Andy Niekamp's Appalachian Trail Hike Photos - June 2 to June 21, 2000.
Davenport Gap, TN to Springer Mountain, GA - Southbound 195 miles see note

 

Greetings Family and Friends!
Here are the photos from my latest Appalachian Trail hike. I hope you enjoy them. Not all of the pictures are of the highest quality. Many of my photos didn't turn out well and could not be used. There are no pictures from the last day of my hike because the battery in my camera died.


Plaque at Springer Mtn.

  Intro - Mileage - Animals

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My Tahoe at Amicalola Falls State Park, GA. This is where I plan to end my hike. Amicalola is the Cherokee term for 'tumbling waters'.  Today my hike begins. 6/3/2000 My shuttle driver: Mike Murray of the Appalachian Trail Hiker Shuttle Service. The cost for the ride from Amicalola Falls State Park, GA to Davenport Gap, TN was $150 and took 4 hours. 6/3/2000 Salamander at Davenport Gap Shelter.  The salamander was coming in to get out of the rain! 6/3/2000 Davenport Gap Shelter. Great Smoky Mountains National Park. This shelter was upgraded recently. Note the new skylight, porch and outside cooking area. The original shelter was built in the 1930's. My hike today was only .9 miles but I carried a case of beer with me to share with the other hikers. 6/4/2000
Mt. Cammerer Firetower.  On a side trail. The day was much too foggy for any views. I am told the views are outstanding on a clear day. 6/4/2000 Andy sitting in Mt. Cammerer Firetower. A great place for a break! 6/4/2000 Rhododendron in bloom. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park has more varieties of trees and shrubs within its boundaries than can be found in all of Europe. 6/4/2000 Trail signage. 6/4/2000
Military aircraft wreckage part at Cosby Knob Shelter. The plane crashed in the 1980's and the two people on board were killed. Many parts of the wreckage are still visible from the Trail and side trails. 6/4/2000 The view from the Trail between Cosby Shelter and Tricorner Shelter. 6/5/2000 The clouds cleared for a few minutes! The view from the Trail between Cosby Shelter and Tricorner Shelter. Notice the dead fir and spruce trees. Most of the fir and spruce trees in the Smoky Mountains have been wiped out from air pollution and by the balsam wooly adelgid (beetle). 6/5/2000 The clouds cleared for a few minutes! The view from the AT between Cosby Shelter and Tricorner Shelter. The rest of the day was cold, rainy, windy and foggy. 6/5/2000
Andy leaving Tricorner Knob Shelter for another day of cold, rainy, windy and foggy hiking. 6/6/2000 Foggy trail. Hiking in the fog is a neat and mysterious experience. 6/6/2000 Tod 'Six Cents' Phelps meets me on the trail. Here is the turn off for Charlie's Bunion. The sign says 'Warning - Climbing on Rocks is Hazardous - Stay on Constructed Trail - Closely Control Children'. 6/6/2000 Six Cents at Icewater Spring Shelter. Six Cents brought me some beer and fast food. However, I was too tired and cold from hiking in the rain all day to enjoy most of it. 6/6/2000
Mike 'Dataman' Maieli in Icewater Spring Shelter. This was the third night I spent with Dataman. He is from Raleigh, NC and works for IBM as a project manager in the Personal Computer Division. He organized a backpacking trip for six people. He is the only person who stuck with the hike. Three dropped out before the hike and two dropped out after the first night. 6/6/2000 The view from Charlie's Bunion. It is beautiful today. The bad weather left and the sky was blue. We back tracked on the trail to see the view from Charlie's Bunion. Today I got sunburned. Yesterday I was fighting off hypothermia. That is life on the Trail. 6/7/2000 Another view from Charlie's Bunion. 6/7/2000 The Three Amigos. Dataman, Captain Blue, Six Cents at Icewater Spring Shelter. 6/7/2000
View from Icewater Spring Shelter. 6/7/2000 Dataman and Captain Blue at Icewater Spring Shelter. 6/7/2000 Dataman on the Trail between Icewater Spring Shelter and Newfound Gap. 6/7/2000 The view from the Trail between Icewater Spring Shelter and Newfound Gap. Note Newfound Gap Road in the distance. 6/7/2000
Andy at Newfound Gap. The sign says 'First Amendment Expression Area'. Newfound Gap is where President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated the park. 6/7/2000 Tod Phelps at the top of Clingman's Dome Observation Tower. The elevation is 6,643 feet above sea level. This is the highest point on the Appalachian Trail. Notice all the dead fir and spruce trees. 6/7/2000 View from Clingman's Dome. Above 5,800 feet in elevation you will find only evergreen trees. 6/7/2007 View from Thunderhead Mountain. 6/8/2000
The bear at Spence Field Shelter. The bear is eating food and trash that some careless hiker left behind. 6/8/2000 The bear at Spence Field Shelter. Looking for more food. 6/8/2000 A close-up of the bear. There is a chain link fence between the bear and me. 6/8/2000 Andy up Shuckstack Firetower. It is all downhill from here to Fontana Dam! 6/9/2000
Fontana Dam. A Tennessee Valley Authority project. The highest Dam east of the Mississippi River. Almost 480 feet high. I am out of the Smoky Mountains. Tonight I will go into Fontana Village to pick up my resupply package from the post office. I will stay in a lodge room, take a shower, do laundry and eat in a restaurant. 6/9/2000 Flame Azaleas 6/11/2000 Cable Gap Shelter. The next six miles southbound from here felt more like twelve miles! There were lots of ups and downs. 6/11/2000 Rocky Trail. My trekking poles were very useful on this type of trail. 6/11/2000
Garter Snake on the Trail. 6/11/2000 Andy 'Captain Blue' Niekamp. The wires around my neck were from the Walkman radio I was using. The radio reception was usually excellent up on the mountain peaks. 6/11/2000 Stecoah Gap 6/11/2000 Sunset from Cheoah Bald. Elevation: 5,062 feet. 6/11/2000
Sunset from Cheoah Bald 6/11/2000 My camp at Cheoh Bald. Cheoah is the Indian word for 'otter's place'. 6/12/2000 Spring at Sassafras Gap Shelter. 6/12/2000 Deep Creek Campground - Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Mike and Nick Miller met me at the road crossing in Wesser, NC and took me off the trail for two nights. This is our campsite which is near Bryson City, NC. 6/13/2000
Deep Creek Campground. Mike and Nick Miller from Germantown, Ohio. 6/13/2000 Tubing down Deep Creek. Inner-tube rental was $2 per day. 6/13/2000 Nick Miller tubing down Deep Creek. 6/13/2000 Mike and Nick Miller tubing down Deep Creek. The water is colder than it looks! 6/13/2000
Mike Miller around the campfire. We emptied a lot of beer cans and ate a lot of food the two days I was off the trail. 6/13/2000 View from Wayah Bald. Mike, Nick and I drove up to the Wayah Bald observation tower to check out the view. 6/14/2000 Andy at Wayah Bald observation tower. 6/14/2000 Time to resume my hike. Andy and Nick at Wallace Gap, NC. I skipped a 30 mile segment of the trail to stay on schedule. 6/14/2000
Albert Mountain Firetower. 6/15/2000 The view from Albert Mountain Firetower. 6/15/2000 The view from Albert Mountain Firetower. 6/15/2000 Sign at Albert Mountain Firetower. 6/15/2000
The trail up Standing Indian Mountain. The rhododendron are in bloom. 6/15/2000 The view from Standing Indian Mountain. Elevation: 5,498 feet. This is the highest point on the Trail south of the Smokies. I camped on top of Standing Indian Mountain in 1994. 6/15/2000 Bly Gap, NC. Georgia is only .2 miles away! 6/16/2000 View from the overlook before Deep Gap, GA. 6/17/2000
Deep Gap Shelter, GA. It rained after I arrived at the shelter. I was glad I was there. 6/17/2000 The view from Tray Mountain, GA. Elevation: 4,430 feet. 6/18/2000 The view from Blood Mountain, GA. Elevation: 4,461 feet. The second highest mountain in Georgia. Site of a battle 400 years ago between the Creek and Cherokee Indians so fierce that 'the hills ran red with blood.' Last Photo - My camera battery died. Tomorrow I will arrive at Springer Mountain and finish my hike. 6/20/2007

 

GA->ME '90, '94-'98
An ATC 2000 miler and life member		 .

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Note: The actual distance between these two point is 235 miles. The following sections were skipped:
NOC to Wallace Gap - 30.4 miles - mopped up over Easter 2001
Fontana Dam VC to NC 28 - 1.4 miles - mopped up October 2000
Newfound Gap To Clingman's Dome - 7.9 miles, mopped up on Good Friday 2004