Appalachian Trail 2019, Day 8: Tray Mountain Shelter to Dick's Creek Gap

Day eight was the last one - a push from Tray Mountain Shelter over Kelly Knob to Dick's Creek Gap, where eight days and eighty miles on the Appalachian Trail would officially wrap up. Watch the video below, then read on for the details.

A Crowded Night at Tray Mountain Shelter

Out of Tray Mountain Shelter by 7:10am after a genuinely nice sunrise over the mountains, but honestly, ready to get moving and find some civilization. The shelter itself had felt like a lesser-used one at first - not many hikers around through the five or six o'clock hour - but by eight or nine that changed fast, as a wave of people rolled in. The likely explanation: a gap with a parking lot sits close by, so it seemed like folks were showing up after work for a Memorial Day weekend backpacking trip with their families. It didn't feel overly crowded, but apparently a picky group or two were still hunting for a spot as late as 11pm.

Beard Check, Day Eight

The big one: today was the day off trail, exactly as planned - eight days to Dick's Creek Gap, and with high confidence of getting there, that would mean roughly 80 miles under the belt and eight days of hard-earned hiking experience banked.

The Trail Diet, One Last Time

The usual oatmeal with dried cherries and protein powder for breakfast, trail mix around 11am, then almond butter on a tortilla with dried fruit and apple slices for lunch around 12:30. Mid-afternoon brought more trail mix and a Snickers bar, and dinner - eaten a little early at 5pm - was a Mountain House spaghetti with meat sauce. Pretty consistent nutrition day to day, and while it never felt like weight was dropping, climbing and descending mountains for hours a day on probably under 2,500 calories made it likely there'd be a surprise on the scale back home.

Kelly Knob: The Toughest Climb of the Trip

After passing Sassafras Gap and another small gap, the trail turned uphill for Kelly Knob - a little less than a mile according to the guidebook, but gaining 822 feet in that stretch. Braced for it to be grueling, with just the right amount of water fueled up beforehand (about a liter, no more, no less). The trail itself turned out smooth and non-technical, but steep enough that it edged out even Blood Mountain as the toughest cardio challenge of the whole trip, if only because Blood Mountain had more distance to spread the climb over. Drenched in sweat by the top, but glad the pre-climb snack hadn't been skipped - that fuel made the difference getting up it.

The Final Miles to Dick's Creek Gap

A ridgeline walk followed Kelly Knob, with about 4.2 miles left to Dick's Creek Gap and the wildflowers going absolutely crazy for May in the mountains. The trail settled into a gradual descent from there, and road noise became audible with roughly a mile to go - a welcome sound, with a proper shower, a real meal, and just feeling clean again suddenly feeling very close. Reaching Dick's Creek Gap wrapped the section hike up in style: eight days, 80 miles, done.

Getting Home

With no shuttle able to be arranged in advance - most of the local hiking shuttles really only run during the March/April peak season for northbound thru-hikers - the plan was to hitch into Hiawassee from the gap and stay the night at the Hiawassee Budget Inn. From there, a shuttle to Gainesville, Georgia the next morning, a Greyhound bus from Gainesville to Atlanta, and finally the MARTA train out to the Atlanta airport to fly home. A fitting, low-key way to close out eight days on the Appalachian Trail.