Date: 2002-11-10
To: Nan and the Appalachian Trail
Miles today: 0.0

Northern GeorgiaWednesday, November 7th through Sunday November 10thNan and the Appalachian TrailOn Wednesday, I left the Atlanta metropolis and drove to the mountains of northern Georgia. I¢m lucky enough to have a couple of friends, Jodie and Roberta, who live in Ellijay, which is pretty close to Springer Mountain, the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail. They have a beautiful house at a river resort near Ellijay and were nice enough to let a drifter crash on their couch for a few days. I also got to spend some time with Nan, Roberta¢s grandmother, who was staying with them for a couple of weeks while her new bachelorette pad was being made ready. Nan is originally from England and had some great stories about being a biker chick and being married to a former mayor of Palm Springs. She had a birthday while I was there, and they let me tag along on the trip to Atlanta to see an IMAX movie, eat ice cream, dance unsolicited in the streets of Decatur (take that! Decatur) and stop at a pub for a Guinness on the way home. Then Nan made real British-style fish and chips for dinner. It was a really good day. Ellijay is a small northern Georgia tourist town with a square surrounded by quaint shops and restaurants in the middle of town, and a hideous strip of modern American culture a mile or so away (Super-Wal-Mart, fast food restaurants, etc.). However, that ugly bit was convenient. I hung out at the Calico Cupboard near the town square a couple of nights, drinking coffee and eating fried vegetables. Jodie told me a great story about how she had heard that, back in the day, the wives of some prominent businessmen in Ellijay got a little bored sitting at home and went down into Atlanta and turned tricks just for kicks. They were eventually arrested, and their husbands brought them back home and set up businesses for them to keep them busy. On Thursday, I actually hiked about 12 miles on the Appalachian Trail from the trailhead at Springer Mountain north a bit and back. The leaves were changing and the colors were fantastic. I¢ll post the pictures soon. I also met Scott Burke, another 2003 thru-hiker, and his dog Turtle, in the parking lot. It was great talking to them.   There were hunters all over the mountain that day, so I had the pleasure of screaming ¢I am not an animal¢ and making other non-deer-like sounds as often and as loud as I wanted. On Friday, I drove to Neels Gap and visited the Walasi-Yi hiking store (www.mountaincrossings.com) located right smack dab on the trail. I spent some time talking to Winton Porter, the proprietor, and bought a Marmot rain suit. Winton also let me try out a demo pair of trekking poles on my 5 mile hike up and down Blood Mountain, and I came right back and bought a pair of Leki Titanium poles. So far, they¢ve saved me from falling 6 times and assisted in many stream crossings. I love those poles. FYI ¢ Winton is designing a backpack for thru-hikers which will be ready I believe in December. It looks a lot like the Golite Gust, but weighs around 2 pounds, and he says it has a hip belt with a much better load transfer system so that it will hold 30 lbs. very comfortably. So, if you start your hike with an ultra-lightweight backpack and hate it by Neels Gap, you can pick up a less ambitious pack from Winton right there on the trail. Tennessee bound.