Oh man. Talk about all forms of highs and lows during the first 3.5 days. This is day 4 and I had only planned to walk 4 miles to arrive where I am now, Mountain Crossings Outfitter at Neel’s Gap, GA. The rains came down HARD last night for the first time. On top of Blood Mountain it was so foggy that I didn’t know if it was raining or if I was walking through the clouds as the drops were being formed.

Here’s how the days have been:
Pass or get passed by a few people while walking from 10-12 miles a day. Then at the end of the day all the familiar faces arrive again at a shelter. We cook, we chat, we go to bed as soon as the sun goes down (some before). Then, when the sun comes up, eat breakfast, tear down your tent, walk another 10-12 miles, lunch on the go, arrive at the next shelter 4-5pm, and repeat.

My morale was pretty low yesterday evening. Around 3 it got cold and rainy. I had it in my mind that I wanted to go another 5 miles and get to Neel’s Gap, but thankfully I stopped at the first shelter I came to. Everyone else I’d seen for the past few days had the same idea and trickled in after me. That’s why this morning I was able to make great time with only 4 miles, get to Neel’s Gap, and rent a bunk for the night. There’s probably room for 16 of us in here, again, mostly common faces. When I arrived around 11:15am there was a church cooking hamburgers for hikers. My first instance of what’s called “trail magic.” I had 3!

It was great to take a shower, do laundry, and talk to the store owner about how to make my pack lighter. Starting tomorrow, sending a few things on up the trail and reevaluating whether or not I need them in 8-10 days.

I was very encouraged by your messages and notes on Facebook and the website. I’m sorry I don’t have time to respond to them all individually. Until then, thanks for being on this journey with me, invite your friends! I’ll leave you with what I’m going to call the Trail Report. It’ll have my miles, any notable site or achievement, weather, animals, mood, and pain.

Trail Report
3/29 – 11.6 miles, went from 1700 ft to 3782 ft by the end of the day, chilly all day, really cold on Springer Mountain, happy, excited, positive, pain in hips and knees, thankful, tired, ice formed on small part of my rainfly overnight

3/30 – 12.3 miles, cold start, warm finish, tired, worried about pain, salamander, squirrel, chipmunk, more pain in knee

3/31 – 12.3, cold to mild, rainy finish, happy and tired, chipmunk, worried about knee, rained all night

4/1 – 4 miles, easy and fast, happy to be at Neel’s Gap and the Mountain Crossing outfitter, lots of familiar faces, had my pack and its contents evaluated to reduce weight, excited about tomorrow.

Here I sit less than 9 hours away from the beginning of an adventure that was over a year in the making. If the editor and content manager of my website weren’t sitting here with me, I’d probably be going out of my mind. And if the TV producer wasn’t hiking with me the first two days, I would have a lot more anxiety about tomorrow.

However, I do feel prepared. I’ve done the reading, asked all the questions I could, the rest I’ll have to learn as I go.

The last several days have been a blur. About 25% of my gear was purchased within the last week, including my first several days of food. Hours ago I had all my gear spread out on two hotel beds sorting the musts froms the mustn’ts, the needs from the wants, and any extra ounces I could eliminate. I’m sure the days and weeks ahead will point out other things I can live without, but I’ve always been an overpacker 🙂

Other than being tired and ready for bed, I am so excited to get started tomorrow. The beginning of the trail is a bit misleading. While the marker on top of Springer Mountain announces that it is the southern terminus of the trail, one must first hike 8.8 miles up the mountain from the visitor center (otherwise known as the approach trail). Many parts of this approach trail are labeled “strenuous,” including the 604 stairs that climb up Amicalola Falls.

Since I will not be able to have Starbucks in the morning, I made sure to have it twice today.

Special thanks to Allison (who edits my posts and content) and Brian (the brains behind the construction of the site). With that said…there’s a comfy bed with my name on it. From across the room is just said “HEY…I’m the last hotel bed you’re going to sleep in for some time. Do the right thing. Get a good night of sleep.”

Ok bed, ok.

I’m so glad you’ve made it. Let’s try not to get lost.

Good news / bad news.

Bad news is this is my first blog…so it has nothing to do with actually hiking the Appalachian Trail. I promise AT-oriented blogs will be forthcoming in the days and weeks ahead.

However, the good news is there is PLENTY of good reading material in the links above to get you acclimated to what’s in store. With that said get comfortable, perhaps turn on some music and grab a coffee, and read away from the comfort of your warm house or office… where there are no bears.

Please take time to fill out the survey (it’s fun) and sign-up up for my e-mail updates. The updates will be sparse (maybe once a week) and I won’t share your e-mail with any marketing companies (unless I figure out a way to make a lot of money from that, then I’ll share the money with you and we’ll all benefit…haha, just kidding). Plus, I’ll put something fun in the e-mail updates that you won’t find on the website such as a joke of the week… or tips on fighting bears.

So have a look around and make yourself at home. Leave your muddy boots at the door!

-Chris