Day 14

Took taxi back to Unicoi Gap for morning climb of 1000 ft in 2 miles. Over Rocky Mtn.  And on to cheese factory campground.  I'll look for ruins tomorrow.  Supposed to be site of a cheese factory in 1800's View from top of Rocky Mtn  Rained in afternoon 

Day 13

Down in the twenties overnight on Blue Mountain So I was pretty cold until the gusting winds settled down in the middle of the night.  The Blue Mountain is aptly named from this blue mans perspective. Walked down to Unicoi Gap and C & G gave me ride and visit in Helen for dinner shower laundry etcrugged trail from today and yesterday afternoon ice still on trail in afternoon 

Day 12

Rained overnight. Showed to be gentle grades from Poplar Stamp Gap to Blue Mountain Shelter.   In am followed old logging roads and afternoon some tuffer walking  Following old logging roads And tunnels of mountain laurel and rhododendrons  Pretty vistas but afternoon on the western sides of ridges with 25 mph plus gusting winds all way to Blue Mountain. 

Day 11

Cloudy and foggy this morning.  Left camp late.  Walked in clouds for most of the morning.  Beautiful sunny day in the afternoon.  Walked from Poor Mountain to Poplar Stamp Gap.  Stopped at Low Gap Shelter for lunch, water and visited w other hikers.  Short day but will give me time to blog recharge batteries, gear check and reasonable hikes tomorrow n Sunday Several interesting trees today I saw first birch trees yesterday on climb out from Neal Gap.  Not found in Georgia except for higher elevations in the mountains.  

Day10

Stayed overnight last Night at hostel. Walked from Neal Gap to Poor  mountain.  Abt 9 miles.   Here is picture of outfitter store. Hostel underneath to the left.  I think was built by CCC. Several pretty vistas of surrounding countryside  Late dinner after long day and straight to bed 

Day 9

Rain over night at Wood's Hole.  Fog, drizzle and windy leaving Woods Hole north for Blood Mountain.  All three overnight occupants of Woods Hole elected to take the Freeman Trail around Mountain rather than over the mountain for safety concerns as northern descent would be windy, wet and has some steep rock outcrops that would be difficult under the weather condition.   Here is trail and fog clearing on north side of Blood Mtn approaching Neal Gap Arrived Neal Gap 80 % of Thru Hikers abandon their trip here.  I'll head north in the morning.  Many trees are bent over and re-root as signposts marked trails by Indians and early settlers.  But I never saw on looked like two trees grafted?   

Day 8

Left Lance Creek and heading to Blood Mtn. Was a gradual climb of about 1500 feet.  Supposed to rain tonight so I sleep in Woods Hole shelter dedicated to Roy and  Tillie Wood of Roswell Ga for their service to Appalachian Trail Hikers.  The shelter is typical although a little smaller than some.  Nice quiete location. Appalachian Mountain Drive through!   I stop on a log or rock outcrop like this and eat lunch!  🍰 Note the old logging road running from front left to rear center going down the mountain  Sorry about irregular posts.  But maybe   Internet service is good on peaks. And camping - shelters are on the gaps between.   Which is best time for me to post is in the evening after dinner.   Thanks to everyone who contributed to purchase of my new phone it works great!😎 Tomorrow after rain I hope to crest Blood Mountain. - one of tallest mountains in Ga. 4500 ft.  Site of battle between Creek and Cherokee Indians .  Then down to Walasi-yi hostel or Blood Mountain lodge for a night 

Day 7

Back up Woody Gap to Lance Creek.  Lots of families w kids and dogs hiking up to see "Preacher's Rock". The rock supposedly named because a young minister came here on Saturday's to practice his sermons.   Is about 1000 foot elevation change to get here from Woody Gap so he must have been in real need of a quiet space for practice.  Or he maybe he also came for some inspiration from God.  Quiete a view. The 15 to 25 mph wind from last week has finally died down.  And now that I am further from trailhead very few people and quiete. The President's Day holiday group left behind.  Except for one jogger.  He ran by and back again on his return trip.  I would loved to have stopped him to ask if he ran up Blood Mtn and back.  He wasn't breathing hard or sweating.  After him. The only sounds in the woods are the sound of my poles occasionally hitting a rock.  Four tent pads at Lance Creek.  There were at least fourteen people there.  Many were sleeping in hammocks. Good group to visit with.  Two guys from Marietta, one ATLANTA and two from West Palm Beach. And we had lively evening conversation 

Day 6

Finds me taking cab to Holiday Inn Express for zero day and dry out. Claire and George came up for dinner take home some things to lighten my pack. And re supply food. 

Day 5

Pretty much rain all day. Seven miles gradual 1000 ft elevation change to Woody Gap.  Several hills and small peaks. Rained over night.  

Day 4

Had a long day.  Went over Sassafrass Mountain and Justus Mountain abt 1000 ft climb each and couple of other smaller hills for 6,5 mile day. Lots of pretty views. Started say w sunrise from Hawk Mtn and nice view of the world famous Gumby tree 

Day 3 Justus Shelter, GA

From Lee: Had cold dinner because I arrived late. Three other guys. Two in their 20s /30s one is from France. Not sure abt the other guy. one in 50s from Saratoga. We will all set out tomorrow for Woodys Gap. I will be last. They are all faster than me. It is relatively easy grade. But we all agree after today, we'll have to see if we can get out of bed tomorrow. None of us are sure we will be able to walk.

Day 1: Februaary 15, 2017 from Springer Mtn.

Thank you for your comments, prayers, and generous donations to Lee's attempt to hike the AT to Maine!  It's great encouragement each day to Lee to know you are checking on his progress and wishing/praying that he can continue! The following pictures are from Day 1, Feb. 15, 2017 when Lee and I hiked from the Springer Mtn. parking lot where he posed in front of the sign.  We then hiked 1 mile SOUTH to the southern terminus of the AT where I took the rest of the pictures. We then hiked 1 mile  back---NORTH on the AT which brought us back to the parking lot. We had a snack and water break and Lee headed to the right of this sign towards NC and I returned to Amicalola Falls and to Atlanta.  He then hiked about 3 miles more to Hawk Mtn. and spent the night in a shelter.

Day two.

Here's three photos from Thursday's hike from Stover Creek to Hawk Mtn shelters. The trail was good except last couple of miles were steady uphill. I found out the 3000 foot heights are harder for me than similar grades in ATL.  See the big tree with the den hole.  The tree was at least 4 ft diameter. So potentially a very large mammal is sleeping is hibernating there.  I did not go look.

February 14, 2019

Double W blog

My adventure for 2017 is in memory of my father and son – William C. Olson and William K. Olson.  They were both remarkable men.  During their 90 and 25 years on this earth they endured four bouts of cancer, three plane crashes, heart problems, hearing loss, vision loss, a broken back, loss of childhood dreams, stem cell transplant – just to name a few things life threw at them - and they never failed to learn/try something new, do something nice for someone else, and make you smile every day.

They set examples as leaders in sports, Boy Scouts, friendship, academics, sustainability, stewardship, perseverance, tenacity and spirituality. 

I had hiked the lower 300 miles of the AT as a young man with my dad.  And it was always a dream of his to do a through hike of the Appalachian Trail, the AT.  A through hike is from end to end of the AT---from the North Georgia mountains to Mt. Katahdin, Maine (or the reverse).   So, it is in their spirit that I am setting off on my journey with a 45 pound backpack full of my food, tent, water, fuel, clothes, sleeping bag…everything I’ll need to survive in the woods.  My trip begins in mid-February and I hope to finish before October’s snow falls in Maine. 

As part of this journey, I hope to raise money for the Rally Foundation which gives 93 cents of every dollar to find cures for childhood cancer.  I hope to hike the 2100+ miles with your thoughts, prayers and Rally pennies, nickels, dimes or dollars for every mile--or day-- I hike in memory of my favorite Williams!  Your donation of any size makes a difference in what Rally can fund.  The Rally Foundation originated in 2005 in honor of my son, William, and since its humble beginnings in a prayer circle, Rally has donated    $9,000,000   across the US to improve childhood cancer survival.  You can find out more about donating at the following link: Rally Foundation

I value you positive thoughts and prayers for my health and safety as I go on leave from a great career to pursue a passion to hike the AT.  I'll look forward to your blog comments as I reflect on the AT's joys and challenges.  "The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step." Lao Tzu--- so I will try to step out with both feet to cover over 2,000 miles!