Tag Archives: Top of Georgia Hostel

May 30-31 2015 Days 054-055

Posted on by
Reply

We left Bly Gap and headed North again. We only hike 2.8 miles to Muskrat Creek Shelter. We were surprised to meet the man who had left his wallet at the Top of Georgia Hostel again. The shelter and the area surrounding it was very crowded so he decided to camp with us. Many campers and Boy Scouts were camping all around us. It was very hectic compared to what we were used to.

The next day was Sunday and we spent the day talking about God with the wallet man. I am convinced this man would be a great preacher. I told him so and he thanked me. For, he told me, he had come out into the woods to seek God’s will for his life. I hope I was part of God’s confirmation of his calling.

We decided to stay at Muskrat another night due to heavy thunderstorms that rolled in the late afternoon. We even stayed in the shelter for a half an hour because of lightning. But the storm passed within two hours. Wallet man decided to stay with us also.

View at Muskrat

View at Muskrat

Camp At Muskrat

Camp At Muskrat

 

May 28, 2015 Day 052

Posted on by
Reply

Got up today and got ready to leave the Top of Georgia Hostel. It was a chilly morning, but not anything we couldn’t handle.

We walked from TOG back to Dick’s Creek Gap, which is only half a mile. We rested at the gap and headed north up into the mountains.

We walked 4.4 miles to Plumorchard Gap Shelter. There were two other hikers there. Gig, Tinkerbell, Repunzel, and Off decided to sleep in the shelter, which has three lofts and sleeps up to twenty people. They just had to sleep in the uppermost loft…

We got a fire going and ate dinner. It was a quiet night.

Repunzel at the Plumborchard

Repunzel at the Plumborchard Fire

The Only Tent Tonight

The Only Tent Tonight

May 27, 2015 Day 051

Posted on by
Reply

Back at the Top of Georgia Hostel. Tipawa and I made it to town to buy food for the next leg of our trip.

We also bought McDonald’s for everyone. We dried everything out and Buttercup washed our clothes. We were happy to see all the volunteer staff at T.O.G. and Sir Packs A-Lot encouraged us to keep going.

We met a man in the bunkhouse who was hiking in Nepal when the earthquake hit. He could not stay in the country and decided to hike the A.T. as an alternate hike. He told us what it was like during the quake and in the aftermath. All we could do was pray…

We settled in, prayed alot, ate alot, and went to sleep.

Top of Georgia Hostel

Top of Georgia Hostel

May 11-18 2015 Days 035-042

Posted on by
Reply

Hello again,

Finally have a few to update everyone on the progress of Operation: Appalachian Snail.

We got up on the morning of the 11th and packed up our gear. We faced North again and headed back over the mountains we had hiked the last two days. 

As soon as I had reception on my phone I called my Dad to verify that he was coming. He was. So, we continued Northbound on the trail.

We hiked back up Kelly Knob. Kelly Knob is a 4,176′ high mountain. The last mountain over 4,000′ feet in GA. Tipawa has gotten so good at hiking we walked up the whole mountain without taking a break. An amazing feat.

We hiked back up to the Vista. Hiked back to and over Powell Mountain. And on down, down, and down some more to Dick’s Creek Gap. Where my Dad was waiting to pick us up.

We lifted our gear onto the roof of our Pathfinder, but we did not have enough rope to tie everything down. We had to drive as slow as possible to the Top of Georgia Hostel to see if we could get some.

When we got to the Top of Georgia we found out that Bohemian Gypsy Nighthiker was there.

Me and Bohemian

Me and Bohemian

We talked with Bohemian and got some rope from the generous volunteers at the Top of Georgia Hostel. We safely tied down our gear and headed for the house.

We got home around 01:00. I can’t describe how strange it felt to be home after 2 months on the trail. It was like being deployed again. Everything felt new and fresh. We didn’t know what to do with ourselves. But we made the best of it by eating and drinking everything we could find… Then showered and slept in our beds!

So we were home. But we still had alot to do. We rested. We cleaned. We repacked. And repeated. I thank God we went home when we did. We got to have birthday party for Skyla while we were home.

Skyla's Cake

Skyla’s Cake

Refreshed and resupplied we were ready to drive back to the trail on the 19th.

May 07, 2015 Day 031

Posted on by
Reply

Got up early and checked the guide. We were 17 or so miles from where I wanted to get. But at our rate of travel that could take 3-5 days. So I looked again and realized we could get a ride from a hostel only 4 miles away. That became our goal for the day and we headed up Blue Mountain.

We got to Unicoi Gap at about 14:00. Unicoi Gap is at mile 52.9. So from April 07th to May 07th we hiked a total of 61.2 miles. Not alot huh? But to us it is a huge distance.

We managed to get a hold of the Top of Georgia Hostel and they sent a shuttle to pick us up.

Top of Georgia Hostel

Top of Georgia Hostel

Its funny, the Hostel put us in a building with bunks. The name of the building was the Wolf Den. So, we went from the Wolf Pen to the Wolf Den!

The Wolf Den

The Wolf Den

Our Bunks

Our Bunks

At the hostel there was a scale. Tipawa weighed 284 pounds when we left. The scale read 255 when she stepped on it. She lost 29 pounds in a month. Gig lost 20 pounds. I lost 10 pounds. Off, Tinkerbell, and Repunzel’s weight stayed steady. But they lost fat and gained the same weight in muscle.

At the Hostel I caught a shuttle to Hiawassee, GA to get some supplies. The only store I could shop at was a Save-A-Lot. But I got what we needed.

We repacked all the food and prepared to head back to the trail on the morrow.