Had a great time spending New Years on top of Springer. I was running later than I wanted and knew I would be the last one there on Monday. When I pulled into the lot all the cars there had Fla tags so no Ga hangers insight. I put on my pack and headed to the top. About half way up it started to get foggy and by the time I got set up at dark it was like being in a cloud. Even though I set up on the leeward side of the ridge the wind was really strong and the temps dropped so things started to freeze.
About 7:00 I snuggled down in the hammock to read and the next thing I knew it was 1:45 and nature was calling. In the morning I hiked to the summit to check out the views and take a look at the trail register.
First white blaze in Ga
Meet Doug and Hawk, the first through hikers of the year. Hawk was on his third through hike and walked to Springer from Pa. Doug just got out of the Army and watched a Nat Geo special on the AT and thought it would be fun so the next week he headed to Ga to start the stroll to Maine.
Headed back to camp to have lunch and read some more. The new Ox Palace tarp worked great. I could sit in the vestibule and cook out of the wind.
There was plenty of room inside to escape the elements.
Old4hats made his appearance about lunch time and I was glad to see him. Even though we were the only hangers to show up it was still a great time. Old4hats set up his new tree shelf and we had some coffee to ward off the chill. Gotta get one of those things, they work really well. Just before dark Joan West and her friend Sue stopped by to say hello as they were doing the Ga loop and staying not too far away.
Some time after 7:00 we headed to our hammocks and were going to meet back in awhile but we both fell asleep and missed ringing in the New Year. We had a leisurely morning and hiked out to our cars. Saw quite a few folks hiking up to the top to enjoy a nice New Years day. It was a great way to spend the start of a new year and I'm already to do it again.
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