Dan and Rocky’s Big Adventure -- Hiking the Appalachian Trail in 2024

Day 6, April 8, AM 

Summary of Days 2-5 

Ah, the gift of a little cell service!  Here is Dan's summary of the last few days, texted from the comfort of a hotel night in Blairsville, Georgia, along with some photos taken along the way (first, here is Rocky enjoying the hotel):

Hi All:

Unknowingly, we started our hike in the middle of the hiker bubble, a three-week period when most folks begin their AT hikes.  That said, there are a lot of people on the trail.  It has been interesting seeing and talking with a wide variety of hikers.  Some appeared well prepared for the trial, others were questionable.

The trail is incredibly steep, rocky, and just plain tough.  Just think about going to the gym and working out on the stair climber.  Picture the stairs are varying in height and width.  Now picture the stairs are at varying angles, shapes, and covered with sand, gravel, moss, mud, or water.  Picture climbing these stairs for hours, now picture climbing down.  Add to that heat, cold, wind, and rain.  Oh, and remember to add a 35-pound or so pack on your back.  Sassafras Mountain was our most challenging climb so far.  Well, it was challenging for me.  Rocky just motors up and down with ease.

The weather has generally been cold and clear with a bit of light rain.  I typically wear shorts 12 months of the year and definitely prefer hiking in shorts, but it has been cold and windy.  The nights were windy with temperatures in the 20s and 30s.  We've awakened to ice in our water bottles.

Food Bag Hung to (hopefully!) Dissuade Bears

Crashed Out After Day 4

Blood Mountain Shelter

Trail Magic

We made it to Neel Gap, the first milestone of the AT.  Rocky and I are doing well.  We picked up our food drop at the Outfitter at Neel Gap.  I had a pack shakedown, a service offered by the Outfitter to assist hikers to lower their pack weight.  My base weight (your gear minus food and water) was 23 lbs.  The Outfitter suggested removing my stuff bags that partition my gear, changing my aluminum pot to a titanium version, and buying an ultralight pack, none of which I am going to do.  They did sell three packs and other gear in the hour I was there.

We caught a shuttle to Blairsville, Georgia, to restock Rocky's food, get a meal, wash clothes, and spend the night.  Sunday is the wrong day to visit Blairsville, only fast-food restaurants are open, and the laundromat is closed.  We made do by washing clothes in the motel bathtub and piecing together a pretty good meal from the grocery store.

It looks like shorts hiking weather today (Monday, 4/8).  We're catching a shuttle back to the trailhead shortly.

Note from Sally:  Dan called a couple of hours later from the top of a peak with a bit of cell service.  He sent this photo:

Stuck!

Meanwhile, on the home front, Rosie has finally begun to stop looking for Rocky everywhere, but despite my best efforts to entertain her, life is really boring without him!