Friday April 8th, Amicalola Falls Arch to Springer Mountain, 8.8 miles.

My brother Shelby and I flew to Atlanta Georgia on April 7th, I had a one-way ticket. He was bringing me to the trailhead to start my long walk. It felt surreal that it was really happening. We ate what Shelby called ”the last supper” at a nice steakhouse on our way to the park. We decided to spend the night at the Lodge at Amicalola Falls. It crossed my mind as I looked around my room, that it would likely be half of a year before I slept in such a nice place again.

I checked and rechecked my pack that night. I discarded a couple more little things, I worried that my pack might be too heavy, I decided to carry less water. According to the trail guide there was a lot of water on the trail. I thought I would be okay, it looked like there was never more than a couple miles between water sources. It proved to be a good decision, there’s a lot of cold running spring water on the Appalachian behind

I woke up with a start at 4:00AM Friday morning. I had butterflies in my stomach. I put on my hiking clothes and walked outside. The air was cool with light winds. It was colder than I expected. I thought it would be good hiking weather.

The Approach Trail that takes you to the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail commences behind the Amacolola Falls Visitors Center under an arch. After I registered my hike at the Visitor Center, Shelby and I started up the approach trail. Shelby told me he was going to carry my pack for the first mile, then let me carry it the rest of the “two thousand whatever” miles. The first mile on that trail is challenging. It requires climbing 604 stairs to get to the top of Amicalola Falls. It is a tough hike up, and him carrying my pack probably saved me as conditions worsened as I climbed higher and higher to the summit of Springer Mountain where the Appalachian Trail begins.

After Shelby and I said our goodbyes I headed up the trail. The trail was steep, but I was excited as I hurried along toward the summit of Springer Mountain. I climbed higher and higher as the clouds started building and the winds grew stronger. It looked like rain. I was worried that I may get wet on the very first day. I didn’t want to get wet, I hoped I could make it to the shelter before the rain started.

By the time I reached the shelter it was much colder. Sleet and light snow fell lightly. Once I stopped hiking I was immediately cold. I was soaked in sweat from the hike, my legs were burning and sore. I struggled to put up my tent. Everything hurt. I didn’t take many pictures. I hurried to get out of my wet clothes and warm up in my sleeping bag. I didn’t eat very much. I didn’t drink enough water. I just wanted to warm up. I was miserable, but there was no place I would have rather have been. I was actually hiking the Appalachian Trail.