Update From the Trail

It had been a while since I have blogged and wanted to update you all. I am currently enjoying a 0 day in Franklin NC.

I decided to start the adventure by hiking the approach trail. My advice is to go to Amacalola Falls and check in get your hiker number and then drive to the Springer parking lot and hike up to Springer Mountain and miss all the stairs and trail that is the approach its not worth it.

The first several days were rough. Acclimating to the elevation plus the cold nights causes me to come down with a cold. Some people go home because of colds pneumonia and other health issues.

On night 3 my Klymit air mattress popped as i rolled into my sleeping bag. The next few nights are cold temps in the teens or below without a pad.

The hike up Blood Mountain was rough but I thought the downhill side was tougher. Lots of rock scrambling and what not. The view was amazing. We pushed on to Neel Gap because the weather was going to get bad.

Was held up at Neel Gap for 3 days due to the weather. Lots of rain, snow, and freezing rain. Still fighting cold like symptoms. Glad I was able to rest up and wait out the weather.

More tough climbs and cold weather my sleeping bag zipper blew out before we made it to Hiawasee causing several sleepless cold nights. Finally got a new bag in Hiawasee.

The Sutches hostel is nice and the folks who own it are also very nice. If u need a place to stay its great they also shuttle u to the trail. Helen GA is a must stop and the Blueberry Patch hostel is also a must stay in Hiawasee GA.

At Low Gap I was met with some awesome trail magic lots of great food and hospitality. They served huge omelets for breakfast. It rained all night long causing my tent to flood and soaking pretty much all of my gear. Thanks to dry bags and ziplock bags that kept the important stuff dry. Woke up at 4:30 ish to a loud noise and people making lots of noise. The wind had blown over one of the canopy that the trail angels had set up and I felt a little wet. I began looking around my tent to find out It was flooding and managed to stuff my sleeping bag up and rescue what I could and abandon my tent and headed over to the canopies the trail angels had set up. Had a long night shivering and trying to stay warm and dry. Caught a ride into Franklin to dry out.

Overall I have high spirits no blisters and feel great. The gear issues are very easy to get down about and just keep pushing on down the trail. The good news is that I am now in North Carolina.

More to come.

Adam