Address: (Parking only) Hiawassee, GA 30546
Telephone: (888) 867-2757
Lat/Long: 34.801642, -83.742959
Website: https://appalachiantrail.org/
Date: September 6th 2024
Media: *Located within and at the bottom of each post
Hardware used for media: GoPro 10, Galaxy S21
I had been planning for this trip for nearly a year, getting everything I needed to hike the wilderness for several days. I left around 3pm on September 5th and arrived at Dicks Creek Gap around midnight on September 6th. I will never again drive on mountain roads in the middle of the night, that was terrifying, and it didn’t help that there was a vehicle behind me trying to push me faster. It was pitch black, and once I was able to see how close the drop off was… Needless to say, the truck behind me was stuck doing the speed limit.
I spent the evening camping in the backseat of my truck (This was before my Roof Top Tent). The cars passing by every now and then kept me awake, plus I was excited to get on the trail. My trail guide, Bandit, came and picked me up (promptly I might add) and we rode over to Unicoi Gap where I was to start my first A.T. section. It was still dark so I waited around for about 20 or so minutes till the sun came up.
Literally 20 minutes into this section I started hearing some rustling in the woods. I stopped to look around and I see something off in the distance way up on a tree. IT WAS A BLACK BEAR! I tried to quickly grab my camera to get a few pics but only managed one. When maneuvering to grab a better picture my trek pole hit a rock and scared him away. So much so, he was down the tree and gone in seconds!
Even though I was training for about a year to start these sections, I was taken aback at how fast the elevation increased in such a short distance. The first 1-2 miles was a gradual assent, and this Floridians’ calves were already feelin it. The rocky path was beautiful. In Florida, we don’t have many rocks on our trails, only dirt and sand. I also came across a few primitive campsites along the way.
A few miles in, I was rewarded with a few stunning views. The openings were few and far between but when I found them, WOW! I couldn’t move away when I saw the first opening of a view of Tray Wilderness from the top of a mountain. I had to force myself to turn and keep hiking! *Holy crap, I just realized how much weight I’ve lost in a year.
I made it to Tray Mountain shelter by around 1ish. But there was an issue on the ascent. An ankle injury I had in my mid-20’s started coming back in full force. I had been putting it off for a while thinking I could just “live with it”. I had a bone spur on my right ankle. Normally it never really bothered me much unless I was exercising heavily. And today was that day it decided to say NOPE! *rolls eyes*
I wound up trying to reach out to Bandit while sitting at Tray Mountain Shelter. Luckily he was able to come to get me immediately. I didn’t want to attempt the remaining section with my ankle the way it was. On the ride out he advised me that the remaining part of that section isn’t as bad as the first 3-4 miles. I’ll eventually finish that section and continue my A.T. trek. Below are a few other random images from this day.
Happy Camping!
See you on the trail!
~T.B. Pug