Georgia-AT-September

[Kilted Cleric]

Making plans for doing a section in september. Probably going to have 3 nights and four days. Dropping the kids off with my folks in Blairsville. What section would you all do?

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[TrailSlug]

I'd start at the beginning including the approach trail but I'm OCD like that

[Rockdawg69]

Does not much matter. GA is pretty much all up or down. You might want to check the need for a bear canister if you decide to hike around the Blood Mountain area. I think there was a USFS requirement in that area. Might still be in effect. Also, will you need a shuttle to get back to your vehicle? That could dictate a start and stop point that is convenient for you.

[Clisbyclark]

If it were me, since both my parents like an excuse to drive in the mountains, I would ask them to meet me at Amicoloa, buy them a meal at the Lodge for their trouble, kiss the kids goodbye, then have one parent drive my car and kids back to Blairsville (the other, obviously driving back alone in the car he drove down). Then I would start hiking north on the AT. I would take the detour to the Len Foote Hike Inn. Even if you don't $$$tay there, it's a neat place to see. Whenever I got cell service on my third day, I would touch base with the parents and let them know approximately where and when to meet the next day, verifying as I got closer. Personally, other than the Hike Inn part, the Approach Trail is one of my least favorite trails in GA, but it would be much easier for parents to meet at ASP as opposed to Springer, plus the lodge is a very good meal. It's pretty easy to avoid camping in the Bear Can area around Blood, but do read up on it and know where and when the restrictions apply. Have a great hike!

[gunner76]

Last I checked the bear canister is only needed for a very short stretch if you spending the night, not just hiking thu it. GA AT Club is very good place to check on this.

[sidneyhornblower]

Making plans for doing a section in september. Probably going to have 3 nights and four days. Dropping the kids off with my folks in Blairsville. What section would you all do?

Clisbyclark has a good idea if you can arrange it. The Len Foote Inn is a cool stop. The bear can requirement is (I think) March 1 to June 1 from roughly Jarrard Gap to somewhere north of Neel Gap, basically the Blood Mountain Wilderness Area. It won't affect you in September.

If you're unable to arrange a shuttle and want a fixed point to return to, maybe try the Byron Reece Trailhead? It's located between Neel Gap and Vogel State Park and parking is free. It fills up on weekends, so arrive early. From the parking lot it's a .7 mile hike to reach the AT. At that point, you can turn right, walking south on the AT and go up and over Blood Mountain. From there, you could keep going south and split off to do the Duncan Ridge trail, Coosa trail and Bear Hair to make a loop. You could split off and do the Slaughter Creek trail, maybe looping around the Jarrard Gap trail back to the AT.

You can also skip Blood Mountain and take the Freeman trail which connects back to the AT near the path to Woods Hole Shelter and then go south on the AT for two days, turn around and come back. You could also go north on the AT and just walk an out and back section. But if I were parked at Byron Reece, I'd come up with a loop of some kind simply because there are so many trail intersections in that area.

I like Byron Reece as a starting point because of the Duncan Ridge, AT, Freeman, Coosa and even BMT possibilities. If you're willing to suffer, you could even do the Georgia Loop from Byron Reece, adding only the mileage necessary to reach the Duncan Ridge Trail, which is about 2 miles or so. Four days would be ambitious but possible depending on your hiking speed and taste for ups and downs.

[skater]

If you can't arrange a shuttle, message me. If I'm free, I'll transport you. I am NOT a shuttle driver - just a friendly local.