Inching Forward

I'm off to a slow start, but I think I'll be able to manage for a while. I hiked from Amicalola Falls (having done the steps with my friend Memo on Sunday. On Monday - the day I was supposed to start - I opted to spend one night at the Amicalola Lodge.

I needed a day alone, in comfort, with a hot bath to get myself centered. As an introvert who spent several days constantly around people and traveling, I needed to charge my psychic batteries, so to speak.

I went halfway down the Falls steps again and explored the campgrounds and park while waiting for my room for several hours.

Then Tuesday I had my first full day on the trail. I made about 6.5 miles to Black Gap Shelter, which I arrived 2 hours prior to sundown. Along the way I met several hikers of all sorts, from thru hikers, section hikers and day hikers.

I 'rescued' two hikers who hadn't brought enough water, since I carry too much. As painful as it is to carry it, I NEED to be constantly hydrating. My muscles get more sore and take longer to heal when I don't. And, there are stretches of the trail where there's very little water, or sources that involve taking side trails (blue blazes) that are sometimes quite a hike on their own.

I had to stop a lot, especially on the countless uphill winding paths, full of rocks and roots and mud.

I'm constantly on the lookout for the right kinds of logs or rocks that I can sit on in a way that takes my pack weight for me without having to remove it ... Because taking the pack off, as alluring as it appears, involves putting the pack back on... Which requires an enormous burst of energy that itself causes me to need another breather.

I spent about 2.5 hours of the 8 hours of that days hike just resting, letting my heart rate go down to normal and taking an edge off the burn in my legs.

Lungs, too...

I pitched tent at that shelter rather than staying in the three walled construct, which turned out to be the right call. In total there were 6 others there, 2 in the shelter. Those two both snored like chainsaws.

Also, in the morning we found fresh bear tracks behind that shelter. Looks like a bear came up to the back, sniffed around a little, then turned and headed away toward the privy.

I got up at some point that night to use that shitter, too! Yikes!!!

Wednesday I got up early, but as the sun isn't up until 7:45 am, I didn't want to disturb folks still asleep by breaking down my tent or making breakfast. Thus, when the sun finally came up and I heard another hiker getting their cookware ready, I started to break down my stuff.

I was out of there by 10am. Checking my guides, I determined that I'd be hiking half a day since the nearest shelter was only a few hours away, but the one after that was 8 miles out, and i doubted I could make it before sundown, especially with enough time to set up my site and get dinner ready.

This was the day I completed the Approach Trail, though...making it to the summit of Springer Mt. and getting to see the famous plaque and signed the trail register.

Springer Mt shelter was about 20 minutes downhill from the summit, and is one of the largest shelter areas around. There's about 20 spots for tents, and the shelter had a loft to sleep extra people.

This place was packed. This out of the way nook in the woods had a good 20+ people staying there, and plenty of passer throughs and even a college student collecting data for a scientific research project on thru hikers. Also a photographer came through and had us sign release forms.

I teamed up here with a father and son from FL who were on a section hike for a few weeks. We got wood together and built a fire. While the fire got going and we had more wood than needed, the wind Wed night was insane, robbing all the heat unless you squatted right by the fire, inches away from the embers.

The wind remained an issue overnight, getting as high as 25mph. While my tent is pretty good for rain (when set up properly at least), it sucks for wind. I had drafts all night that penetrated my sleeping bag, which is rated for 20 degrees.

Cell service was more or less worthless at both shelters, but have luck in random places as I go.

Anyway, with the reports of the incoming thunderstorms Thurs and Fri, and needing to re-evaluate some of my gear, pack configuration, and possibly replace my sleeping bag... I decided to get a shuttle into Suches.

It was a brief hour trek from Springer shelter to the parking lot where I eventually connected with a shuttle. Another hiker who's quitting took the shuttle with me, and now I'm holed up in this hostel tonight and tomorrow. Saturday I shuttle back to the Trail.

I've decided not to go back to Springer, but to skip ahead to Neel Gap, where there's an outfitter I can get advice and gear from. I need some sort of device to attach water to my backpack strap in front for easy access, and a new GoPro casing - my current one broke (better that than the GoPro itself!).

Some think it's a cheat to skip ahead, but I'm not a purist. Pushing myself too hard, too fast is a sure recipe for failure.

So, tomorrow I might walk to a post office to ship some stuff home, and I'll work on pruning my pack more. It's an art getting everything in there in a sensible manner that still distributes the weight as evenly as possible. An art I've yet to master.