Appalachian Trail - Day 005 - Tray Mt Shelter Turn-Off to Dick's Creek Gap (then shuttle to Hiawassee)

 Day: 005

Date: Saturday, 29 April 2023

Start:  Tray Mt Shelter Turn/off (AT Mile 58.1)

Finish:  Dick’s Creek Gap (AT Mile 69.2) then shuttle to Hiawassee

Daily Kilometres:  18.2

GPX Track:  Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos

Total Kilometres:  119.3

Weather:  Mostly warm and sunny.

Accommodation:  Motel

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Trail mix/Energy bars

  Lunch:  Trail mix

  Dinner:  Burgers & chips, ice-cream.

Aches:  Dave - too many niggles to mention plus very tired; Julie - nothing to report.

Highlight:  Arriving at Dick’s Creek Gap right on 2:00pm, by pure accident, to find the free Hiawassee shuttle for hikers, which is not supposed to run on weekends, about to leave for town.  We virtually hiked straight onto the minibus, the only hikers on board, and were driven directly to our booked motel, 11 miles away.  Sweet!

Lowlight:  Maybe a taste of things to come, the endless climb up to Kelly Knob (4,144’) in warm humid conditions with the sweat pouring off, was not much fun.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We were camped high on a broad ridge moderately covered with deciduous trees just starting to get their spring foliage, so it was easy to see some distance to the surrounding mountains.  Surprisingly, at night, on one of those nighttime excursions, there were also lights twinkling in many places in the distance as well, testament to the fact that though we have been passing through successive wilderness areas, we are never that far from the populated part of the US east coast.

Our location also meant that it was quite light when we woke at 6:30am to clear skies and a steady breeze which, unfortunately, was not strong enough to dry the heavy dew on our flysheet, so another day of carrying some wet gear.

As we began our day’s hiking at 7:45am, looking forward to a shower and bed tonight, we met a hiker coming the other way to retrieve the trekking poles he had left at his nearby campsite when making an earlier start.  After some lovely hiking, which included some welcome downhill, but also a stiff climb, he caught us while we were taking our “breakfast”  break around 10:00am in a beautiful sunlit saddle.  Todd was friendly and we had a brief chat before he continued on.  We saw him a number of more times during the day.  Maybe he regretted meeting us because, with a pack half the size and weight of ours (he was only out for a two-day/one-night hike), Julie was easily outpacing him, especially up the hills.  With me dragging the chain and hiking slightly slower than Todd, Julie would wait for me then, once I had caught up, go on ahead and catch Todd, have a brief chat, during which time he would always offer to let her pass.  She would decline and sit down and wait for me to catch up, then the process would be repeated.

On one of their brief chats, Todd very kindly offered to give us a lift from Dick’s Creek Gap, where he had parked a car, to Hiawassee if we arrived at much the same time.  The last time we saw Todd was at our lunch break, just before the lovely long descent to the Gap through sun-dappled forest and glades, when he told us where to wait for him if we needed a lift.

As it turned out, we got a ride immediately into town (see above) so Todd’s generosity was not needed.

We reached our very “budget” motel in Hiawassee, a small town in the hills, around 2:20pm and were able to check in to our half-price (honeymoon?) cabin with its spa bath and king size bed (but no TV!).  First order of business was to purchase some cold Cokes and chips from the adjacent service station then much needed showers (we were both “ripe”), followed by laundry and admin/social media.

Dinner was from a nearby fast food joint.  Looking forward to a day off tomorrow.