
Feature/General
Hiking the Appalachian Trail: Highs, Lows...
and Lessons
By John Kissane
March/April 2006
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Father and son - John and William Kissane
take
on the Appalachian
Trail |
As we trudged out of Hickory Flats
and began the long, gradual climb toward Hawk Mountain I was beginning
to get a little desperate. Although not yet 5:00 p.m. daylight
was receding rapidly, and William and I needed to locate a suitable
campsite so we could put up our tent and fix dinner before darkness
set in. We were both exhausted, yet to either side of the trail
I saw nothing but steep slopes, brambles and generally inhospitable
terrain. I wasn't having second thoughts about the trip, not yet
anyway, but I was more than ready to shed my pack until the next
morning. My 8 year old son was, too. Finally we found a relatively
level spot, and neither of us had to be talked into calling it
a day.
The idea for a father/son Appalachian Trail (AT) adventure came
to William and me over the course of several years. In late October
of 2000, when he was just five, William and I drove north of Helen
and camped for the night at Andrews Cove and then visited Brasstown
Bald the next morning. Autumn colors were about gone and the night
was downright frigid, but it was a special trip, just the two of
us. That Sunday morning, while driving from the campground to Brasstown
Bald, we crossed the AT at Unicoi Gap and I took the opportunity
to tell William a little about our nation's long trails which,
in addition to the AT, include the Pacific Crest and the Continental
Divide. But the AT, which had origins in the early 1920s and was
completed in 1937, is the original. And while I hadn't hiked much
in 20 years, the thought of getting back to it was a pleasant one.
Over the next few years William and I camped out several times
near our home at Kenney Ridge, in western Clarke County, and began
talking about hiking in the North Georgia mountains. The whole
family - William and me, plus my wife Amy and William's older sister,
Emma - spent a miserably wet weekend at Lake Jocassee on the North
Carolina/South Carolina line one spring, but even that didn't dampen
our enthusiasm for being outdoors.
What really got us excited was driving through the
Smoky Mountains in November of 2003, en route to Knoxville to watch
the UGA women's soccer team play a first round NCAA tournament
match. I sprang William from school around noon and we headed up
441 to Clayton and into North Carolina. The sight of endless mountains
captivated William. We entered the park and wound our way up to
Newfound Gap, where William enjoyed putting one foot each in North
Carolina and Tennessee at the same time and also noticed the AT
meandering down from Clingman's Dome several miles to the west.
We walked a mile or so on the trail that afternoon in a bitter
cold wind and, once back in the car, talked about how neat it would
be to really hike the AT. In Knoxville we saw Georgia pull out
a thrilling last minute victory over Clemson, but our time in the
mountains highlighted the trip. When we got home Amy and Emma embraced
our idea, which was to "section hike" the entire AT over the course
of the next ten or twelve years.
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Blood Mountain was
the greatest experience so far in our Appalachian Trail
hike. Once we got to the top there were so many beautiful
views and we could see mountains in every direction, even
Brasstown Bald. It was hard to leave such a wonderful place.
I hope to have many more trips like this, and maybe even
better ones on our hike on the Appalachian Trail ~
William Kissane
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Even though William and I are doing most of the hiking, this
is a family project. All four of us stayed at the Amicalola Falls
Lodge the night of March 9, 2004 and drove to the parking area
a mile from Springer Mountain the next morning. Amy and Emma accompanied
us on foot to the AT's southern terminus atop Springer and then
back down where we said our good byes. Two days later we met up
again at Woody Gap, about 20 miles along the trail. That initial
trip remains the most special to me because it was the start of
a great adventure, and I hated to stop despite the tiring first
day that ended on the approach to Hawk Mountain. Section hike #2,
from Woody Gap to Neel's Gap, was a shorter, two day outing a couple
months later. The highlight was an exciting early morning climb
up Blood Mountain, the highest point on the AT in Georgia at 4,461
feet. After that trip William and I were hooked on hiking the AT
and experiencing it together.
But our third section hike, in September of 2004, was short on
fun and long on miles. It started out well enough, with my parents
driving William and me up to Neel's Gap late one Friday afternoon.
After hiking maybe an hour we found a nice campsite near Swaim
Gap - so far, so good. We needed to cover roughly 12 miles the
next day, which seemed doable, but William and I just never got
in sync. One minute I'd be feeling fine and he'd decide his pack
needed adjustment, so we would have to stop. Fifteen
minutes later William would be cruising along and I'd feel a rock
in my boot or determine that we better stop to fill our water
bottles. When I said, "Let's go!" William said "No!" and vice versa,
all day long. And unfortunately, the beauty of our surroundings
mostly escaped us, as we grew increasingly tired, sweaty and irritable.
Somewhere near Cold Springs Gap, we found a tiny campsite just
off the trail and called it quits. But we were hardly "happy campers."
The next morning we struggled about six miles mostly through huge
poplar forests recently damaged by hurricanes. Dozens of downed
trees forced us off the trail and the going was extra tough, so
we were both very glad to meet up with Amy at Unicoi Gap and get
home to Athens.
We didn't return to the AT last spring. Bad weather
foiled us a couple times, then William suffered a minor soccer
injury and hiking on a bad ankle seemed unwise. I think, too, that
we both still had a bad taste in our mouths from the previous outing.
But early this past October we made it back up to Unicoi Gap, hoisted
our packs, and hit the trail once more. And even though we were
socked in by fog and mist the entire 48 hours, we had a great time.
It was cool but not cold, we got rained on but mostly at night,
and several of the climbs were tough, but William and I paced ourselves
just right. We got along well and agreed when to rest and when
to push on. We felt like a team once again.
Our stopping point last October was Dick's Creek Gap, putting
us within ten miles of North Carolina. So this spring we'll complete
the AT in Georgia and move into a new state - away from the Georgia
mountains and on toward the Smokies. So far we've hiked maybe 70
of the AT's 2,150 miles, so we're barely out of the starting blocks.
But we've come a long way, really. I've gained a lot of respect
for the ruggedness of the Southern Appalachians and even more for
my son who has done things I could never have managed at his age.
As William gets older we'll take longer outings, essential as we
get further from home. (And I'm holding out hope that he'll gradually
lighten the load of my pack!) Whether we actually make it all the
way to Mount Katahdin in Maine is anyone's guess, and maybe not
all that important. But right now I sure wouldn't bet against us!
John Kissane is Conservation Director with the Athens Land Trust
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