreak Friday morning. Their departure was delayed by a few hours to let the weather clear.
Sure enough it took us 1 1/2 hours to get to the parking lot at the base of Springer Mountain Friday morning. Once we began driving down that forestry road it turned into a muddy gravel road for the next 20 (twenty) miles. The twenty miles takes one hour to drive going 20 to 25 mph. It's a very winding, steep NARROW road with hairpin turns. The weather had cleared and was 58* when we arrived.
Jett and I hiked up to the summit of Springer Mountain with Tim and Alan. The view was gorgeous. There were a few folks up there beginning their journey as well. Most of them 'Thru Hiking' to Maine. Thirty-three had begun so far just today! To be official you must hike the mile to the summit of Springer Mountain to get to the official start of the A.T. Once there you turn around to hike the mile back down the mountain to the parking lot and keep going. This is where the guys picked their backpacks up on their way back thru and this is where Jett and I departed from them to return back to base camp.
I will update the blog as I hear from them. Hopefully they will get signal at some point. Also I'm hoping I can follow their progress on Alan's GPS. When I was out there today I had mostly NO SERVICE on my iPhone. Off grid they are! Wish I could have gone along too!!!
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