And Here I Am ...

I took an Amtrak from Worcester to NYC on the 7th, then Memo and I drove south all day on the 8th, landing in North Carolina where we spent the night with a friend of Memos.

On the 9th we drove to Amicalola Falls, after dark, and it was ridiculously foggy out. On these twisting, winding roads with steep drops on the sides.... That was a brown-trousers drive!

It began raining as we set up our tents, and then we went to catch the 9:10pm showing of Captain Marvel at a nearby (relatively speaking, 30 minute drive) cinema.

Afterwards back at camp Memo hit the sack and I ended up awake until 3ish.

We woke up late, around 10:30am, Sunday morning. Memo decided to stay an extra day since we didn't get much of a chance to do interviews and get footage for the documentary he's making on my trip.

So we went into town, Dahlonega, to hit up REI for extra tent stakes I needed. It was a cool little town with historic brick sidewalks and was the location of the first gold rush in the US.

Back at camp we walked about 3/4ths of the way down the famous Amicalola Falls stairs to get a good view of the waterfall. Despite not even having my pack on, those steps were murder on the way back up. Freaking beautiful, though!

While I'm still doing the approach trail, I'm bypassing those steps since I already walked them. The trail picks up at the top of the falls, not far from the lodge I'll be staying in tonight.

Yes, I decided to stay an extra night. With Memo staying the extra day, that didn't leave me with the day of solitude I feel I need to get myself centered and in the right head space.

Also, I'm scared as hell if we're being honest.

So, one night in a warm bed before heading out sounds perfect, despite the premium I have to pay for the lodge compared to the campsite.

I was up until 3ish last night as well, fretting over the hike and especially mindful of Memo... Who had ingested two pot cookies and got higher than I've ever seen anyone get, especially him! But that's a different story!

So, I woke at 6;30 and got Memo up an hour later, as he needed to get to DC in one long drive today. Yikes!

So, we got some footage at the trailhead with the arch, drove up to the lodge to reserve a room, and I left my pack with the lodge and saw Memo off around 9am.

I can't check into my room until 2:30pm, so I've been bumming around the lodge and waterfall for a few hours. Still have 3 hours to kill. Hence, finally finding a good time to update here.

So... Tomorrow I'll be up early (sunrise is around 7:30am here currently, which surprised me. Back in MA it starts getting light around 5:30-6am), and I'll walk to the top of the Falls where I'll begin/resume my Thru!!!