AT ‘17 #2—The Beginning

5/5/21—I originally wrote this post on 3/23/2017 while laying in our tent at the Springer Mountain Shelter. We got to camp early in the afternoon, finished up our camp chores well before dinner time, so I spent the idle time in nature…. blogging. Haha, no, I am grateful that I took the time to write this all down. This day was so perfect—we had perfect, sunny, not-too-hot-not-too-cold weather. I remember stepping out of the lodge and down on the trail feeling very doe-eyed and filled with wonder—I was actually doing it and I had no idea what to expect, but the expectation of at least a little bit of adventure filled my stomach with butterflies.

Four years later, March 23rd has become a little bit of a holiday for Brian and I—it’s a day to relish in the memories of one of our greatest adventures.

The Beginning

3/22/2017-3/23/2017

I am Northbound thru hiker #1128. That’s means 1,128 hikers have set out for Maine before me. And that’s only the Northbounders. The trail has gotten a lot of attention in recent years and it shows! I’m one of the optimists that thinks more attention means more loves and respect for the wilderness. That’s why I’m out here, right?

GETTING TO AMICALOLA FALLS STATE PARK

Brian and I chose to treat each other to a night of luxury at the lodge at Amicalola Falls State Park, a decision I don’t think I’ll ever regret, but first, we had to get there.

We didn’t want to fly; you can’t take propane on a plane and we’d have to check just about anything else. And neither of us were too interested in relying on a train or bus to remain on schedule (a choice that would prove to be wise). After doing some price comparisons, it cost about the same to rent a car as it did to take a bus/shuttle. Plus, renting a car meant we could take turns driving while the other lounged the chair back and slept (it also meant we could loudly scream/sing along with out favorite songs without getting kicked out).

At 3am (ugh) and with very little sleep (we couldn’t! We were too excited!) we headed to the Budget Car Rental. We had a bit of a slower start than planned and there seemed to be a little confusion about our rental, but by a little after 5 we were on the road! And I, of course, was finally able to fall asleep (Don’t worry; Brian drove the first shift).

Side note: Interstate 81 is a beautiful drive. The Shenandoah Valley and Virginia’s Blue Ridge does not disappoint, even from the side of the interstate.

NEXT STOP: CHATTANOOGA

My Uncle Steve, who is a hiker himself, saved us a lot of money and trouble by meeting us in Chattanooga and taking us to Amicalola Falls from there. To explain just how much this helped us, a trail friend told us that she took a train to Gainsville and had planned to take a shuttle from there to Amicalola… However, as is always the case (at least, my friends from the DC area that are familiar with WMATA will know), the train was running horribly late due to some issue or another, she didn’t get to Gainsville until 2am, had to stay at an inn there, and then pay for a $70 shuttle to Amicalola the next day. Meanwhile, Brian and I met Uncle Steve in Chattanooga and got to the state park on time and without a hiccup.

Conclusion: your family is the best.

We did have one small hiccup while dropping of the rental car… The confused Budget Rental employee from Dulles accidentally put our rental under Brian Howell, whoever that is. The folks in Chattanooga had no idea who we were or how we got their car, but it only took a bit of thinking to fix and the mix up even saved us a little money.

THE FALLS

The lodge at Amicalola is amazing. It’s a beautiful building looking out on Georgia’s mountains. Our room was cozy and beautiful, the food was delicious and plentiful, and yes, we had a celebratory beer. There’s a large observation deck with lounge chairs and an even better view. If you want secluded vacation in the Georgia mountains but also want to stay a beautiful hotel, I can recommend it.

View of the cascading falls and a portion of the 604 steps one must climb to reach the top of the falls.

At the WISE recommendation of the woman at the front desk, we walked down to the arch, the start of the A.T. Approach Trail, that afternoon while our packs were in our room and not on our backs. GENIUS.
Amicalola Falls is the largest cascading waterfall in the southeast. You can walk all the way down them on the series of stairs and bridges that follow and cross the Falls. It’s beautiful.

While walking down, we made our first trail friend. She traveled here all of the way from Yorkshire, England! She took this photo of us at the arch….

After having a FILLING (oh, we STUFFED our FACES) dinner at the lodge and a beer on the deck, we turned in for the night. I slept much better this time.

DAY ONE

On our first day, we didn’t actually hike the Appalachian Trail. We hiked the Approach Trail, which is about 8 miles long. 8 miles is an easy day compared to what we usually do on a weekend out, but with our packs weighing about 8 to 10 lbs more than usual, we were glad to take an easy day. We’ll hike between 8 to 12 miles for the first two weeks until we adjust to hiking everyday and then we’ll get back to our usual pace.

After a bit of breakfast at the lodge, we hit the trail around 9am, a little late for some but also, a little early for others. Just right.

The hike was beautiful of course. We met new friends along the way too. A couple people have poked fun at us for hiking the extra 8 miles of the approach trail (which, according to one tale we heard, are more likely to make you want to quit instead of just starting at Springer), but I think it was worth it. It was a good warm up. The terrain wasn’t difficult, it was a lot like the trail in northern VA: a lot of PUDs (pointless ups and downs) and the occasions flat ridge.

We got to the top of Springer around 1:30. After enjoying the view, we took our picture with the infamous plaque and signed the log book.

(Pic 1—The Approach Trail, Pic 2—The old AT Southern Terminus Plaque; the white blaze beneath my knee is the first blaze of the AT, Pic 3—The view from Springer Mountain, Pic 4—The new plaque)

We even got interviewed by a reporter from the CBS station in Atlanta. Keep your eye out for that and hope I didn’t say anything dumb!

We took a short walk down to the Springer Mountain shelter for the night. We thought about heading an extra three miles since it was only 2pm, but we had heard that the next shelter was going to be crowded and wanted to stick to our plan of taking it easy at first.

Nothing feels better than taking your pack off at the end of the day. We set up camp, hung out, and headed up to a picnic table for dinner and to meet the other hikers. We shared stories, snacks, and advice. We definitely had a good crew with us tonight. The ATC ridge runner at Springer inspired my next gear purchase: a little scraper for cleaning my cook pot. Really gets up the noodles that get stuck to the bottom and it’s not at gross as a scouring pad!

I know it’s only day one, but I’m having a lot of fun.

5/6/2021 Reflections—

Wow. What I would give to relive those first few days on the AT in Georgia again. We were so fresh an green!

I didn’t know if then, but some of the folks I met that first day became friends that I hiked with for hundreds of miles and still keep in touch with today.

My favorite little tidbit from this blog entry? The mention of the ridge runner that recommended the GSI compact scraper as the best tool for cleaning your cook pot in the backcountry; I bought one in Franklin, NC and have used it ever since. Here’s the story I didn’t tell four years ago because I was embarrassed to admit my mistakes—but let’s normalize growth and learning now:

I read about Leave No Trace and best practices before leaving for the AT and I’d also learned about it as a Girl Scout back in the day, but one thing I didn’t do was thoroughly research what to do with food waste water. So that first night on the trail, I ate my dinner, wiped out my pot, and rinsed it in the stream (downstream of where people stopped to filter water) without a thought for how even this small amount of food waste could contribute to contaminates in streams and harmful critter + human interactions. Later that evening, while we were all hanging out and chatting at the picnic table, the ridge runner asked us all about our methods for cleaning dishes in the backcountry.

It’s worth noting that the ATC hires ridge runners not just to help new hikers and thru hikers stay safe and manage crowding, but also to share knowledge; a big part of their job is starting conversations and steering hikers (with kindness) towards practices that will reduce harmful impacts on the trail and environment.

Someone asked if dishes could be rinsed in streams and the ridge runner kindly explained how that could be harmful to the water and critters, especially considering the very high volume of hikers passing through the AT in Georgia every day. Brian and I shared a knowing look that we’d made a mistake; so we changed our ways, did a little more research, and never rinse our dishes in a stream ever again! The best thing you can do in that situation is admit you messed up, learn, and do better in the future! And share your new knowledge with others.

Coincidentally, demonstrating my Leave No Trace dish cleaning method, the exact way the ridge runner demonstrated to me back in 2017, on TikTok was the first video of mine that got a significant amount of views and re-inspired me to consider sharing more about my hikes on social media again. You can watch the vid below:

One of my biggest tips for new backpackers and hopeful thruhikers? Get an Individual Skills & Ethics Booklet for the region you’re hiking in. Read before you go and bring it with you if you think you’ll need to reference it. Or you can get a PDF of it through Amazon so reference on your phone.

Here’s some other useful links:

https://www.msrgear.com/blog/keeping-it-clean-backcountry-dishwashing-etiquette/

https://trailandsummit.com/how-do-you-wash-your-backcountry-dishes/