Date: 2008-03-03
To: Amicalola Falls SP Weekend - AT Celebration
Miles today: 0.0

Long weekend at      AMICALOLA FALLS STATE PARK.      Appalachian Trail Celebration - Speakers & Exhibitors      Feb 28 ¢ March 3, 2008   ( See PHOTO's )      Awesome Weekend! ! !   Once again the weather was excellent - mostly sunny and mild every day with clear blue sky¢s in the 60¢s. Just some rain on Friday night.      Thursday - February 28th-------------------------         I drove from Douglasville up to North Georgia to Mountain Crossing at Neel Gap. There was a dusting of snow left from a storm several days before. I met Winton (the owner) and chatted with the MC crew. I hiked North up the AT for about 2.5 miles from Neel Gap to Swaim Gap (or there about) and then back. I passed three thur-hikers heading North on my way back to Neel Gap.       Later at Mountain Crossings Hiker Hostel (Walasiyi-Inn), they served up an excellent Trail Magic supper (chili, strawberry shortcake, and beer) so I ate and hung out there for a while.    There were five young thru-hikers staying the night at the Hostel. I have to start writing down hiker¢s names when I meet them because I can never remember them later. There were two girls from Portland, ME, and the others were a threesome of friends (two guys and a girl) who have hiked several sections of the AT together over the past few years.       Later that night I drove over to Amicalola Falls State Park and set up my 9x9 dome tent, air mattress, and electric heater at the AFSP campground. It went down into the low 30¢s at night and I was toasty warm.   Life is Good.   Sorry ¢ I wasn¢t going to pass-up using using my comfortable "car camping" gear with an electric hook-up on site. I will be doing plenty of wilderness camping in my hammock soon enough.      I reserved the campsite from Thursday to Monday as several hiker friends from Nashville are coming down to share the site for the weekend.       Friday - Februry 29th----------------------      Clear early ¢ cloudy and rain late in the day.   I drove 16 miles to Wal-Mart in Dahlonega, GA to pick up supplies for the weekend. I spent most of the afternoon back at AFSP sorting out all the gear I had just thrown in a pile in the back of the van before I left home.   I was planning to hike a section of the Approach Trail in the late afternoon, but it started raining and didn¢t stop until about 2:30 am.    Zak and his mother Lost My Mind from Nashville pulled in late afternoon and were lucky enough to get a campsite nearby. Zak was originally planning to head out on his AT Thru-Hike next weekend ¢ but decided to go tomorrow with the March 1st hikers.   The three of us had a very pleasant dinner at the AFSP Lodge then called it an early night.       Saturday - March 1st---------------------      The Annual AT Celebration Weekend at Amicalola Falls State Park (AFSP).   Speakers and exhibitors all weekend. 50+ AT Thru-Hikers starting today.   Shadowmoss from Nashville pulled in about 3:00 am and Lilred and Ewker arrived later in the morning.    Turns out Kirby ¢ a 16 year old thru-hiker from Portland , ME and a group of his hiker and transportation friends were in the campsite next to me. Kirby has been the wonder child of the WHITEBLAZE.NET internet community for several years and his upcoming exploits on the AT are being followed on-line by thousands of fellow hikers around the country. Zak, Lost My Mind, Shadowmoss, and I had breakfast at the Lodge with Kirby and his friends. While there we met a number of trail legends such as Gene Espy, David AWOL Miller, and Jan LiteShoe Leitschuh.    Kirby and his friends Porboy, Bearpaw88, and Windjammer started their thru-hike from the stone arch at the AFSP Visitors Center shortly after breakfast. Zak wanted to wait for his friend Cannibal to arrive from Florida and start out with him. While waiting for Cannibal we met Mountain Man, Hikernutt, Sleeps with Mice, and several others. All really nice folks. Cannibal finally arrived just before lunch.    The plan was for Zak, Cannibal, Lilred, Ewker, Shadowmoss, Lost My Mind, and I to have lunch at the Lodge, then Zak, Cannibal, Shadowmoss, and I would slack pack the 625 stairs of the Approach Trail up to the Falls. Zak and Cannibal would then start their AT thru-hike from there. Not ! ! !   We did the stairs, and hung out with the group back down at the AT Celebration ¢ then the boys decided they were having such a good time they would rather have dinner and a campfire party with the group tonight ¢ and hit the trail tomorrow.         We had a wonderful evening. All of the AFSP campsites were reserved so Zak, Cannibal, and Lost My Mind ¢stealth¢ hammocked behind our campsite overnight.         Sunday - March 2nd----------------------   Another beautiful blue sky day.      Zak, Cannibal, Lilred, Ewker, Shadowmoss, Lost My Mind, and I took a leisurely Sunday Brunch at the Lodge. Then we drove Zak and Cannibal down to the stone arch for pictures with their packs, then up to the top of the Falls where they finally continued on the approach trail sometime after noon. It was great to see them off ¢ I am sure they will have a wonderful adventure.   A short time later Lost My Mind, Shadowmoss, and I drove/hiked up to Springer Mtn to catch the guys as they actually started the Appalachian Trail.       We met Zak on Springer, but Cannibal was nowhere to be found.   He was last seen sitting and joking with another hiker at Black Gap Shelter.   Zak took off from Springer for Hawk Mtn Shelter.   As best as we can figure Cannibal either stayed at Black Gap Shelter ¢or- he went back to the Lodge for another AYCE (all you can eat) buffet. Just kidding ¢ I think.      Overall this turned out to be a very special AT weekend for all of us.   I hope that this is just a taste of things to come in the next six months or so. -Wes-