Date: 2005-10-30
From: Woody Gap, GA

To: Dalohnega, GA
Miles today: 19.9

19.9 miles todayDays InnDalohnega, Ga. I summited Springer Mountain today. My hike is over. :-((( I woke up about 5am and put on a pot of coffee in the hostel. There were 4 other hikers sleeping in the bunkroom, so I slept on the couch in the living room since snoring keeps me awake. I was answering some emails when Chief came out and said he could smell some coffee. He got his coffee and when we were both ready, we left for the trailhead. We got to Woody Gap at 8am and I started walking south with about 20 miles left of this hike. Chief said he would get some food when the store opened in Suches and meet me at Cooper Gap at about 11am. It was pretty easy trail this morning and it was in the 30's, so it felt warm out compared to recent mornings. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. I hiked down to Gooch Gap and when I passed by there, I saw about 50 Japenese people camping out. They were nice and some said hello as I passed. I walked by Gooch Mountain Shelter without stopping and in another few miles, I was at Cooper Gap. Chief was there waiting with 2 sausage and egg biscuits, a fried apple pie and a coke. I had been hungry for the last 2 climbs I had, so that food was a welcome sight. I climbed over Sassafras Mountain, down to Horse Gap and on to Hightower Gap where Chief was waiting with more food. He had put a fried apple pie on the engine of his truck when he got to Hightower Gap. By the time I got there. I had a warm apple pie. :-))). I was stuffed going up Hawk Mountain and passed by Hawk Mountain Shelter without stopping. Chief met me at Three Forks again, but I just had some water and hiked on to do the last section to Springer Mountain. I met Chief there at the parking lot and we walked up to the summit of Springer together. I had really been doing alot of quiet thinking for the last 4 miles. It still seems unbelievable to me that this hike is ending already. Chief complained about how long a walk it was from the parking lot to the summit of Springer. It was only .9 miles!! That .9 miles should burn off some of those excess calories you took in today Chief. :-))) We got up to Springer and I took the register out of the side of the rock and sat down to see who had been there and I signed my last entry in a trail register for this hike. I got to use one of my smiley face stickers and a big sticker Mrs Gorp had sent me about a goofey guy swinging a golf club. It seemed fitting because I'll probably go to Florida and duff a few golf balls. :-))) There had been about 8 or 9 people on Springer when we got there, so I had waited until they all left before I went over and touched the last white blaze. Chief brought out a bottle of Jim Beam and we toasted another good walk.It tasted so good that we toasted a beautiful day to finish a hike on. I guess we could have thought of more things to toast, but Chief still had to drive me safely down the mountain. :-)))It's really over.....no more white blazes. We drove to Dahlonega and got rooms at the Days Inn. I got my shower and put on my hiking clothes again...that's all I have with me. We were meeting 4 friends at The Smith House for dinner. Three of those friends are starting a 10 day section hike in the morning at Springer Mountain and plan on wearing costumes to hike in tomorrow for Halloween. I called Chief's room and got him moving. There was food...lots of good food including good ol' southern fried chicken waiting on us at The Smith House. We were going outside and I saw the friends we were supposed to meet. They had just arrived at the motel. There was ZigZag, Amoeba, Purple Rose and her husband...Mr Purple Rose. When they got ready, we headed for the food!! I had been thinking about eating at The Smith House for quite some time. It makes for a nice ending to a sobo hike. Purple Rose and ZigZag had 2 sheets of postage stamps made up with a couple pictures I had taken on this hike. That was really cool...real 37 cent postage stamps that I intend to use. Amoeba had made a crossword puzzle using my journal to get all the questions and answers. I can't imagine how much time and work that must have taken. Now I'm just worried that I'll get some of the answers wrong...and it's about my hike. :-))) We all talked until we were the last ones in the restaurant and they were waiting on us to leave so they could lock up for the night. We came back to the motel and I gave Amoeba back her left Leki pole that I ended up with somehow when she was nice enough to drop me off in Maine to pick up my truck after The Gathering in NH. I just feel bad for her because I've only had her hiking pole for 2 1/2 weeks and put 372 miles on it. :-))) Everyone went to their rooms for the night because it was getting late. Chief decided that it was too cold, or wet, or windy, or sunny, or dry to finish his last 2 weeks of The Mountains to Sea trail right now, so I guess we'll go to Miss Janet's tomorrow so I can get my truck and head for Florida to see my granchildren. It looks like I've won the leaf catching game because I didn't recieve any emails by the deadline that stated there were more caught than the 52 I ended up with. Yep, today was a good day. I finally found some falling leaves...in fact, they were falling so good that it almost seemed like someone was shaking the tree. ;-))) As for that person trying to say something in Spanish about 70 somethings...sorry, learn how to speak English. That was one of the rules of the game. Ha!!! I have a confession to make. I've been a baaaaaaaaaaaaad boy. I had the counter altered on Liteshoe's journal so that when she recieved an honest hit, her counter would go backwards for 3 to 7 hits. This was all in a feable attempt to end up with more hits than the famous Liteshoe at www.trailjournals.com/liteshoe She deserves all the hits she has recieved over the years because she really does have the best journal ever written. That's not my whole confession because I was even baaaaaaaaader than that. I had my '04 journal set up so that I would get an extra hit or two or 500 each day that I didn't deserve...again in a feable attempt to out-do the famous Liteshoe at www.trailjournals.com/liteshoe Jan, I'll try to be a better boy in the future and accept the fact that you're just a damn good writer and I congratulate you on your fantastic journal. One more thing...hey Dewdrop, I've got my summit photo now and am willing to post it when you post yours. (A personal joke) ;-)))