Georgia On My Mind

9 Comments
Snow field at the approach to one of the passes in the Anaconda Pintler Wilderness
MAV and trail angel extraordinaire Jerry at the Montana Folk Festival in Butte

Lemme explain that title: as a SOBO (southbound) hiker on the Appalachian Trail my ultimate destination was Springer Mountain, Georgia, the southern terminus of the AT. The Ray Charles classic “Georgia On My Mind” became something of a touchstone for me on that hike and I listened to it often, day dreaming of eventually reaching the Peach state.

As you can see, less snow at elevation (9200 feet) than a month ago

As you may recall, my northbound hike of this current trail was diverted (due to snow) when I hit Ghost Ranch, New Mexico. After I “flipped” up to Canada to resume my hike southbound, my new “ultimate destination” became Ghost Ranch, which is also the former studio and home of Georgia O’Keeffe. So I’ll complete the CDT when I return to Georgia O’Keeffe and her Ghost Ranch. So once again, I’ve got Georgia on my mind.

Encountering a psychedelic  butterfly with a cheerful disposition

As I mentioned, I’ve gone back to hiking alone this stretch, hoping soon to reunite with MAV and Hammer another week or two down the trail, all things like weather and health permitting. Meanwhile, I’m making a point of enjoying these solitary days. Prior to spltting up, we had discussed making 25 miles our new benchmark for a minimum day. As it turns out, I did the 100 miles from Anaconda to the spot from which I hitchhiked in to Darby in exactly 4 days, so I’ve managed to keep that pace so far…we’ll see how that pans out.

Snow? Look again. That’s accumulated hail (bb-sized) from the third hail storm that day. I was hailed on in one hour intervals most of the afternoon.

I arrived in Darby, MT very early this morning and got lucky snagging a room tonight as the town is fully booked after today for their annual Logger Days. As I sit in the fabulous Darby public library, I’m reminded of one more quick anecdote to share from much earlier this morning. I woke up early to do the 30 mile hitchhike into town and stepped out of my tent at 4:15 am for a pee. Way off in the distance in one direction I heard my first wolf of the hike…that howl was then met with responses from at least another 4-5 wolves, all from various far off directions. It was as though they were all “checking in” after a night’s hunting before tucking in for a well-earned sleep.

Another outstanding view from a mountain pass. My “daily bread” on the trail.

Ok, so that’s all for now. Cheers from your inconsistent correspondent, Max.

9 thoughts on “Georgia On My Mind”

  2. Love your butterfly and the Georgia connection. Can’t help loving your heading back towards my home of NM. Many a day spent as a child running around near Ghost Ranch. You coincide with the Colorado Trail in Colorado, right? That’s possibly next on my list–you’ll have to tell me about trail…

    1. Amy: yep, the CDT and CT are concurrent for I think a substantial distance. And yeah, Ghost Ranch is just terrific. Thanks!

  3. Love your butterfly and the Georgia connection. Can’t help loving your heading back towards my home of NM. Many a day spent as a child running around near Ghost Ranch. You coincide with the Colorado Trail in Colorado, right? That’s possibly next on my list–you’ll have to tell me about trail…

  4. Did your pee go east or west? Loved catching up on your hike. Now I know how you got to Montana so quickly!

    1. Ha! That one will stay with me a while! Thanks Chuck, good luck with the upcoming move and welcome to the great state of Washington!

Comments are closed.