Day 3 SASH #10: Hawk Mountain Shelter to Gooch Mountain Shelter, GA – Rainy Day in Georgia

“Hoverin’ by my suitcase; Tryin’ to find a warm place to spend the night; Heavy rain’s fallin’”; Rainy Night in Georgia, Brook Benton

31 March – I slept fitfully last night. It seems my NEMO Tensor sleeping pad has a pinhole leak and I could tell my “bed” was getting harder throughout the night. Three days and three equipment failures! Even though I didn’t hear my watch alarm this morning, I awoke before sunrise and surprised myself that I was the first one in the shelter to crawl out of the rack. There was a lot of discussion last night among the Merry Company and the assorted others that Gooch Mountain Shelter was the goal for today and that Gooch is notorious for filling up fast within “bubble” season. The rain and fog were lingering this morning with severe thunderstorms forecasted for the late afternoon. I knew that if I had any chance for a shelter spot at Gooch and not have to pitch my tent in the rain, I had to get an early start. Fortunately, I filled my water bottles the night before; so, it was just a matter of packing up and getting on the trail. Once again I decided to skip breakfast in camp, opting to make a Starbucks Via Italian Roast cold brew to drink on the trail along with a Clif Bar. The Merry Company started to stir and make their breakfast. Bitcoin might have been the first out of camp; but I certainly was out before the main body of the Merry Company. I set myself the goal of at least reaching Sassafras Mountain, the only climb of the day, before the Merry Company caught up. I joked with Smokie that if he saw me on the climb up Sassafras to just toss me some of his ubiquitous Gummy Bears and keep on going.

Columbia Booney Hat – perfect for a rainy day in Georgia

The hiking was easy this morning despite a fairly consistent, yet light rain. Still, I was in full-up rain gear mode. I was making pretty decent time and for the first few miles, no one passed me on the trail. Of course, I also was not stopping to take as many photos since it was raining and my phone was tucked away in a dry bag. This was a little disappointing because I started passing patches of blooming trillium. I kept telling myself that I would probably see more of the beautiful mountain flowers tomorrow when the sun was supposed to be shining. I would only take two photos the entire day; one of an Orange Eft and one of the rainy trail. A short distance past Hightower Gap, I came along a few boxes of granola and protein bars just laying beside the trail. I thought an odd out of the way place to leave trail magic. The boxes were not that wet and most were unopened; so, I figured they were recently left. I picked up two Robert Irvine Fit Crunch chocolate mint protein bars (very tasty) for second breakfast as my small effort to help clean up the well-intended, but not very LNT or bear friendly trail magic. I made the descent into Horse Gap, checked FarOut and discovered I was at the foot of the Sassafras Mountain. I had made my goal of getting here before the Merry Company. In Horse Gap, I also caught up to Bitcoin who was helping another hiker with covering her backpack with a sheet of thin plastic, which coincidentally was already covered with a pack rain cover. She was trying to put the plastic sheet over her pack while it was already on her back; an odd effort which required the assistance of both myself and Bitcoin. Eventually, she was satisfied with the result and both she and Bitcoin headed up the trail. I decided to take a pack-off break before climbing Sassafras.

It was not long before the vanguard of the Merry Company, Lauren, Jeremiah, Iceberg, and James, came down the trail into Horse Gap. We chatted a bit about the rain, if we might make it to Gooch Mountain Shelter before the thunderstorms, and how difficult might be Sassafras Mountain. The four of us started up Sassafras together, but it was not very long before the other four were up ahead and out of sight. I was taking my own time, but fortunately, I was feeling very good at this point. Almost to the top of Sassafras, the remainder of the Merry Company, Pumbaa, Smokie, and Tree, caught up as I was sitting on a rock for a short break. Smokie laughed as he dumped a bunch of Gummy Bears into my hand, but they did not break pace. It turned out that the Sassafras climb was not a difficult cup of tea, easily handled in a couple of gulps. It was about noon and I had four miles left to go to Gooch Mountain Shelter. My confidence was high that I could make it there before the expected heavy rain.

From Hawk Mountain Shelter to Sassafras Mountain, the forest was bare and brown, a mix of new growth oak and hickory. After Sassafras, I was happy to see the trail turn back to the green tunnel mix of rhododendron, mountain laurel and loblolly pine along Justus Creek. Somewhere hiking above Justus Creek I passed Bitcoin and the woman with the plastic sheet rain cover (who I now called “southern lady” because of her true Georgia accent). Once I passed them, I started to hear thunder close by as I crossed a footbridge over Justus Creek. It was only another few minutes before the lightning was overhead and it started pouring rain. The last mile into Gooch Mountain Shelter was a very wet one; Bitcoin and I walked up to the shelter together, but seeing all the hikers huddled around, we expected to find no space. The Merry Company already occupied the upper level and four new, as yet unknown, hikers occupied the lower level. This crew was sheepish about wanting to make room on the first deck; to be fair, Gooch Mountain Shelter is on the small side. Bitcoin and I looked at each other and almost simultaneously said to each other, let’s check out the tent sites. Fortunately, there were plenty of excellent, large, and flat tent pads at Gooch. Bitcoin started to pitch his tent immediately; however, I was wet, cold, and hoping the rain would slack off before trying to pitch my own tent. It was only 4pm; so, I claimed a nearby spot with my pack and went back to the shelter to sit out of the rain for a bit. About 10-15 minutes later, the rain lessened and I decided it was time to pitch my tent, crawl inside, have a cold dinner, and go to sleep. Of course, as soon as I got my tent up, crawled inside with all my gear, and got semi-organized, the rain completely stopped.

Gooch Mountain Shelter via Packgoats

At this point, it was still only about 5pm and a lot of other hikers were still coming into camp. The tent pads were filling up, including a couple from Essex, England who set up beside myself and Bitcoin. Everyone was hanging out their wet clothes on trees and lines hoping to get something dry before the sun went down. I headed back up to the shelter to make some hot dinner and see if the Merry Company was making new friends. I was glad to see that Lauren had found another female hiker, Allie, at the shelter; they seemed to be having a good conversation. One older fellow, who looked like a Klondike prospector, was quite the character with his gravelly voice and odd quips, but I could not quite figure out his backstory. Another English bloke from London, about my age, turned out to be friendly and interesting; Plodder was a former British Army soldier. Nevertheless, the dynamic seemed a bit odd from my perspective and this shelter dwelling group didn’t seem like it was quite coming together. Tree informed me that Axel and Edna had arrived during the rain; he added that Edna seemed like she had a tough day. So, I went off to see if I could find my Berlin friends among the tent sites.

Turned out, Axel and Edna were set up next to Pumbaa and not far from my tent site. Edna confirmed that she did not have a good day in the rain and was quite ready for a break and a shower. Axel told me that they planned to get off trail the next day at Woody Gap for a zero day in Suches, GA. I asked if they already had a hostel reservation, but they said they had no mobile service and would just walk to Suches from Woody Gap hoping to find a spot in a couple hostels they found on FarOut. Luckily, I had mobile service and texted Nightingale, who was to meet me the next day at Woody Gap, to ask if she would give the Berliners a ride to Suches. Nightingale and I were newlyweds living in Berlin in the early 1980s and she learned to speak Berliner dialect German quite well; so, she was happy to agree to give them a ride when we met up at Woody Gap and brush up her Berliner “Quatsch” (i.e. “nonsense chit chat”). After a further short conversation with Axel and Edna, I went back to my own tent to take down my drying clothes since the wind picked-up. From a good fifty yards away, I heard Pumbaa laughing up at the shelter and immediately realized why his trail name was appropriate! I finished getting my tent organized for the night and then headed back up to the shelter to see what got Pumbaa all excited. A group had assembled around the fire pit (despite no fire because of an open fire ban). Most of this group was the Merry Company with a couple new folks, including Allie and “southern lady”; the shelter odd fellows were absent. With the rain now gone, it was a good night to continue the bonding among the Merry Company.

The Merry Company Plus: (Top middle – left to right) Jeremiah, Lauren, Tree, “Southern Lady,” Allie, Pumbaa, James, Unknown Hiker, Unknown Hiker, Smokie. via Lauren “Mothra” Mullen