Todd's trip report (1/3/00)

I just did the section of the trail from 278 east of Piedmont to 78 just west of Heflin. The trail is laid out pretty well, but poorly maintained. There were a few places where a blaze on a tree when the trail begins to become faint or reaches a decision point would be really helpful and improve the trail a lot. Your commentary on the Augusta Mine Ridge [Section 1] area was very helpful, as it is VERY easy to get lost going east down the ridge. There's a spot about a mile before Terrapin Creek Watershed where we totally lost the trail as we entered a narrow valley before the last little climb before the watershed lake. I never figured out what exactly the trail did there. I just headed down the creek toward the lake and picked the trail back up. If we hadn't had the map, we would've been dead. The trail was covered with many leaves in most areas, making the trail hard to pick out. The fact that we didn't see one other backpacker in the five days we were on the trail didn't at all help the leaf issue. The leaves were mostly unbroken. There were many large trees on hillsides that were very difficult to get through or around. Also, much of the time when the trail was on steep hillsides, it was very narrow and tilted downhill. The weather was dry when we went, but it could be a disaster when muddy with people sliding off the trail down a steep hill. I was amazed at the isolation of the trail. The lakes of the northern section of the trail were impressive in their isolation. The mileages seemed too low in many places. Normally, I may average 2-3 mph, but there were places where it was more like 1.5 mph. The section between Choccolocco Watershed Lake and Coleman Parking Lot HAS to be more than 6 miles [Section 3, actually I think it is 6 to the forest service road another mile or so to the trailhead so it should be 7-8 miles but it is consistently uphill so it feels long]. Also, the section between Pine Glen and Lower Shoal Shelter seemed like a lot more than 5.2 miles. I think nearly all people who do a large section of this trail are going to take more days than they think they will. I've done a 70 mile section of the AT between NE GA and Wesser, NC, and the Pinhoti isn't all that much easier than the AT. The miles certainly go by a lot slower on the Pinhoti. The two shelters I saw-- Laurel and Lower Shoal-- were both in very good shape that I could tell. I stayed in Lower Shoal the last night and beside the spiders it was pretty nice. They're certainly cleaner than shelters in the Smokies. Your commentaries helped on the trip. Thanks for the site.