Cool but sunny. We headed back south to Georgia and near another section of the Pinhoti Trail, at the Bear Creek Loop trail head. A run on the loop for me, and a bike ride for Rudy - he got onto some of the adjoining trails too - neither of us saw bears. Actually a few people around for a Wednesday, at least later in the afternoon. I took a nice little stroll to check out some of the fun spring plants - a lot from Calloway Gardens that I now get to see in the 'wild', don't know most of the names though.
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| Rhododendron buds |
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| So many cute flowers with cool leaves |
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| Trout lily and periwinkle? |
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| Trillium Decepiens? |
All around, a pleasant day. Rudy, with his random loops of biking, found us another decent camp spot on a ridge and along Pinhoti again. Ate simple, but still delicious pasta and played Hand and Foot - Leslie win, and 3-13 Rudy win.
March 30
I managed to get up and out for a relatively early hike/run on Pinhoti - lots of turkey sightings! After that, a bit of town time in Elijay, then on to the Jake/Bull Mountain Trails in the Chattahoochee National Forest for some biking. We were both a little tired, but enjoyed ourselves - slowly increasing challenge level of trails! Rudy found us good dispersed camping sites near a nice little creek. Dinner was bean burritos, gaming was Hand and Foot - 2 wins for Rudy.
March 31
Storminess overnight, but a pretty morning, the sun took a while to get down to us though! A good run for me, which included some of the Georgia Death Race course - I even ran across the race director doing some flagging.
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| Jones Creek Dam Trail |
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| Jones Creek Dam |
The singletrack was pretty solid, despite rain, some of the double track more soggy, but still not terrible. Rudy spent most of the day chatting with a local who was extremely knowledgeable about the area history and ecology - he also gave us some firewood, may be desirable for a day at an aid station. We eventually headed up Winding Stair Gap road to the aid station we would be volunteering at the next day. Just a few HAM radio guys there already, otherwise we had the place to ourselves. Ate some shells and cheese and got in one exciting game of Hand and Foot - Leslie win.
April 1
Georgia Death Race! We helped out all day at 'Winding Stair Gap' aid station 47 miles in, 25 miles to go. Our aid station seemed well-manned with no one getting too bored or too overwhelmed, mostly other runners to share stories with! Cool in the morning and evening, but otherwise a gorgeous day (well, maybe a little warm for the runners.)
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| Calm before the storm |
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| Everything an ultrarunner should need |
GDR has a fairly grueling course, but most of the participants seemed to be in good spirits (as they should be, certainly advertised as a tough one!) After the last runners through, and everything was cleaned up and the rest of the aid station departed, a few volunteers from the prior aid station stopped by to see what was happening - we got some more good recommendations for North Carolina, had just a little fire, and didn't go too late into the evening. We were the only ones camping out again, nice to not have the rush of packing up and having to drive somewhere!
April 2
Nice clear morning! Rudy and I hiked up to Springer Mountain and the Southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail - unplanned bucket list type thing!
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| Older plaque |
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| Newer plaque |
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| Scenic overlook |
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| Top of Springer Mountain |
Rudy headed back to camp to get in a bike ride, and I continued running on the AT - lots of people, but it was a beautiful Sunday! 22+ miles and five hours on the feet for me! Not much else in the afternoon - garbage pick up, a little yoga, dwindling traffic. Rudy was able to cover most of the good trails in the area. We cooked some split peas and sweet potatoes (my favorite gruel) and played Hand and Foot - 1 win each.
April 3
Very stormy, so pretty much a travel day. We headed a little ways north, got in some town stuff, and ended up camping on Chatuge Lake on the border of Georgia and North Carolina. The rain was done and we got in a little stroll to an 'island' that could currently be walked to.
Ate rice and lentils, and played Hand and Foot - 2 Rudy dominations!
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