Woody Gap and the AT

I decided to wait until after I had been up for awhile this morning to see if my legs were too sore from the 12 miles yesterday to do any hiking (and they have to be really sore for me to pass). I was a bit surprised to find that other than some initial stiffness getting out of bed (which at 51 is a fact of life), I was actually not sore at all, unlike yesterday before the hike (attributable to a long hike on concrete in bad shoes). I got out 50 Hikes in the North Georgia Mountains by Johnny Molloy, a Chirstmas present from my family. I decided to drive to Woody Gap, a fairly easy trip from Atlanta, and to hike as far as felt like North on the AT toward Blood Mountain (6.0 mi, Climb: ****, Terrain: ***, Interest: ****).

This is a breathtaking section of the AT (because of the view, and the wind chill today which was in the teens), with a total climb both ways of just over 1,300 feet. There is one particular vista where the trail comes out on a huge rock outcropping (GPS N34 41.230 W83 59.645) , which affords a 200 degree unobstructed view to the East, made all the better by a crystal clear day.

The trail was heavily covered in fallen leaves in certain sections, obscuring the rocks and roots below, thus making walking upright a challenging. My mind wondered off to the fact that God knows the number of those leaves, which in turn recalled a minor incident from Saturday.

I had my oldest nephews and niece over to spend the night and have a wii fest (S. age 13, C. age 11, and M. age 8). On Saturday afternoon, I took them to the Jones Bridge Park to show them one of the “secret trails” in the woods near my house. On the way back, we walked by a stream with a bank about 5 feet high, and we all marveled at the interesting pattern the recent rains had made in the soft sand in the streambed. S., a bit of a science nerd like his Uncle, studied the sand pattern, while at the same time, C., suddenly jumped off the bank, imbedding his shoes and feet in the soft sand. This prompted me to speak somewhat sharply to C. about such an impulsive act.

It seems that C. needs to experience God’s great creation by actually experiencing it, in contrast to my having spent most of my life just studying it. I guess this partially explains my sudden interest in hiking, because I am now experiencing first hand what I have heretofore only studied from a safe distance. I now regret speaking sharply to C., as it seems he is years ahead of me!