04/01

Our first 10 mile day and boy did I feel every step. We were however blessed with blue sky’s and sunshine, a stark contrast to the day before. Summiting Springer Mountain was not for the faint of heart… with an elevation of 3769ft, at 8 a.m, every grueling step made me wonder “what the hell did I get myself into.” Upon reaching the top of the mountain and the “official” start of the A.T, I couldn’t believe my eyes, a baby… no more than 6 months old just chilling on top of the rock. My first thought, “No way this baby beat me up the mountain.” Of course, one could argue crawling on all fours is cheating. The parents were admiring the baby’s prowess and taking pictures, an odd place for a photo shoot but I digress. We had only a minute to celebrate our accomplishment before a swarm of mosquitoes chased us back down the trail.

Up the mountain down the mountain, is the story of my life for the next 6 months, best get used to it now. My 35lb pack had my traps singing funeral hymns as I trudged along, but surprisingly my knees have held up better than expected. For those who don’t know, I have the body of a 65 year old, and the temperament to match.

However, it wasn’t all bad, while difficult, t’was a beautiful day. We walked along many creeks and even elected to add an extra ¼ mile to see a waterfall. Yes, I did put my feet in the icy pool at the bottom of the falls, felt great. As soon as we got to camp we wasted no time setting up our hammocks and fixing something to eat. Serenaded to sleep by the melodic sound of machine gunfire. Supposedly there’s a military base on the other side of the hill… how nice.