It was yet another cold start to our day. We were dropped off at Unicoi gap. We pulled up and saw several hikers getting ready to set sail for the day. I saw Jake, who I walked with the night before. He was facing the street and not the trail. He didn’t look well at all. I asked him if he wanted a ride into town with my pops. He said he already called someone and was waiting for them to arrive. He said his feet were in bad shape. Especially one. It was black, blue and red,

Our game plan for the day was to hike from Neel Gap to Unicoi Gap. A total of 21 miles. A big day for us for sure. At Neel Gap is Mountain Crossings. The outdoor outfitter / hostel we checked out briefly the night before when we finished our hike. There were quite a few hikers there. Some stayed in the hostel, others rented cabins down the road, and some slept in tents. It was a cold night for those who slept in tents we heard. We snapped a few photos from the back stone deck area of

Another cold start to our day. Game plan: 12 miles from Woody Gap to Neel Gap. Our drive from the cabin to our drop off point was beautiful. We traveled down windy roads through green pastures and farmland with sights again of frozen mountain tops in the distance. We arrived at Woody Gap. There was trail magic still being offered by the Yellow Deli. We assumed they were out there all night as they were in the same spot we saw them in the day before. We were well rested, and both had a good size breakfast, so

On our way to our starting point for the day we noticed the mountain tops were frosted with ice in the distance. We started our hike where we left off the day before at Hightower Gap. We pulled up and there were several people curled up in blankets on the side of the dirt road we recognized from the shelter from the night before. They looked really cold. We got out and offered them a seat in my dads truck to warm up for a bit. Several did. We took off into the woods. It was in the

We’re doing what’s called “slack packing” all of Georgia. It’s where you hike with a lighter pack with just food and water and have someone pick you up and drop you off at the trail each day. We have a cabin In the north GA mountains within about an hours drive to every part of the trail throughout GA. We said our good byes to cousin Pam and my brother and sister law Jodie, hopped in the truck with my dad and headed back to Springer Mntn. to get started. We walked up to the trailhead and saw

This day was an epic day. Not epic in miles hiked, calories burned, steps taken or even sights seen. It was epic because my family was there as a embarked on a ~2200 mile hike on the Appalachian Trail (AT) from Georgia to Maine. My Dad and Mom, brother (Wade), sister in law (Jodie), niece (Jadyn), nephew (Skyler), cousin (Pam) and cousin in law (Larry) all trekked up to the top of Springer mountain. Larry, also hiking the trail, and I signed in on the hiker log book. There were some 400+ people who already started ahead of