Great Escape on a Trail: Ramblin' Man

Hogpen Gap, GA to Deep Gap, NC

AT miles hiked - 85

AT miles to go - 2,108

One state down, thirteen to go! I finished Georgia on Saturday, September 12th. Not much of an accomplishment in the grand scheme, but the way this year has gone I feel like celebrating every little milestone. So - Georgia done!

On Monday, July 27th, I completed my longest single day on the AT so far. I had planned to do the hike from Hogpen Gap to Unicoi Gap as an overnighter, but I was feeling strong and managed to complete the entire hike in one long day. 14.58 miles. I didn't take any pictures that day as the trail was pretty blah, no views to speak of, and the weather was very humid and overcast. Towards the end, I had to hike through a miserably rocky section coming down Blue Mountain which felt like training for "Rocksylvania."

My next section was an overnighter from Unicoi Gap to Dicks Creek Gap, Tuesday and Wednesday, August 4th and 5th. My nephew Brandon accompanied me on this hike which made it very enjoyable. I've learned that as much as I thought I would cherish the solitude of a long hike, I much prefer having hiking partners. Brandon enjoyed his recent hikes so much that after our return he managed to score a permit to hike the John Muir Trail at the last minute and just completed that hike. Brandon and I started at Unicoi Gap and hiked just under six miles to the Tray Mountain shelter. We set up our tents and had dinner before a big thunderstorm moved in. The campsites were very flat and well used which prevented them from draining very well. Before long, we had about an inch of water covering the sites and our tent floors were eventually going to soak through. So, during a break in the rain we gathered all our gear from the tents and moved into the shelter where we spent the night. There was one other hiker also tenting near the shelter who arrived just before us. "Mayor" had thru-hiked the AT in 2019 and we enjoyed hearing about his experience and advice. The following day, we hiked 11.6 miles from Tray Mountain Shelter to Dicks Creek Gap.

View on the way to Tray Mountain.

The trail along Tray Mountain.

As I mentioned in the previous blog post, I took a hiatus from the AT while Marci and I drove out to Utah and back. On Friday, September 11th, I resumed my AT hike. This time I hiked from Deep Gap, NC south to Bly Gap on the NC/GA border. I camped at Bly Gap and was joined there by "Noodles" and "Long Skirt," a very experienced hiking couple from Florida. Noodles has hiked the PCT, the CDT, the AT and five different Caminos, along with a host of other hikes he told me about. I really enjoyed my evening with them. We had expected a possible thunderstorm all day and maybe overnight, but fortunately the rain did not come until the next morning. Noodles and Long Skirt were headed northbound while I continued south. I chose to do this hike southbound so as to favor the descents rather than ascents (which I still loath). I set out at dawn on a very misty and overcast morning. Just past my campsite I crossed the NC/GA border. Later in the morning it started raining pretty heavily. Since it was still very warm I didn't bother with my rain gear or umbrella and just got soaked instead. I arrived at Dicks Creek Gap at 1:40 pm where my trail angel wife picked me up and I was glad to have completed my first state on the AT. Only 13 more to go!