Sunday, June 2, 2013

Completing the Duncan Ridge Trail

The DRT lives up to its reputation for being the most strenuous trail in Georgia.
Year I made hiking the Duncan Ridge Trail my New Years resolution =  2012
Number of previous trips hiking sections of the the DRT = 3
Number of times the guidebook uses the word "strenuous" to describe the DRT = 5

Total number of other cars in the parking lot = 0
Ratio of turtle to human encounters on the trail, 1:0
Number of exciting flowers seen = 0
This turtle is the only other creature crazy enough to be out on the DRT in stormy weather like this.
Percentage of time not raining = 35%
Seconds between lightening flashes and thunder during the worst of the storm = 2
Minutes spent questioning the sanity of being on a trail with the word "ridge" in its name during a storm = 25
Minutes spent imagining all the other wonderful trails with pretty flowers I'd rather be on =  124.
Minutes spent doubting whether I would actually finish the DRT = 1 1/2

Total miles hiked to finally complete the DRT = 15.8
How come the lightening always seems to get worse when I neared the top of a mountain?
The route:
Parked at GA 60 at Little Skeenah Creek, hiked north on the Duncan Ridge Trail Section 2 (sharing tread with the BMT), climbed Wallalah Mtn, Licklog Mtn, Rhodes Mtn, took a right to follow the DRT, then continued over Gregory Knob, and Payne Knob to Fish Gap.  Then turned around and retraced my steps back to my car.

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