Saturday night Morris and I left John Pridgens House after consuming copious amounts of alcohol and roast pork, plus some awesome cookies compliments of Holly Walker. Many thanks to all of our friends for the send off.
After the party Jade Tran drove us to the Amtrak station. (Thanks Jade) While we were waiting for the train to arrive we met fellow thru hiker "Bubblegum". He approached me and tentatively said " please don't take this the wrong way, but are you stupid?"
"That's me!" I replied with a grin
Bubblegum laughed as he shook my hand. "That's not an easy question to ask!" He said.
We sat to wait for the train which was running half an hour late. We passed the time by talking excitedly about the trail and preparations we had made.
Bubblegum, as it turns out, had just had knee surgery a few weeks prior but he was excited to get on the A.T. none the less.
When the train finally arrived, I was surprised how packed it was. The last time I rode Amtrak there had been plenty of free space, but this time around the conductors assigned seats as we boarded. I ended up sitting next to an 80 year old biological engineer. We had a fascinating conversation, and so I didn't sleep.
When we arrived in Gainesville Ga at 7 the next morning, I felt like a soup sandwich. Hung over and sleep deprived, there was no way I was willing to walk the 42 miles to the start of the approach trail.
Morris was in agreement so we teamed up with another thru hiker ( candy cane from his 2012 attempt ) and split the cost of a taxi.
Amacoala Falls is the start point to the approach trail to Springer Mountain, which is itself the start of the A.T. for Northbound hikers.
We hung around the park office for a few minutes and weighed our bags before starting off. Mine was a stout 41 pounds while Morris was carrying a 50 pound pack. We stopped for a couple pictures before beginning our approach.
The approach trail to Springer Mountain was intense. Starting with 600+ steps to the top of the falls followed by 7 arduous miles of terrain.
My condition on the first day kind of spoiled the mood for me. Instead of being overjoyed about starting, I was only looking forward to making camp and going to sleep. The day was mostly a blur of hills to climb and descend. I had a good time, but was to tired to really acknowledge it.
Upon arriving at Springer Mountain, I took half a minute to take a picture of the plaque there, then headed directly to the springer Mountain shelter. I set up my hammock and went right to sleep without eating. I slept like a rock until the next morning.
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