Date: 2020-06-05
From: Gooch Mountain Shelter

To: Woody Gap / Above the Clouds Hostel
Miles today: 4.9

It was a dark and stormy night... But we slept like babies. Two days hard hiking will do that! Rain was petering out in the morning and we woke up gung-ho to get to Neel Gap. Minutes after leaving Gooch shelter the skies opened up and poured steadily as we descended to Gooch Gap. We donned ponchos to keep the worst off us and our packs. Our spirits remained high, knowing we were headed to town after Neel Gap, and enjoying the cooler air. But as the rain continued I grew less confident we'd make the nearly 16 miles, including a difficult climb and descent over Blood Mountain, highest in Georgia. It'd taken us 11 hours to do similar mileage in clear weather yesterday. On a whim I checked the AWOL guide and saw a general store/hostel listed for Suches, a tiny spot undeserving of the title "village", but only two miles off trail from Woody Gap ahead. Thankfully having service I called and was curtly told the hostel was closed. The lady somewhat reluctantly gave me the number of something called Above the Clouds hostel. Guthook did indeed list it and with great reviews of wonderful beds and meals as recently as yesterday. (Guthook is an online app with trail landmarks and services, AWOL is a paper guide updated each December). Lucky picked up the phone when I called and quickly agreed to pick us up at Woody Gap. Our sights now set on a short day to rest up, we enjoyed the last few miles. On Ramrock mountain we watched rain clouds settle among the rolling mountains. We passed the peak I'd spent a lovely night on two years ago with sunset and sunrise views, now shrouded in leaves and fog. Stopping for a breather we found a snail stretching out of its shell and "rainbathing" on a rock. In the last quarter mile we came to a spring turned waterfall cascading over the trail. Our water bottles still practically useless, I drank copiously from the falling water with my hands and Big E did likewise. It was rainwater flowing off the top of the mountain just yards above us, safer even than tap water. Although it wasn't a thirsty kind of hiking, being able to drink effortlessly was pure happiness. At Woody Gap a paved highway crossed the trail with trash cans, restrooms, and numerous cars with sightseers. Nimrod, a sharp-nosed, full white-bearded multiple thruhiker, drove up within minutes of my text announcing our arrival. He took us down to the hostel on a 13 acre tract with a brick bungalow and a large white block abandoned storefront. Above the Clouds just opened March 1, enjoyed immediate success, but had to close 18 days later due to trailhead closures driving away business. When hikers started calling again a few weeks ago they reopened. Lucky, the owner, bought it from a 100-year-old member of the Gooch family. His neighbors are the Woodys, descendants of Georgia"s first national forest superintendent who acquired much of the Chattahoochee national forest and built the dirt track that later became Highway 60. My shuttle driver Bret "Suches" Eady lives nearby and according to Lucky is part of the family that founded the town. Suches is Cherokee for "Above the Clouds". It sits at the intersection with a mountain road that becomes forest service road 42, winding past every gap from here back to Springer itself. Lucky says they can slackpack hikers all the way across Georgia.Big E and I dried out, showered, did laundry, and eventually downed a frozen pizza. But mostly we relaxed and shot the breeze with our hosts. Later in the afternoon a young section hiker from Augusta who doesn't like his trail name stopped in to clean up before heading home. Then Lucky brought in four hikers from Gooch Gap. The same guys who were zeroing at Hawk Mountain yesterday. They are UNC students, mostly in art and music, heading for Franklin, NC on their first extended backpacking trip. With 50 pound packs they are eager to lighten up. One is named Squatch after his yeti ankle tattoo. Another is Yellow Eagle after his own tattoo. Lucky drove us the half mile to the general store, giving us the grand twenty second tour of town. A twisty road out of town is sought after by motorcyclists much like the Dragon's Tail in North Carolina. The bikers congregate at a tenting ground in Suches on weekends. Lucky plans to turn his abandoned storefront into a cafe to get some of that business. It was once the area's only store for nearly a century. With ice teas, ice cream, and breakfast pastries we headed back. They had to wait though, as shrimp jambalaya was put out for dinner. Mmm, excellent! The four college guys couldn't finish the leftovers so Big E and I cleaned out the bowl. Big E volunteered to do dishes to save $5 on our stay. His first taste of work-for-stay! Very proud of him. We all retired to the living room for conversation. Lucky is a champion poker player and had plenty of advice for aspiring players. Then Nimrod came in to regale us with stories of the AT as it was during his 1980 thruhike. In one he was dragged out of a hostel in Maine by the owner Old Man Shaw at 3 in the morning to help him dress a moose. A moose he'd taken out with his 3/4 ton pickup! Or night-hiking Mt Madison in the Whites when a surprise gale blew in frigid air and dumped 6 inches of rain on him as he huddled in the boulders!The four college guys were hanging on every word, as Nimrod and I explained many of the cultural oddities of the trail and places not to miss. The Doyle, the Whites, the half gallon challenge, Grandma Gatewood, the four state challenge, the 24/24/24 challenge, which hostels to visit and those to avoid (*cough* Garden Mountain *cough*). Laughing Heart hostel in Hot Springs was once a Jesuit monastery. Explains all the cell-like rooms! I learned a lot of trail history myself. The old AT of solitary wilderness sojourns has passed into history. But guys like Nimrod remain to remind us of that time.