Date: 2014-07-19
From: Springer Mountain GA

To: Hightower Gap
Miles today: 9.5

Tracy "Again" and I planned back in May to do this section. We met at the Appalachian Trail Institute with Warren Doyle "Trail Dancer" in May. Tracy wanted to start at the beginning. Tracy's husband drove her from the west and my husband drove me from the east. We were to meet at a grocery store at the intersection of GA 60 and Cooper Gap Road.   When my husband and I left our home, it was raining cats and dogs. Several times my husband asked if Tracy had called to cancel or reschedule. No, she had not. I called Tracy to let her know we were about 10 minutes late. She said it was OK since, she was running about 15 minutes late. She said she was glad I called because her husband kept asking if I had cancelled or rescheduled!   As it turned out, the grocery store looked like it had closed a few years earlier. Tracy threw her pack in our car and kissed her husband good bye.   My husband, Tracy and I proceeded in our front wheel drive van down the dirt road that is Cooper Gap Road, toward Springer Mountain. We stopped at every parking area along the way. My husband was concerned we might pass the parking area for Springer.I had remembered 10 miles from GA 60 but it was actually 10 miles to Springer from Cooper Gap that is about 10 miles from GA 60, a total of 20 miles. When we got to Springer parking there was a HUGE sign. It was hard to miss.   There was a light rain with mist. There were some packs under the kiosk. We put on our packs and headed up the 0.9 mile to the top of Springer Mountain. Only on the way down did we realize we could have left our packs at the kiosk since we were coming back. So we carried our pack 1.8 miles that we did not need. We took pictures at the top, but did not see the register.   The light rain with mist continued the rest of the day. The original plan was to stay the night at the campsites a little past Three Forks, USFS 58. We got there in the early afternoon with plenty of energy, so we continued to hike. We came to the sign for Long Creek Falls. Tracy did not want to go the less than a mile off the trail, carrying her pack, just to see a waterfall. My pack was 30 lbs and Tracy's was 27 lbs. I dropped my pack at the sign and Tracy would wait for me to return. As I was taking pictures at the falls, Tracy appeared. She decided she did not want to miss it. See the photos for 7/19/14.   We continued hiking and came to the Hickory Flats Cemetery and pavilion. There was a cement block building with men and women's pit toilets and showers in disrepair. This was the place a woman in Virginia told me about. She was from a small town in Pennsylvania. She had come to thru hike the AT with 10 people plus the leader in early spring. They stayed here the first night as it was snowing. She moved from the pavilion to the concrete shower with indoor/outdoor carpet. It was out of the wind. The rest of the group chose to stay in the pavilion. The pit toilet had no ambiance. The group was concerned for the health of the leader, so the group and the leader left the trail and retreated to a nearby motel. The woman I met in Virginia continued hiking until her husband missed her so much, she left the trail a month later in Erwin TN. It seems every section and thru hiker has their own tale of hiking partners that are no longer hiking the AT. Tracy still had energy and wanted to keep hiking.   We continued hiking. Somehow we missed the sign to Hawk Mountain Shelter. When we got to Hightower Gap at the intersection of USFS 42 and 69, we had run out of steam. We were not hiking any further. It was not the best camping site. It was in tall grass on the side of the dirt road. I told Tracy it would be the worst camping site for the trip. Tracy helped me by wrapping my tarp rope around a tree with poison ivy. Tracy was a much better throw than me. Tracy threw the bear food rope over a tree limb and wrapped the rope around a tree with poison ivy. We fixed dinner and went to sleep.