[at-l] 12/31/03 Spur hikes to Springer for New Years--Springer Mtn

[spur at mac.com (Chris Bagby)]

I?m awake at 6:30 AM, but somehow can?t motivate to start breaking camp even though it?ll be daylight by the time I could pack up and be ready to go. Instead I sleep another hour, then hit the trail around 8:30. Today has dawned much warmer than yesterday and the sky is perfectly clear. 

After descending the south side of Justus Mtn, I cross FS 42 at Cooper Gap, then begin the 500-foot climb up Sassafras Mtn. I see there are much better camping opportunities on Sassafras than I found on Justus last evening, but even if I?d known, I didn?t have enough energy left to make it here. 

After Sassafras Mtn, I descend into Horse Gap, from which there?s another climb, this one onto an unnamed ridge which the profile map doesn?t even indicate. Next is Hightower Gap which lies at the foot of Hawk Mtn. From here it?s a short ascent to the trail leading to the Hawk Mtn Shelter. I pass by around 11:30, choosing to stop instead at the little spring whose flow crosses the trail a quarter mile further south. It also happens to be near the campsite where I spent my first night on the AT at the beginning of my 1999 thruhike. 

I remember the huge field of ferns which surrounded our camp, but of course they are all dormant now and scarcely noticeable. Another memory from this spot is the witch hazel trees, many of whose trunks run parallel to the ground instead of rising into the air like trees normally do. 

After tracing the waterflow uphill to collect water at the spring?s origin, I sit on a log next to the trail and prepare lunch. While I?m chomping on my cheese/tortilla sandwich, a dayhiker approaches from the south and pauses to visit. He introduces himself as Frank Wright from Big Canoe, and he?s out today walking from Hightower Gap to Three Forks and back as a trail monitor. He?s the official GATC maintainer for the mile of trail north of Hightower Gap, and he?s also been appointed supervisor of the entire Georgia section for 2004. 

We talk on and on, eventually recalling our first meeting together, which occurred at Matts Creek Shelter near the James River in Virginia while we were both thruhiking the AT in 2000. Copperhead was his trailname, and we both remember having separately encountered a large group of teenage girls who were out on a 2-week hike around that time. He recalls my telling him about staying in the shelter with about 15 of them at Brown Fork Gap. We chat also about trail maintenance, and he invites Ready and me to join one of their monthly trail maintenance outings which occur somewhere on the GA section each 3rd Saturday. 

Realizing he?s probably knowledgeable about the entire AT in GA, I ask him why there is no sign at Slaughter Gap pointing the way to the Duncan Ridge Trail, which I had trouble finding when I hiked there back in March. He gives a long but informative explanation of what?s happening at Slaughter Gap, which lies on the AT partway up Blood Mtn on a very busy section of the trail. Lately the GA club and the ATC Konnarock crew have been building trail relos there that entirely bypass Slaughter Gap so the area can rest and revegetate after decades of overuse. New tent platforms have been built near the spring which crosses the AT south of there, and the entire section is supposed to be completed and opened sometime in January. Part of the project will involve putting up new signs for all the trails which converge there, including the Duncan Ridge Trail and the trail to Lake Winfield Scott. 

Before hiking on, Frank says he feels pretty sure he?ll thruhike again someday, though it sounds like he?ll have to negotiate it with his wife, who gave him a lot of support during his 2000 thruhike. 

Before I know it an hour has passed. While sitting in the partial shade I?ve grown chilled, so I pack up quickly and accelerate towards Springer Mtn, which is now 7 miles distant. Within a couple miles I turn onto the sidetrail leading to Long Creek Falls and walk the short distance to the falls, which are running very strong today. It?s an impressive waterfall, though one which many hikers bypass, not realizing how exceptional it is. Several dayhikers arrive while I?m photographing the falls, something I?ve done each time I?ve passed this way. I?ve probably accumulated photos of it from every season. 

I press on and pass through Three Forks, and soon meet up with Rainbow Slick and Goose Bump/Snow Princess, who have paused their 2003 southbound thruhike in Tennessee due to illness, but plan to resume in the spring. They came here by car for the party on Springer tonight, and are bringing trail magic for 3 of their friends who should finish today. 

An hour later I stop and sign the register at Stover Creek Shelter, which lies just 2.5 miles north of Springer. I see in the register that John Galt, the hiker whom I met in he dark south of Harpers Ferry as he was completing the 42-mile (in one day) 4-state challenge back in October. He completed his thruhike at Springer on December 19. 

I reach the Springer Mtn parking lot around 3:30, where I chat with the 2 southbounders I?d met earlier at Three Forks as they prepare to climb the final mile to the summit of Springer. Since she?s not here already, I decide to wait for Ready to arrive from Atlanta in our car, and she obliges just before 4 PM. 

I sort some of my pack into the car, add some warm clothes which she brought for me, and together we hike up the magic mountain. Up top, we set up camp in the designated campsites, then visit the shelter to see who else has arrived. Ed Speer, POG, Liteshoe and Swallowtail are here already along with a few others. As the evening progresses, more folks arrive, including Ox 97, Kathleen, 2004 northbounder Lauren (leaving in April), southbounders Stumpknocker and Dolittle, and later Sloetoe, Profile and Almanac, and Coosa. 

The party evolves into a pleasant social experience as we gather round the campfire next to the shelter and share the abundant food and drink that folks have packed in. A bright half moon hangs in a cloudless sky making it a night that would be excellent for nighthiking, and the temperature is quite pleasant for a New Years Eve. 

Sparklers are lit as midnight approaches, and a small group of us, including Ready and me, Profile and Almanac, and Sloetoe and Lauren, make our way to the rock outcropping on the Springer summit just before the old year ends. Here we meet Barkeater, a former AT thruhiker who tomorrow will begin a quest to repeat Flyin? Brian?s calendar year Triple Crown hike, hoping to cover the entire AT, PCT and CDT during 2004. He?s an amiable fellow in his 50s whose positive energy suggests he may very well succeed. He has a website which will chronicle his hike at http://www.geocities.com/barkeater04 .

As we stand chatting at the Springer overlook before heading back to our campsites, a shooting star streaks across the sky to the west. We take it to be a sign of hope here at the birth of the coming New Year. 

My short December hike has created for me a pleasant ending to 2003, topped off by the warmth of friendship and the fellowship of kindred spirits. Before heading home tomorrow, Ready and I will visit the great new hostel which is set to open near Woody Gap, built and operated by our friends Profile and Almanac, who thruhiked in 2000. There?s good information about it on their website at http://www.hikerhostel.com .

So, that?s the end of my year of hiking for 2003. If good fortune holds, Ready and I will hike a chunk of the CDT sometime during the summer of 2004. Stay tuned if you?d like to travel along with us, vicariously. 

And perhaps we?ll see some of you at one of the January Rucks. 
For info on reservations, etc.: 
Southern Ruck, Jan. 16-18, 2004 in SC   http://www.hike-usa.com/soruck2004.htm  
PA Ruck, Jan. 30-Feb. 1, 2004   http://friends.backcountry.net/ruck (2004 PA info may not be updated yet, but should be similar to 2003)