Day 6 South of Hiawassee

Day 6, March 31, 2015
Seth had a shorter hike today of about 6 miles and made it to the hostel by early afternoon. Rylee had a little foot limp and has done a lot of sleeping so I think she needs a rest and needs to go with me a few days. Hope she feels better soon. We will be meeting up with Seth around 9:30 to drop off Bruce and Vernon, Bruce's friend. Weather is looking better for the next few days at least. So hopefully they will have a week of good hiking in preparation for the Smokies. Tomorrow out of Dicks gap will be strenuous as it is a steep grade. Hard first day for the old boys.

Bruce is ready. Of course he has packed and re packed his bag several times. It is weighing about 40 pounds with water. We all know everything is in the correct pouch, labeled, in a ziplock. He is ready.

Day 5 Blood Mountain

Day 5 Monday, March 30
Today Seth hiked about 10 miles with only six to go to meet Bruce on Wednesday. So he is booking it. Just hope the old man can keep up with him. So it looks like he may be able to take a little break tomorrow and stay in a hostel. It rained on him this morning but the. He said it got hot, sunny, and windy in the afternoon.  Still has to be better than snow and cold rain. He hopes to be to the hostel by noon and will be in Hiawasee. Top Of Georgia is the hostel name so hopefully he has checked and knows that there is a room for him and Rylee. Glad he will be able to get some rest, and hopefully some good food and a shower.

Day 4 One mile north of Neels Gap

Day 4, Sunday, March 29
Had a really cold night, but he and Rylee again camped in the tent. He said they had  a good cuddling system worked out. Glad that fur is helping keep him warm. And I think Rylee is so tired she passes out. His water filter not working at all so I'm glad there are other people on the trail. He used another guys today. Thank goodness for fellow hikers. We will be taking him another one on Wednesday. He did test today but didn't report how far he got. He is going a little faster than planned so shouldn't have any trouble meeting up with us on Wednesday. We ask what he wanted us to bring him. Fresh fruit and some extra to share with hikers.

Day 3 Saturday Gooch Gap

Day three, Saturday, March 28
Today plans are to go past Neels gap over Blood Mt.  Seth is having trouble with his water filter as the battery is struggling in the cold weather. He is staying at shelters but not in them. So setting up camp with a tent for he a Rylee.

He hiked over 15 miles today and went a mile past Neels gap. He said it was really cold last night and there was more snow. Rylee had a rough day and he thought he might have killed her as she passed out for a long nap on the rocks. She managed to come to life and continue on the long walk. It was in the 40's with sunshine but suppose to be in the low 20's tonight. They were really tired at the end of day three as the last two have been 15 mile days.

Day 2 North of Springer Mt

Day 2 onward to Gooch Gap
Today was a long hard day as it was cold rain and then snow. They did 14.5 miles and I quote, "Rylee absolutely kicked my butt today. She's having fun despite the cold rain.  But a blessing was waiting at Gooch gap as a ministry had a tent set up and fed the hikers hot hardy soup. So a little warmth to a cold day and a very cold night to come. Temperatures to be in the 20's. Hope they stay warm.
Seth said it was very muddy on the trail so hard to keep his boots and bottom of his pants dry. Going to look for some 'gators' to cover them up. No pictures today.

Day 1 Amicalola Falls

Ready to go on a long walk. 

I dropped Seth and Rylee off on Thursday, March 26, 2015 at the approach trail to the AT which is at Amicalola Falls state park in North Georgia. We stopped at the visitor center where Seth registered in the AT hikers log. It was rainy and foggy and after waiting about 15 min for the rain to slack off, Seth readied himself for the long walk. He checked out his pack, put on his rain coat and got Rylee ready to go. She is carrying her own pack with her food and started out with about six pounds.

In the parking lot, Seth and I met Jim and his wife, who had made the trip down from Waynesboro, Va the day before. Jim is planning to tru hike and has been planning his trip for two years. Jim has a blog and his wife is posting for him during his trip.  I learned from the blog that Seth and Jim walked together for the first few hours. Seth then set off at a little faster pace and made it past Springer Mt which is 8 miles in from the approach trail.