Date: 2004-12-30
To: Let the Planning Begin...
Miles today: 0.0

Thanks to this journal site, I've begun to hear from others planning to depart from Springer at about the same time as me -- March 14, 2005. It's kind of cool to begin getting to know my fellow pilgrims before I've even finished packing. Mother Goose has been especially helpful, and I am now using her mail drop list as an input for my own detailed planning. We'll both use the Walesi Yi Center as the first of our drops, and plan to arrive on day 3 of our 30.5 mile hike from Springer Mountain. That will be an average of 10 miles a day, which sounds reasonable for the first week out. The Center is famous as a mecca for through-hikers, not least because it offers a hot shower and a real bed to sleep in. Provided you get there before they're all taken...The question is how far to go on Sunday, March 13. From the Lodge at Amicalola Falls State Part to the Trail Head and official starting point is 7.6 miles. The Springer Mountain Shelter is a mere 0.2 miles beyond the summit, for a total hike of 7.8 miles. Or, I could push on another 2.5 miles to the next shelter, for a 10.3 mile day.   The Springer shelter is likely to fill up quickly, but that's OK as I really prefer to tent and there are tent sites nearby. And it has a privy. The next shelter only sleeps six, with no mention of camp sites, and doesn't have a privy. I figure I can deal with the absence of a privy, having studied carefully the pulitzer-prize-nominated "How to S..T in the Woods" and having practiced it's wisdom on two separate occasions so far. (I don't think I've been that proud of myself since the first time I learned not to do it in my pants, and that was a LONG time ago...) Provided I can replenish my water supply and cook an evening meal at the shelter, I may take my chances on finding a place to tent that night somewhere near the shelter. That would allow me a more manageable 13.5 mile hike on Monday to Gooch Gap Shelter. If I stay at Springer Mountain Shelter Sunday night, however, I'm facing a 16 mile hike to Gooch Gap, and even my limited hiking experience to date tells me that would probably not be wise. They say the biggest risk is trying to go too far, too fast, too soon, and that sounds right to me. BUT, if I COULD get to Gooch Gap by the second night, then I would only have a 10.5 mile hike on Tuesday to the Woods Hole Shelter, and THAT, my friends, would allow me to arrive at the Walesi Yi Center on Wednesday after only a four mile hike from Woods Hole. Why is that such a good idea, you may ask? Well, if you look at the elevation chart on the relevant map, you'll notice a rather striking uphill climb just beyond Woods Hole, leading in fact to the highest point on the AT in Georgia -- a place called Blood Mountain. The Guide Book says it has panoramic views, and I'd like to take time to enjoy them for a bit, and still get into the Walesi Yi Center before the rooms are all taken. If I don't make it to Gooch Gap Shelter by Tuesday night, the Shelter just prior (I don't recall the name) will leave me with a 15 mile hike to the Center on Wednesday, the last four of which will include the climb up Blood Mountain, with no time to enjoy the views. It would put me into the Center late in the day when all the space at the inn may already be spoken for. "Awaaaaay in a manger...." seasonal, perhaps, for this week after Christmas, but after four days on the trail, I'm guessing I'll be ready for a hot shower and a bed. Good Lord, all that planning for one day on the approach trail and three on the AT -- and a total of only 30.5 official AT miles?? And I've got HOW MANY days and miles to plan for?? Geeez, I'd better get crankin'. Now what did I do with Mother Goose's list of mail drops....stay tuned,Dick Calkins aka Longhaul