Date: 2015-03-14
From: Springer Mountain

To: Hawk Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 8.1
Weather: light rain

Posted by Master Yoda for Scout and Tumbles: Scout and Tumbles were wide awake well before the 4 am central time wake up. Yes, Trashman is now known as Scout by the Social Bubble they are hiking with. All the packs were loaded and breakfast eaten well before the 5:00 leave time. Only Bug and Master Yoda would accompany us from the family, and Uncle Ed and Cousin Grant would be picked up in Ringgold, GA on the way. As we climbed into the old Van, Uncle Ed called, he did not sleep well and was under the weather. Plans changed fast, now we would need to get Cousin Grant in Harrison, TN, then go to Georgia. The rain was pouring down hard, and traffic was heavy. All this put us behind an hour, arriving at Amicalola Falls State Park, about 10:00 Eastern. The poor lady at the gate did not know how to take Master Yoda, he said he wanted to dump some kids off on the AT, and she just stared. At the Visitors Center, Master Yoda signed us in while we weighed our packs. Tumbles is hiker number 413 and Scout is 414 hike leaving on the AT this year. Tumbles pack, with 2 liters of water and 4 days food was 31 lbs, Scout weighed in at 32 lbs. (We had hoped to keep them below 25 lbs, it may be all the stuff mom and dad insisted we take, or the Winter Load. Master Yoda, Bug and Grant took our first resupply to the Walasi-Yi at Neel Gap and Baltimore Jack assured them the Staff would shake our packs down if we want.) While we were at Amicalola Falls State Park, we met Thru Hiker David (no trail name yet) wearing a red rain jacket. His family was there to see him and a friend, Smokey Ware off on the Approach Trail. We also discovered that there was a foot race called The Death Race going on today. The racers are running 70 miles finishing at Vogel State Park. Crazy!So we headed up the Forest road 42 to the Springer Mountain parking lot. The road was a slimy mess, but Master Yoda kept us from plummeting to our doom. When we got there the rain had slowed to a mist. The parking lot was only half full, the rain was keeping many people away, so we thought. Suddenly a bunch of mountain bikes went flying down the road. It turned out there was also the Southern Cross Mountain Bike Race the same weekend, sharing Forest Road 42. We slack packed up to the top of Springer Mountain and signed the book, took some pictures and ate a pickle; new tradition maybe we will call it the Pickle Challenge. On top we met Wistful, Relentless and the puppy Baby (They are on TJ!). They had come up the Approach Trail yesterday. We also met two other ladies from Florida out for the weekend. Back at the parking lot we got our packs on, said goodbye and headed down the trail, the time was about 1:00 pm. It continued to rain off and on all day. We made better time than we expected, arriving at Hawk Mountain Shelter by 4:30, doing the 7 or so miles without a problem. Remembering Trail Pilgrims advice we decided to take it easy and stop for the night. The shelter was full, so we tested our tents in the rain. We called home to let them know we are doing well. The people that we meet are amazing, so far they all seem nice. Confido!