February 26, 2018
Destination: Three Forks
Today’s Miles: 4.30
Start Location: Amicalola Falls State Park – Approach Trail
Trip Miles: 4.30
Read on! I promise the title to this post isn’t a typo.
Today was a big day! I woke up early to get my gear together. Before I did that, however, I had two cups of coffee and spent a little quality time with Lucy the cat. My gear was mostly prepared; I just had to take care of a morning punch list, like: “wad up puffy jacket and stuff in clothes bag, grab charged power bank, don’t forget water,” etc. After I did that I thought about breakfast, but my mind drifted to these cupcakes Gillian had gotten the night before. They were seriously amazing and had a fair amount of icing, which I like. I changed focus and went to shower instead, and when I was done Gillian had made some avocado toast on pumpernickel bread. Pure deliciousness. Before that was ready, I weighed myself for comparison purposes at the end of the hike. 155lbs…not a lot to lose there….
The plan was that my parents would come to the house at 7:45am and we would drive together to Amicalola Falls State Park where the approach trail begins. It is possible to drive close to the summit of Springer Mountain where the Appalachian Trail actually starts, but it’s kind of traditional to walk the 8.8 mile approach trail, so that was my plan. My parents arrived as I started to eat breakfast, and Gillian made me some eggs as well. Did I mention my wife is amazing? The eggs were awesome and she included some micro greens too. We had just picked up our CSA farm share the day before, so everything was local, fresh and delicious. For those familiar with Atlanta, our farm share is from Ecosystem Farms on Bouldercrest Drive in East Atlanta, and we love it! I’m already talking so much about food and it’s only been one day!
After breakfast we took some pictures. I had to document “clean and shiny me,” all freshly shaven and ready to get dirty. I took a picture of my backpack fully loaded, and then we headed out at about 8:30. Traffic was bad (this is normal) so google maps took us a kind of funky, roundabout way. I couldn’t help but think of how fitting it was, as I have heard many stories of AT switchbacks and PUDs (pointless ups and downs). As we got closer, my pea-sized bladder caused me to have to stop at a gas station. Inside a kid in hiking gear said hello. I couldn’t help but wonder if he was also thru hiking, but I did not ask. I jumped back in the car, and after 20 more minutes we arrived at the park.
I had registered online as a thru hiker already, but I still had to check in and get my hiker number. I am number 371 for the year! We looked around the gift shop a bit. Gillian showed me a cool white blaze t-shirt and got it for me for after the hike. I registered with the rangers. They were amazing – so nice and helpful. I went outside where there is a hanging scale and weighed my pack. My base weight without food and water is 20lbs. My weight with food was 30lbs. Water (2 liters) added another 6. So I started with 36lbs, but of course the water and food weight fluctuates a lot. I was really happy with a 20lb base weight. One of the rangers gave me some local info and showed me the PCT method for hanging a bear bag. It seems bears are pretty clever and if you tie your bear bag rope off around a tree, they’ve learned to whack it down. The PCT method utilizes a carabiner and a stick to hang the bag vertically without needing to tie off the rope. Pretty cool.
The time had come! Nothing left to do but start walking. Passing under the arch that marks the approach trail start felt amazing! My parents and Gillian walked with me up the approach trail. When we got a little ways up, I realized I’d already managed to leave my trekking poles back at the visitor center – ugh! This didn’t bode well :-). I went back and the rangers had picked them up, so I was relieved. They also gave me a snickers bar, which was nice. Dad had walked down to see if there was an issue, but I told him they had found the poles so I was all set, plus a snickers – sweet! So we backtracked to where Mom and Gillian were and continued along. We bypassed a footbridge that had been crushed by a fallen tree, and then the long climb up to Amicalola falls began. I said my goodbyes to my parents and Gillian joined me for a bit longer. After a bit of walking together, it was time to part ways. It was soooooo hard to leave her. I kept looking back and waiving as I walked away. When she was out of sight, it really kicked in that the challenge had begun. There are a lot of challenges on the trail, and often times the toughest ones are not the physical kind.
I passed a few thru hikers on the way up. At the top of the falls I took a picture and waived to my family down below, and marched on. The trail crossed over the parking lot at the top of the falls, and then disappeared into the woods.
I knew I wanted to at least hike the 9 miles to the AT start at Springer Mountain summit. If I felt good and had enough daylight, I would continue another 4 miles or so to Three Forks. Three Forks is on the other side of Springer Mountain and is absolutely gorgeous. Three streams come together into one creek called Noontootla. I’ve been camping there for years via forest road access, so it has a special place in my heart.
I trekked I’m in solitude for quite a while, until I passed a group of thru hikers. Two were from Maine, and one was from Atlanta about a mile or two from where I live. Small world. Later on I ran into a whole group of ladies roughly in their 60s coming the other way. They chatted with me a bit and said they liked my space cat hat, yay! I pushed on and felt good. The ridgeline view was gorgeous and there was a little blue sky peaking through the clouds. I decided not to take a lunch break, and instead just ate the snickers and a cliff bar on the move. Soon enough, I made it to the Springer Mountain summit! There is a plaque there that marks the start of the AT and the first white blaze. I took a picture of course. Apparently the shelter log book is by that rock. I didn’t realize that and forgot to look for it to sign it. Instead, I pushed on to the shelter to get some water and take a short break. I chatted with some guys there and met one gent from Alberta, Canada. I asked him how he found the weather and he said he was absolutely dying from the “heat!” I laughed. It was indeed a warm day for February, but welcome to the south! I bet he gets some warmer weather clothing options soon….
I pushed on from Springer and bumped into the couple from Maine again. The guy’s name was Kevin as well. The girl is Cassandra. They just got married and are hiking their honeymoon. They asked if I was going to Stover Shelter and I told them I wanted to try and make it to Three Forks. Push on I did. The forest started to change, thickening with pine and rhododendron as I descended in elevation. I started to cross a few streams. One stream right after Stover Shelter had a beautiful campsite, but I pressed on. About 5pm I rolled into Three Forks. I crossed the wooden bridge there and the. The forest road FS58, and started looking for a campsite by the creek. I found an awesome spot off the trail, set up my tent and proceeded to get camp organized. My feet felt good with no blisters, so I let them breathe and took my socks off and just walked around in my camp crocs. Then it was time to hang the bear bag. I have to confess, I’m really, really bad at hanging bear bags. I always get the line tangled or stuck, and this time was no different! I found a nice stream rock to put in my bear bag toss sack. I found a good branch as well. But…when I threw my weighted sack over it, the line caught in some other branches and the weight of the rock in the sack wasn’t enough to pull it all the way down. Unfortunately, it was too high up to jump. I started looking around for long sticks to bat at it with to try and get it to come down. Nothing was long enough. Then I remembered my gorilla tape that I keep around my trekking pole shafts. I actually had to use that to duct tape my telling poles together into one long pole. Then I used that to grab the rock bag and pull it free and down. Voila! It worked! Maybe I have a little resourcefulness in me after all :-). Happy that I had avoided catastrophe, I boiled water to rehydrate some chili Mac. I descended like a locust on my snack bag. I ate a tortilla, a bunch of almonds, and a cliff bar. With the chili Mac I had a nice cup of turmeric ginger tea.
It was a fabulous first day on the trail. As I type this I’m definitely ready for a good night’s sleep! Tomorrow I head to Gooch mountain. I’ll have to upload this entry later when I have a signal. All is well with the world. I’m grateful to be on this journey, living a dream! (Note, I did not include the 8.8 miles of the approach trail in my tally so that my total mileage will only show AT miles walked)
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