Springer Mountain, GA

Saturday morning, Jen, Alli, and I pulled out of our driveway at 6:00am to make the 5.5 hour drive to Springer Mountain, in the Chattahoochee National Forest of Northern Georgia.  Springer Mountain is best known as the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail.  However, we were headed up to pick up two of our friends who had been thru hiking the Benton Mackaye Trail. 

Our driving directions made no mention of  FS77, and stuck us driving around the Forest Service roads for an additional 45 minutes trying to find the trail head.  If you ever want to drive to Springer, email me, and I will give you accurate directions.  Hiking options are plentiful from the trail head parking lot, where the Benton Mackaye trail and Appalachian Trail cross each other a few times.  This area of the National Forest is also well known for its mountain biking trails.  We settled on a loop trail, following the AT up to Springer's summit, and looping back around on the Benton MacKaye.

From the trail head to the summit is an easy .9 miles, if you follow the AT.  It crosses a spur trail that leads to a shelter, with pre-rigged bear hangs, an outhouse, and a spring.  Though I tend to think of myself as a pretty well rounded backpacker, this was the first time I had been on any part of the AT.  The shelter boasted some interesting graffiti, from "I love Farts", to "Smoke a doob", to "Math is Cool." Proving that the Appalachian trail appeals to all types of people.

Bear hanging station near the shelter.

AT Shelter at Springer.

The from our starting point the summit of Springer is an easy hike.  There were multiple parties on the Top, including our friends Jo Swanson (not the crippled guy from Family Guy) and Lindsay Cutting (Fiskars).

Apparently Fiskars' name needs some explanation.  Born into having a verb for a last name, Cutting, it was deemed appropriate that her nickname should be a tool for cutting, such as a pair of scissors. Fiskars stuck, and she is more well known by that name than Lindsay.

Jo collapses under the weight of her body odor.

Fiskars is dirty.

Jo and Fiskars had been thru hiking the Benton Mackaye trail which is around 280 miles long, starting in the the Northern Smokies and ending in North Georgia.  The trail passes through 3 states (GA, TN, NC) and 8 wilderness areas.  It is the original beginning of the Appalachian Trail which has since been rerouted.  Benton Mackaye himself is known as the originator of the AT.

Jo and Fiskars began their hike on November 6th, and ended on the December 1st.  I talked with Fiskars a bit about their hike, and got some feedback on the logistical info:

• 300 Miles.  This includes walking into town and general, "dicking around."

• 26 days on trail.

• 1 food cache.  Mailed to themselves at the fish hatchery near Green Cove Motel/ Trailer Camp in Tellico Plains, TN.  Not necessarily needed, but food at the general store was overpriced, and had obviously been purchased on sale at a place like WalMart, then unpackaged and resold at high mark ups. 

• They never got lost. The trail blazing is nonexistent within the National Park Boundaries of the Smokies.  It was somewhat irregular at other points, but easy to follow with a map and compass.

• Road walks were few, with only one longer stretch through a developed area.  Essentially hiking through some neighborhoods.  Fun Fact:  According to Jo, when the AT was first deemed completed, 40% of it was on roads.

• They used SGT Rock's BMT Thru Hiking Guide, and were happy with it.  It had a "pleasant inacuracy" with Big Frog Mountain being less steep than expected.  They did however have a creek crossing in the Smokies that they had to cross seven times, which was not noted in the guide.  Check out the trail guide here.

• Hiking the BMT in November is highly recommended.  They had snow in the Smokies, from Hurricane Sandy, but other than that, good weather and great viewws. The trail has many ridge walks and after the leaves have fallen there are great vistas.

• Big time solitude.  They ran into people in the Smokies on the weekends, and at Springer. Typically there were only other hikers on the sections that ran along with the AT.  They only met a couple of people out to intentionally hike the Benton Mackaye.

• Many instances of hearing wild boars in the distance at night, but they never saw one. I guess the trail is known for them.

Jo and Fiskars' photos and videos coming soon.

Top of Amicolola Falls

We camped at the trail head that night, which had a fire pit right next to the parking area.  By time it got dark only a couple of cars remained, and we would only encounter two other people the next morning.  We dropped Jo off to meet here mother at the lodge at Amicolola Falls State Park, which is about 8 miles from springer.  We hiked to the falls, and then headed back to Alabama.

 

It was a beautiful area, and got me jazzed to backpack a longer trail in the near future.  Nice work Jo and Fiskars.