Winding Down

That’s correct.  I have only a couple days left to completion! I haven’t seen my wife in eight weeks and am so looking forward to seeing her, as well as other friends and family.

Now is the time if you have any questions or comments for me; just post in the comments section.

It’s Cooling Down

We’ve had a couple really cold days and the leaves are changing, but not in a dramatic way. Individual trees may change, but so far not entire mountainsides.

Day 145 – Wayah Gap to Carter Gap shelter (21 miles) 

Day 146 – Carter Gap shelter to Dick’s Creek shelter (25 miles) 

Day 147 – Dick’s Creek shelter to Unicoi Gap (16 miles) 

Day 147 – Unicoi Gap to Neel Gap (22 miles)

Albert Mountain

In honor of my father (Albert), here are some wonderful photos from his namesake mountain.

The Peach State

On day 146 we entered Georgia, the final 78 miles of the trail.

A few days ago, a hiker by the name of Misery told us that Georgia would be “A walk in the park ” for us. But, once we arrived we learned that Georgia actually has the greatest ascent and descent per mile of any state. Nevertheless, our trail legs are really cranking out the miles.  Doesn’t this look like a walk in the park?

Updates

In my last post, I wrote a paragraph that began “It doesn’t seem possible” followed by some great vistas. Somehow, the rest of the paragraph was lost. But, when I look back on it, it seems the words captured were enough.

Also in my last post, I explained how I mistook the term pit-stop for hip hop. Well, it’s catching on and will soon go viral. The appropriate trail reference for splashing in the woods is now “I need to hip hop”.

Miscellaneous Thoughts

Since my blog is winding down, I thought I would provide some things that have come to mind but never had an appropriate place:

– I recently saw a sign referencing a town called Booger Hollow, which sounds like an oxymoron.

– Since hiking south of Virginia, the low point between mountains is designated with the name of a “gap”. These don’t seem to exist, or at least be named up north.

– The privies in the Smoky Mountains (and maybe elsewhere) are handicap accessible.  I don’t think they’ve ever seen a wheelchair, but I suspect it’s easier to build a ramp than get permission not to.

– We stopped seeing stinging nettle in the Smokeys.  I think it’s because of the feral hogs, so at least there’s that.

– You don’t see it on the trail, but Kudzu is a major problem in the south.  It grows up to a foot each day and encases everything it can reach.

– On two occasions we’ve seen massive toads pop out of yellow jacket nests, seemingly unharmed.  It appears that they are gorging themselves on easy-access insects.

– Spokes has been practicing his southern drawl by thanking hikers that let us pass with “Appreciate y’all”, but it’s not going very well.

One Final Photo

I caught this photo as the sun was burning off the morning haze.

Coming up- The end of the road.

Thanks for listening.