Short Trip to Georgia October 2021

REVISITING GEORGIA
Wednesday, October 20, 2021

So we are getting the hiking bug again and have been thinking about trying to re-hike some of our favorite places on the trail.  

Starting with Georgia - we were very fresh and naive when we did it the first time back in 2011.  We didn't know "nothing about nothing."  We were not in good shape physically and we made it through the entire state without dying, so we figured we should be able to do it again now.  

We are not in the best shape now either since it has been two years since we finished the Appalachian Trail by section hiking over 8 years.  We have been walking, but certainly not to the extend that we did back then to prepare for the trail.  But - we do know so much more about logistics, gear, pace, etc. etc.  than we knew back then.

This seems like a good time to go north.  We should be able to see some fall colors in Georgia.  

So here we go - we made our plan to hike the 85 miles from Springer Mountain Georgia to Deep Gap, NC in two parts.

Drive to Unicoi Gap and spend the night.
Get a shuttle to Springer Mountain parking lot the next morning.
Hike for four days to Unicoi Gap.
Spend the night and have dinner in town.
Transfer to Deep Gap, NC.
Shuttle back down to Unicoi Gap and hike north to Deep Gap.  

We chose Michelle Coffer as our shuttle driver and made plans with her.  

On Wednesday, October 20, 2021, we drove to Georgia, stopping by to visit the Amicalola State Park Visitor's Center.  We skipped it in 2011. And we will skip the hike up the approach trail again this time, but I wanted to see the center and the starting point of the AT Approach Trail.  

Video of the beginning of the Approach Trail