Springer Mountain is located in the Chattahoochee National Forest in the Blue Ridge Mountains, part of the Appalachian Mountain range, in northern Georgia. It has an elevation of about 3,782 feet. We couldn't resist taking a selfy at the impressive trailhead sign at the parking lot, which is at GPS coordinates 34.637467, -84.195317 at the end of 10 miles of gravel and dirt forest roads.
Because we are high-tailing it back to Pennsylvania, we had only today to hike up Springer Mountain, whatever the weather. It wasn't bad. Last night's heavy downpours had ended and the air temperature was in the high 50's. However, the forest was enveloped with a dense fog which eventually lifted once we reached the summit:
One lonely old sign still marks the trail as the "Appalachian Trail."
Otherwise, all we had to tell us we were on the famous path were the ubiquitous white blazes:
It wasn't long before we found a (weatherbeaten) official sign for the "Appalachian National Scenic Trail." We were relieved to read that foot traffic is welcome on it.
Within a quarter mile, we ran into several groups of through-hikers who were eagerly starting their epic journey to Mount Katahdin in Maine's Baxter State Park. We stopped and talked at some length with two -- an employee of REI's Princeton outlet who has an Instagram account with the name "Wander Woods," and three hikers from New Brunswick, the lead hiker of which has a blog titled, "The Forest Nutritionist." It was interesting that every group we met had at least one woman member, the New Brunswick group was all women, and the only two solo hikers we met were women. I think I see a pattern here.
We also encountered two families that we're spending this week on coronacation with their kids, whose schools have closed. Outdoor activity may be one of the safest ways to combat social isolation and cabin fever while still minimizing contact with COVID-19. This made us realize how grateful we are for our lifestyle.
The moist forest and ample duff and dead leaves make lots of food for the real soil-makers -- the moss, lichen and fungi:
These lichen were nearly perfectly circular -- unusual in colonies this large -- at least in our experience:
Springer Mountain also serves as the southern terminus of the Benton MacKaye Trail, which stretches nearly 300 miles through the Appalachian Mountains to Davenport Gap in the Great Smoky Mountains. It was named for Benton MacKaye, the Massachusetts forester and regional planner who first had the idea for the Appalachian Trail in 1921. As we worked our way to the summit, we had the unexpected reward of crossing the terminus of that trail, too!
After a short climb of 1 mile, we made it to the summit, where the A.T. starts, and were greeted by this plaque:
This was our lunch spot. Several through-hikers were at the summit preparing to begin their first day's trek. They would be hiking down the way we had come up, because the parking lot is north of the terminus along the trail. Kathy found a tree with character where she could prop her pack, while David continued along the opposite approach trail to look for a viewpoint for a photo of the surrounding countryside (fail):
After returning from his wild goose chase, David munched his lunch while looking at the various signs and indications, such as this plaque and the "first" white blaze on the A.T. --
-- which prompted Kathy to examine it and pose for her own photo with the landmarks:
We had a partially obscured view of the valleys below from our summit. The clouds were slowly clearing, but not quickly enough to give us a perfect view. This was all we got:
David's second wild-goose chase was to look for the USGS survey marker for the summit of Springer Mountain. Our GPS gave a general indication of its location, and because there were no leaves on the trees, we could see the terrain enough to make a guess at the location of the height of land. It was somewhere beyond these lovely daffodils:
Alas, maybe because of the heavy groundcover of leaves, David failed in his second quest as well. No survey marker. Nevertheless, we were cheered by chats with other hikers. Once we digested our lunch and exhausted conversation with others, we retraced our route back down the mountain to the parking lot, where Dusty (a little muddy) waited faithfully. Dusty had a full regalia of bikes and kayaks because we didn't want to remove them. It didn't seem to spoil Dusty's enthusiasm at having a chance to romp and play on the muddy forest roads.
Speaking of romping and playing, we had to get back to the RV to give young, rambunctious Ruby her afternoon walk. If we fail to do that any day, she is impossible on all of us (including Baxter and Flip) until she gets to go outside the next morning. Auntie Darla will know exactly what we mean.
And so ends an all-too-short stay in the Georgia Blue Ridge Mountains. We move onward to North Carolina, where it looks like we'll have a day of baking and other "logistics." We preparing a scrumptious cheese-and-garlic bread to bring to our daughter as a come-a-calling gift.
You'll get to share a taste of the bread in the next blog post. In the meantime, stay socially distant, my friends.
The moist forest and ample duff and dead leaves make lots of food for the real soil-makers -- the moss, lichen and fungi:
These lichen were nearly perfectly circular -- unusual in colonies this large -- at least in our experience:
Springer Mountain also serves as the southern terminus of the Benton MacKaye Trail, which stretches nearly 300 miles through the Appalachian Mountains to Davenport Gap in the Great Smoky Mountains. It was named for Benton MacKaye, the Massachusetts forester and regional planner who first had the idea for the Appalachian Trail in 1921. As we worked our way to the summit, we had the unexpected reward of crossing the terminus of that trail, too!
After a short climb of 1 mile, we made it to the summit, where the A.T. starts, and were greeted by this plaque:
This was our lunch spot. Several through-hikers were at the summit preparing to begin their first day's trek. They would be hiking down the way we had come up, because the parking lot is north of the terminus along the trail. Kathy found a tree with character where she could prop her pack, while David continued along the opposite approach trail to look for a viewpoint for a photo of the surrounding countryside (fail):
After returning from his wild goose chase, David munched his lunch while looking at the various signs and indications, such as this plaque and the "first" white blaze on the A.T. --
-- which prompted Kathy to examine it and pose for her own photo with the landmarks:
We had a partially obscured view of the valleys below from our summit. The clouds were slowly clearing, but not quickly enough to give us a perfect view. This was all we got:
David's second wild-goose chase was to look for the USGS survey marker for the summit of Springer Mountain. Our GPS gave a general indication of its location, and because there were no leaves on the trees, we could see the terrain enough to make a guess at the location of the height of land. It was somewhere beyond these lovely daffodils:
Alas, maybe because of the heavy groundcover of leaves, David failed in his second quest as well. No survey marker. Nevertheless, we were cheered by chats with other hikers. Once we digested our lunch and exhausted conversation with others, we retraced our route back down the mountain to the parking lot, where Dusty (a little muddy) waited faithfully. Dusty had a full regalia of bikes and kayaks because we didn't want to remove them. It didn't seem to spoil Dusty's enthusiasm at having a chance to romp and play on the muddy forest roads.
Speaking of romping and playing, we had to get back to the RV to give young, rambunctious Ruby her afternoon walk. If we fail to do that any day, she is impossible on all of us (including Baxter and Flip) until she gets to go outside the next morning. Auntie Darla will know exactly what we mean.
And so ends an all-too-short stay in the Georgia Blue Ridge Mountains. We move onward to North Carolina, where it looks like we'll have a day of baking and other "logistics." We preparing a scrumptious cheese-and-garlic bread to bring to our daughter as a come-a-calling gift.
You'll get to share a taste of the bread in the next blog post. In the meantime, stay socially distant, my friends.
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