Journey to Springer and Beyond

No service yesterday! I could say I was sorry, but I was having fun talking to people and I was entirely exhausted. :)

Day 0: traveling of the worst kind

So my second flight was cancelled, leaving me 4 hours late and arriving in Atlanta at 11pm, which ruined all my plans. Luckily, my shuttle driver was awesome and agreed to take us even though we wouldn't make it till 2am.

My dad waited at the airport for me and we went together with Richard, who was incredibly friendly, stopping once for fuel and again for early morning breakfast at  Waffle House, which was delicious.

We slept at the base of amicalola falls in a hiker shelter, and works up everyone that was asleep... Whoops.

Day 1: The Approach and Springer

Weather: drizzly all day, about 60 or 65 degrees

Miles travelled: 11.6

Total miles on AT: 2.8

Aches and pains: feet, back, hips, knees

We started at 9, with ~600 stairs leading up the falls.

The approach was very pretty and I liked it a lot. We saw lots of day hikers headed the opposite direction and passed a few thru hikers. We could see wonderful vistas through the branches of the trees, but they're not good for pictures at all. 

I've been wearing a knee sleeve that I alternate between my two knees because it gets uncomfortable after a while, but it helps a lot. 

8.8 miles in, we suddenly hit the start of the AT, indicated by a plaque but mostly by the small group of hikers sitting around snacking and taking pictures. Anticlimactic but good to know the "real hike" had begun. 

From there, it was an easy 3 miles to the shelter, where we were some of the first people to arrive. They arrived slowly but steadily and soon we had a rousing crowd and good conversation going. I even pulled out my mini UNO (last second addition) and played a bit. 

It was good to sleep out of the rain and mud and not have to put away a muddy tent in the morning. I slept pretty well knowing there were so many people 16, in fact, with overflow tenters) nearby.

Day 2: Sassafras mountain 

Weather: mostly sunny, warm enough for a tshirt and shorts 

Miles travelled: 13

Total miles on AT: 15.8

Aches and pains: feet, back, shoulders, calves, thighs, knees 

I just like the word sassafras. Who says that?  Sassafras.

I woke up to some extreme soreness in my legs. I forgot what that felt like, and remembered that I guess hiking up mountains like this is sorta like exercise. Who woulda thought? We started out with some really beautiful trail and it really felt like the green tunnel just then. My favorite bit so far!

Then we had a few ups and downs, passed a few people and got passed by people but mostly leapfrogged and eventually made it up sassafras mountain, which, according to an AT ridge runner, is the steepest climb in Georgia. Or something. From what I gather, ridge runners just hike backwards counting people and telling them to watch out for bears and norovirus. Norovirus is apparently a stomach bug that is passed by contact with people who don't wash.

Sassafras was indeed steep and tiring, but I was rewarded with nice cell service at the top so I could receive an influx of texts, mostly from my mom.

Everything is incredibly muddy from yesterday and my pants and brand-new shoes are practically brown now. It sucks your feet in squishily and traps your poles down so you have to tug to get them up again.

By the end of the day (meaning 3pm) I was aching all over, walking incredibly slowly, hungry, and relieved to find plenty of room in the shelter. About half an hour later I realized I probably would've been fine to continue with just a little break. 

Many of the same people from last night are here as well and I feel like we're old buddies now, though we might not even see each other again. Everyone has yet to receive a trail name, but the dog Allen (who we've stayed with since the first night at amicalola) has been dubbed "scapegoat", on account of him being the excuse for stopping early and whatnot. 

For dinner I had one of my dehydrated dinners that I was so nervous about tasting: rice, mushrooms, green beans, chicken, bouillon cube, and a cheese stick melted on top. It was delicious!

There are a lot of interesting characters around and overall it's been a very good start to such a long trek. It's also been nice to hike with my dad and see that he can pretty much keep up with me, although I can't deny that I'm also excited about being unleashed on Friday.

Postscript: this post took forever (2 hours). Service apparently sucks in the woods