TRAIL DAY 9
Mon, Feb 29, 2016 I didn’t think of it at all on the trail at the time. . .but it was LEAP YEAR!
There are customary or fashionable start times in the south adding to the pressure on facilities: March 1st; March 17th (Saint Patty’s Day); April 1st (really!) and, if you’re a superhero, May 1st. But this year, there was another famous date for reasons that escape me – superstition? – uniqueness? – infrequency? FEBRUARY 29th!
The famous start dates inaugurate what is known as “The Bubble” – the mass of people traveling forward behind early starters like me like a cloud or storm rising up in the now-warmer south about to clash with the colder front up ahead and cause all kinds of havoc. Can’t say I ever felt the havoc but did get passed by many – by everybody – along the way.
As probably the oldest hiker on the trail, I would say to anyone whom I left behind at a shelter or campsite, “I’ll see you later – everybody passes me.”
The Appalachian Trail Conservancy set up a program in 2015, I think, for voluntary registration without fee in order to keep track of who started when and where. A goal of theirs is to try to spread out the starts and the direction of travel in order to take some of the pressure off the trail and shelters by all the NOBOs starting around the same time in the south.
Alternatives that are encouraged are to start in the north later, or really anytime. People who want a little more solitude might opt for this. Another is to start anywhere, perhaps at Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia and hike either direction and then return to hike the other direction, called a flipflop.
I had made a note to myself to call the publisher of the brief I had written before departing south to check on format, citations, table of contents, etc. so it could be filed and served. I made that call on this day that comes only every four years. I can almost see the trees around me when I called just before a short descent.
Business accomplished, I moved on toward Helen, Georgia for a night off the trail and resupply.
Before long I was at Georgia Route 75 where a shuttle operator had left his card in a plastic ziplock bag with numbers to call for a ride. I called and Theo and I waited by the road for driver Wayne to pick us up and take us into the small town. It was another sunny, spring-like day.
Wayne pointed out places of interest as he drove to a lot behind a row of shops on the main drag and parked. We chatted a little and he suggested an area where he thought I could find a place to stay. Wayne then showed me a hunting knife he was proud to have and we parted.
It was time for lunch and we were right near La Cabana Mexican with seating outside. I chose a table looking out over the parking area to a park on the banks of the Chattahoochee River.
Now if a name like that doesn’t tell you what region of the country you’re in, only a persistent accent will.
The waiter came and I ordered up a lot of food which I shared with my hiking companion.
My cell phone needed to be charged so I went inside to see if I could plug it in and as I was looking for an outlet behind an unused cash register station a waiter came by and I told him my need. He said he could find an outlet for me. It wasn’t until I was back on the trail and noted that my pictures were fuzzy that I found the glass covering the camera lens was smashed. It had happened at the restaurant and was just a fact of life that I had to accept but it set in motion a chain of events that would not resolve entirely for a year and a half.
It would not be until April 6th in Erwin, Tennessee that, under warranty, I would receive a remanufactured phone, a single chapter of a long story of incidental tribulation on the trail.
I settled with the waiter, slung my backpack on as I would so many, many times to come and headed off in the direction Wayne had pointed me. There was a Visitors Center there and I inquired within where to stay. I got a room nearby and went for a walk along a path at the end of the parking area.
I remember walking along the main drag past some geese who even at a pretty good distance away got all excited about Theo. I did some shopping and returned past more frantic squawking to my room. Near the motel was a large building that seemed unoccupied but behind it was a restaurant where I would have supper followed by a shower, bed and dreams.
Day #9 Blue Mountain Shelter > GA 75 (Helen) 2.4 miles