Hiawassee, GA (USA)

I worked in my hotel room for a few hours this morning and didn't leave Hiawassee until around 1000. I got breakfast to go from Hardees before heading into the mountains.  The best part of my delayed departure, though: temps were in the 50s already! I used US-76 and GA-75 to reach Indian Grave Gap Road (gravel, USFS-283). Within the first hundred yards, I encountered a creek that crossed the road! I could see the pebbles in the water (i.e., about three inches deep) and decided to take "Nessie" through the obstacle. She did great! The rest of the climb up to Indian Grave Gap was OK but the condition of the road gave me pause - I'd wanted to drive all the way up to Tray Gap to park but decided against it when I reached the trail crossing where I last hiked in 2017. This meant that my climb was an extra 500 feet, for a total of 1,500 feet to the Tray Mountain summit, but I figured I was as rested & ready as I was going to be all day and started NOBO at 1000. I noticed that another USFS road (79) crossed the AT a few times during the climb so I bailed off the trail after about a mile and followed the road towards the next parking area. There were huge, deep mud puddles and several places where I would have had trouble getting my car through and I was glad I'd parked early. I was even happier when a car pulled up behind me and offered a ride! Gladly accepted the offer and piled into the car with an older gentleman and a young lady hiker. The drive was less than a mile, but it was enough time for me to realize that this was Ron, my shuttle driver for tomorrow! He and I joked a bit about this being an audition and (re)confirmed the pickup time and location for the morning. Soon, we were at Tray Gap and we said goodbye to Ron - the lady hiker headed downhill while I continued uphill. The climb wasn't too bad (lots of switchbacks, for once) and I was pleasantly surprised at the huge number of view points. It was overcast but the visibility was good enough to see lots of cool scenery: Hiawassee, flat lands to the south and Powell Mountain (where I climbed yesterday - it was actually covered with clouds). Passed a family of four, heading south, and soon started to hear some loud voices below me to the north. When I caught up to the pair of older guys making the racket, I saw they were about 50 yards apart, carrying on a conversation! I asked them if anything was wrong and they replied that they didn't want to descend all the way down the other side of the mountain (because they'd have to climb up again). They asked me how far the shelter was - I didn't know, but had noticed it was in the vicinity of a mile from the summit. That was apparently too far for them and the reversed course. After that, I was alone for several hours and, like yesterday, it was eerily quiet. The sun peaked out a few times but it was cloudy all day. A light breeze kept me cool and made the series of short roller coaster hills for this part of the hike more bearable - I was in a short sleeved shirt all day. There weren't too many landmarks nearby so I had to keep watching out for clues to the location where I'd turned around yesterday (1 mile south of Sassafras Gap) - fortunately, I recognized the place again! Nearby, there was actually a signpost (someone had stolen the sign itself) that would have made an excellent marker but I'd somehow missed it the day before. Started back towards the car and immediately got views of Tray Mountain in the distance... At around 4500 feet, it was a formidable sight and I started dreading having to climb it again since there really hadn't been any switchbacks recently - leaves were needed to block my view! But, somehow, I trudged and plodded my way all the way back up the hill, encountering only three people: a solo backpacker guy who seemed to enjoy correcting my hiking math ("you *only* walked six miles") and a young couple leaving the AT at the Shelter (for the night). Back on the summit, however, I started to see huge numbers of day hikers - it was crowded up there (and the parking lot explained why)! When I got my views again from the top of the tallest mountain I've climbed this week, I breathed a sigh of relief and started down towards my car with some extra pep in my step. Didn't see anyone else until I'd almost finished - a young Asian couple, who didn't seem to speak much English, enthusiastically wished me a "Happy Thanksgiving!" but said little else. Finished my day just after 1600, having hiked more than 12.5 miles. The drive back to town (including a second transit of the creek!) was uneventful.  Mollie called me when I was hiking and then we played phone tag for a few hours in the evening - when I finally talked to her, she said she was just checking on me to find out how my trip was going.  I ate dinner at Taco Bell in Hiawassee (1810) and relaxed in my room for the rest of the evening. Gearing up for my longest section of the trip tomorrow - wish me luck! AT Today = 6.70 miles / G.T. AT = 1512.16 miles