[at-l] N. Georgia Hike - October 15

October  14
I slept pretty well although I found myself in an odd position each time I woke up (maybe I would do
better with a slightly rommier bag that would let me sleep on my side more easily). This was the
first night I slept in my Sil Shelter somewhere other than my backyard. I was very happy with my
first backwoods experience.   The night was pretty quiet except for a few nearby dogs (must be a
home or two fairly close by) that barked once in a while. When the moon shone into my shelter things
got pretty bright, but that did not bother me either. At 06:40 or so I woke up to the sound of a
hoot (Bard?) owl. That is a sound I always enjoy hearing. I did not stay up though. After all, it
was still quite dark out and I just saw no good reason to crawl out of my warm sleeping bag to greet
a dark chilly day. I went back to sleep and did not get up until after the sky had really lightened,
though the sun was not visible from our campsite, at 07:40. The day was quite chilly and the air was
very damp with a considerable amount of hanging fog. My thermometer was registering around 36-38
degrees and it felt cooler with the moisture in the air.

Karen was going to make hash browns for us and when they were completed I considered them one of my
favorite backwoods breakfasts. I think everyone else who had them agreed with me. Thanks again,
Karen.

As we ate breakfast the sun broke through and began to burn the mist away. As the moisture lessened
and the sun rose  the temperature rose considerably. It was going to be a fine fall day after all.

We said goodbye to Duane and drove out to Neels Gap and the Walasi-Yi Center. The AT actually passes
through the building via a breezeway. I can say, with oh so much pride, that I walked that little
section of trail even though everything from Gooch Gap to it was skipped.  The staff at the gear
shop there, run by Jeff and Dorothy Hansen, really know what they are doing. This becomes especially
apparent when they fit you for shoes. They don't just take one of those shoe fitting devices found
in shoe stores the world over and give you a shoe of that size (in fact they don't even have those
devices); instead they start with a question: "what is your street shoe size?" SInce shoes from
differnt manufacturers vary in size even if they ahve the same size number they spend more time
checking where your foot is inside the shoe. I don't think I have had such attentive service before.
We'll see if the Soloman Reid Winds do on the rest of the trip.

We spent a good three or so hours there and everyone came away with some new gear. John and Ron were
on their second visit for this trip and still managed to buy new items for themselves (mainly
boots). I imagine the picnic table we had our stuff spread out on has seen thousands of people
spreda there gear and food on it before. It was a neat place to visit and during the through hiker
season it must be terribly crowded.

We had lunch at some small chinese restaurant in Dahlannga (sp?) I think before heading to Amicalola
Falls State Park to put stuff we did not want to carry to Franklin in John's truck.  From there it
was on to Helen where an Octoberfest weekend was in full debauch. We saw quite a few people ambling
down th sidewalk and street shoulder in various states of drunkeness. The beer and sprits clearly
flow quickly during this time of year. People were defintely having a good time and I imagine it
could be a fun way to spend a few hours , but we had other plans.

We intended to camp at Hogpen Gap and continue our hike north from there. But, instead our fortunes
were truly dictated by our chinese fortune cookies and we had an adventure. Karen zigged when she
should have zagged and we found outselves driving up a USFS road in the Chattahoochee National
Forest as the sun was getting ready to set. We searched for a flat area to park the truck and pitch
our tents. We pitched our tents as the sun went down and discovered that our flat spot wasn't as
flat as we thought. In fact, Ron decided to sleep under the stars which were quite visible and
numerous before the moon rose. John also slept under the stars, but set up his tarp just in case.
Pog and I both slept under the cover our our shelters though she had to sleep with her head and
shoulders out of her tent to avoid rolling down the hill. Ron had a similar problem and ended up
using the cooler to prevent himself from rolling into my SIl Shelter.  It was an interesting
campsite and the modestly frequent traffic that did not subside until a bit after 21:00 added some
spice to the area. Our dinner or crackers, cheese and soda was certainly more than enough
considering we had spent the day driving around the backroads of this region of northern Georgia. I
must say the area is pretty, but of course I could not live in it since I do not drive.

©copyright 2000, Kenneth Knight
**  Kenneth Knight    Web Design, IT Consultant, Software Engineer  **
**       krk@speakeasy.org        http://www.speakeasy.org/~krk     **
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