It was a very windy night camped in my little tent, but she was up to the task. The wind was still howling in the morning and most of the day. The picture below is of the famous Mtn Crossings CCC building I was camped behind. The AT literally goes through the breezeway.

This is a picture of Daddy Long Legs carrying “Paul’s Shoes” which is an incredibly touching story I had heard about before I left. Paul lived in Australia and was making plans to hike the AT last year when he was diagnosed with a very aggressive cancer and died several months later. His wife reached out to the hiking community to find someone to take his shoes on the journey and send her pictures along the way. I think the website is PaulsShoes.com So cool to actually see Paul’s Shoes !

Great view on a bluebird day from CowRock Mtn.
(but very windy and cold !)

Some new AT friends around the campfire at Poplar Gap campsite.

Selfie shot with Dave, Gretel, Mace, Polar Bear and Trail Mix.

A tight fit squeezing 5 tents on the only small flat area.

Also wanted to make sure I didn’t forget to mention i will being going thru Young Lick Knob tomorrow…no joke !

It was a cold start this morning in the upper 30’s, but the skies were clear and there were some good views.

I hiked most of the day again with Miles from BC. I’m trying to convince him to go with the trail name “Miles from Nowhere” or “Miles to Go”
We met another guy named Chris hiking with his dog Greta and stopped at a shelter for lunch where we ate with Pappa Crusty…you can guess who’s who.

The big climb of the day was to the highest point in Georgia…Blood Mtn (~4500′). There was this really cool CCC shelter at the top.

This is the awesome patio/overlook at Neels Gap. There is an outfitter store behind us that sells gear and hiker food and sends home tons (literally) of unwanted gear since so many people over pack.

This is the hiker shoe tree out front…brilliant!

Some of the folks I met decided they wanted to be more civilized tonight and rented a cabin. I’m camping since I’m planning to resupply in town in two days, but o hung out with them for a bit tonight.

It absolutely poured and thundered with big strikes of lightning through the night. Luckily, it cleared up by the time I woke up ~6am. It was Quite brisk in the upper 30’s. I headed out around 7:30 with a nice guy named Miles from Victoria, BC. Here we are hiking through some rhododendron that will be stunning when they bloom in several weeks.

Water seems to be a natural congregating point for hikers…much like cattle. The sun was out and things warmed into the upper 60’s. This was great place to soak the feet about 11 miles into the day.

The Gooch Mtn. shelter was today’s planned destination but as you can see, it was a tent city by 3pm so I decided to hangout for a bit then hike another 1-2 miles in the evening and camp along the way.

Miles and another hiker, Tony from VT joined me.

We found a great spot and met Odie who makes the Hiker Yearbook (old school) and hung out by a fire next to his school bus camper. Far more relaxing then the tent city.

A great day that ended with some late evening rain driving us into our tents around Hiker Midnight (8:30).

Trail Mile: 17.4

The hardest part of a difficult journey is taking  the first step…and that step was taken today. The Lodge shuttle drop us off at Amicalola Falls State Park on a cool 40 degree morning around 9:15.

After registering at the visitor center (#1335 for the season…plus a similar amount who start 9 miles ahead near the top of Springer Mtn), photos were taken at the famous approach trail arch and off I went.

There are a set of ~630 steps about a mile in that help you reach the top of the falls.

The official start of the AT is about 9 miles along at the top of Springer Mtn, identified by the famous hiker plaques and the first official White Blaze that marks the trail all the way to Mt Katahdin in Maine.

There was a great view from the top of Springer. Leaves haven’t quite budded at this elevation yet.

Home for the night was the Stover Creek shelter (a fancy two story variety). With a motley crew of thru hikers and section hikers from all over the country and world (a couple of Germans)

Black bears are fairy active in the area so shelter also provides cables to hang your food from (in background…FYI, not my tent).

A successful first day without too much undue stress on the body…just some tightness in my Achilles.

Everyone has been asking me if I have all my gear and supplies ready for for my departure, but that was the easy part. It’s a lot more work getting ready to put one’s life on hold for 4-5 months..making sure bills get paid, dealing with loose ends for work, saying goodbye to friends and family. I was worn out by the time I got on the plane to Atlanta this AM. Starting the hike will be much less hectic. Thus, the Storm before the Calm.

It was a quick 2hr 15min flight, the pack went in the overhead bin, jumped on the MARTA (Atlanta train) to the end of the line where the Hiker Hostel shuttle was waiting for me. Then a 1.5 hour drive into the mountains to their cozy lodge near Amicalola Falls State Park and Springer Mtn., the official start of the AT.

There were about 20 other hikers here either starting tomorrow or a couple days into their hike (we are near a rd crossing 20 miles from start). I relaxed and wandered around the property enjoying the late sunset (8:00) over the Appalachians. 
Looks like nice weather for tomorrow’s start 🙂

Spring in Appalachia is no joke!
Nothing like following a cold rainy day with a 18 degree night. It’s the occasional night like this that worries me with my 30 degree sleeping bag. Perhaps I will bring my sleeping bag liner for the first couple weeks and test its claim of adding 20 degrees of warmth !

In the first 2.5 weeks the AT climbs over the highest point East of the Rockies, Clingmans Dome (~6700′).
About 75 miles of trail through the Smokies hovers around 5000′ or higher which means serious mountain weather on the East Coast.

This is a link to the weather forecast at 5000′ in the Smokies: http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=35.5629&lon=-83.4985#.VwJHYkVOKnM

This is a cool link to weather forecasts all over the AT by state…then you can choose a specific location with the elevation in parentheses: http://www.atweather.org/forecast?myState=GA&myShelter=10