Slackpacking Trip - Day 10

[I slept in today and didn't get on the road until 0830 - first, I drove west again (backtrack from last night) and turned off at West Old Murphy Road, driving up to Wallace Gap (at Forest Road 67) - this was close to Standing Indian Mountain - parked at 0900 and hiked several miles on both sides of the road (tree cutting crews almost took out my car!) - finished up the section I couldn't finish (due to dark) on the US-64 side - saw a lot more people this morning: male solo NOBO, foursome NOBO, 2 fast ladies NOBO, couple with dog NOBO, solo male NOBO - at one point, I startled something - it made such a ruccous, I was really afraid of what it might be - one of the NOBO hikers told me that grouses do that (whew!) - after that section, I got on US-64 again and turned on NC-175, which became GA-75, and drove to Hiawassee - found the trail again on US-76 (east of town) - at 1230, I parked and hiked another good section (Dick's Creek Gap) on both sides of the highway (steep trail, shady and not too unbearable) - perhaps the most surprising thing was that I saw a mother with her three (VERY) young children, asking about how they could get a ride into town - I certainly didn't have room, but my big question was "what are you thinking, bringing them on this trail?" - there was a nearby hostel called "Top of Georgia" and I saw a couple of guys waiting for rides to take a break - it looked like a nice place to stop - in this segment, I encountered a pair of guys NOBO, a trio of guys NOBO, a couple resting at the picnic area near my car - before getting back into my car, I had to switch to another t-shirt (1400), since mine was drenched with sweat - at this rate, I will run out of clean clothes by tomorrow... - headed back to Hiawassee to have lunch at Dairy Queen and encountered the mother and kids again - she explained that she planned to take three months with them and that she thought they could do it - she had been having luck getting rides and other help (I realized later that this was so very early on the 2100 miles of trail - I hoped she would be OK) - got back on the road (GA-75) and found the trail again at 1530 (Unicoi Gap), where I hiked another section in the hot sun - it was very hilly again (saw 1 old couple on a day hike SOBO) - back in the car at 1630 and looking for another place to hike (used GA-180 to get to the trail crossing on GA-348) - managed to fit in another section between 1710 and 1800 (Raven Cliffs Wilderness at Tesnatee Gap, 3138 feet) - it broke me, actually, with the steepness and heat - very hard, tired, saw no one else - after that frustration, I backtracked to GA-180 and drove over to US-19 - the scenery was unbeatable (pretty, mountains, trees) - stopped for a bit at Neal's Gap (Blood Mountain, 4458 feet) and looked around a the vintage building ("Mountain Crossings") and camping area (lots of folks had stopped there for the night) - continued on US-19 to Dahlonega - drove through town and located a Quality Inn on the west side of town (1920) - checked in and then drove back to the town square of this historic place - had dinner at a place called "Piazza" - it was a good meal and I talked to the chef about his many hikes on the trail since he had first moved to the area (he has hiked over 200 miles over the years) - back to the hotel, posted Facebook photos and planned for what could be my last day (Springer Mountain) - bed at 2200 - finished 6.31 miles (not counting backtracks) today - Grand Total now 62.94 miles]