Date: 2022-10-29
From: Hawk Mt Shelter Mile 9.3

To: Springer Mt Mile 0.0 and then Approach Trail Arch
Miles today: 9.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Orchid, Coach and I are not resting on our laurels on our final day on trail as we¢re planning to leave camp at our regular time of 7:30 these days. I got up, packed up and ate breakfast as usual. I know that this is the final day on trail and that this journey is coming to an end today, but it doesn¢t seem real yet. My son Alex and his girlfriend Dominique are meeting us at the Springer Mountain parking lot around 10:30 and will hike the final mile up to the summit with us and then Alex will hike down the Approach Trail with us. We took the blue blaze down to the Long Creek Falls to check out the falls and get water for the day. Georgia is in a drought and we¢ve been finding many water sources dry but for these final miles we are crossing lots of creeks / streams that are flowing really well. This is also one of the many times today that we will cross the Benton MacKaye Trail today.We saw a surprising number of people today, more than I was expected for Springer Mountain. After my standard greeting I would indicate we were finishing our Thru Hike. A surprising number of people had no idea what that meant despite being at the southern terminus of the AT.Eventually just north of the parking lot we spotting Alex and Dominique walking towards us and had the family reunion. The five of us returned to the parking lot were we had some muffins and offloaded gear for the journey up to Springer and then down to our official unofficial finish at Amicola Falls Visitor Center Arch. One last climb awaited us up to the official finish at Springer Mt., before we finally emerging on the summit of Springer Mt. Orchid and I have officially completed our 2194.3 mile Thru Hike at the southern terminus of the AT!Alex broke out the bubbly (Sparkling Cider) and beer and we toasted our accomplishment. We took lots of pictures, Orchid and I signed the log book, Coach presented us with finishing gifts, and we took in the single limited view from the top. Compared to Katahdin, Springer is underwhelming as it is mostly tree covered and there is only one narrow view down to the valley below. Alex and Dominique headed back to the van. She¢ll drive the van down to Amicola Falls and Alex will catch up with us on the Approach Trail. The three of us ate at the top and hung out for a little while before starting down the 8.8 mile Approach Trail. These miles, like those getting down from Katahdin, don¢t count towards the AT which is why I refer to finishing at the arch as my official unofficial finish. Alex caught up to us about four miles into the Approach Trail and the four of us continued down to the upper falls view point. I bought a celebratory Root Beer as I was running low on water. From here to the finish it was crowded with people and a little bit overwhelming. We descended the 425 steps (labled as strenuous) alongside the waterfall and eventually made it down to the bottom of the Approach Trail. We signed the log book at the temporary visitors center and then went down to the Arch to take pictures and complete our journey. They are replacing the visitors center so just past the arch is a construction zone. Fortunately you can still get good pictures with the arch.The five of us departed Amicola for the rental house we are staying in tonight. On the way we passed several good views of the far foliage on the surrounding mountains. We stopped at Wendy¢s for a late lunch and the grocery store for snacks and dinner. Shower, laundry and dinner followed before Coach broke out the guitar and played one final concert for us. It¢s a bittersweet evening as we¢re all excited about the finish, but we know that tomorrow Orchid, Coach and I are all going our separate ways.Tomorrow Coach drives home and we drop off Orchid at the airport before heading south to Orlando and Disney. Yes, that¢s correct, now that I have finished my AT Thru Hike what am I going to do next? Go to Disney. Dominique works for Disney Emerging Technologies so if you can get into the parks for free¢¦ why not.Steps 39300Weather Forecast: 58/44 cloudyNote: We found a bug a couple of days ago in the FarOut App which long story short leads to the northbound mileage I use in the journal being off by 1.2 miles from the Smokies on south.