Date: 2008-01-14
From: Hawk Mountain Shelter , GA

To: Amicalola
Miles today: 7.6
Weather: clear sky

We still had a big day to get to Amicalola as there is the access trail as well, which must not be forgotten, so we were away before Giant and Crazy Diamond were awake. It was a very cold morning with the temperature firmly fixed on 0 degree C and a brisk wind. We dawdled. The sun came up and the day was absolutely gorgeous whenever we were out of the wind. We went to visit Stover Creek Shelter and sat there in the sun for a while. Then we stopped at Springer Mountain Shelter. There was a bit of ice here and there on the trail so we had an excuse for a nice moderate pace. Then, with no fanfare and no-one to see, we suddenly emerged onto an undistinguished flat area where there was a large rock with a plaque on it. We did an Ed and Tensing and walked the last few steps to the top together, and we will never tell who was first to arrive. (We have since found out that Sir Ed died a few days ago. He was an iconic New Zealander and will be sadly missed.)Black &white photo from Bebo - Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man to climb the world's highest mountain, Mount Everest. Photo on the right by Peter Rejcek - Sir Edmund Hillary arrives for his last visit to Antarctica in 2007. It was so cold standing there beside the rock that our pictures of each other will be fuzzy with camera shake. We got one of the two of us using the delay function but it was not a place to tarry and savour, so we got off the summit very quickly forgetting to sign the register. It is not obvious there is a register as it is in a sort of drawer in the rock, an unlikely place. I remembered it after we got some way down the hill but we did not go back. We know we were there! Anyway I was distracted by Dave taking a header onto the trail again, bashing his head on a root and losing a chunk from the bridge of his nose! The long-suffering glasses just kept on keeping on. We sat on the access trail just below the top of Springer doing first aid. He was ok luckily, but it seems we pick our times to do these things - me just over Clingman and now him just over Springer.We stopped at Black Mountain Shelter on the way down to finish up the last dregs of hot chocolate and baby formula, and eat the last trail mix. It was sheltered from the wind and beautifully sunny and warm. Both us us were suddenly affected by lethargy so profound we wondered if we had what it would take to get to Amicalola about 8 miles away. There was nothing to be done but to do it, and we did, but it was really hard. The access trail has ups and downs and I felt exhausted, if not physically, then definitely mentally. It seemed an age before we finally arrived at the Lodge where we were to be picked up by Tim.At this point our journal will stop until we get back to New Zealand in a few days. We will, however, do a final entry from home to put down our thoughts and feelings about the trail and the experiences we have had. So until then, I am signing off. Thank you all of you who have been reading our journal and wishing us well along the way.Amicalola Falls approach trail to Springer Mountain Lots of steps! --photo by Trine Jensen - Red DanePlaque at Amicalola Falls - photo by Gary ScanlonAmicalola Gateway in May - photo by Voyageur - Scott Piddington