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AT Mileage: 2.6 miles + 8.8 miles on the Approach Trail (11.4 total)
What a gorgeous first day! I honestly still cannot believe that I'm doing this. It's truly euphoric. We started on Amicalola Falls State Park for the "Approach Trail" to Springer Mt. which is the official start of the AT. To quote a friend, this trail was "aggressive". Starting with about 700 steps, Peepers, Van, Zephyr, and I climbed up to the top of the Falls. The Approach Trail was the inital elevation gain to get into the mountains so this was expected. My goal today was to meander at a medium pace and really take in all the surreal feelings and beauty. Also, I didn't want to come out of the gates like a mad man. All told, we did about 11.7 miles, which is respectable. I am glad to know that I personally could have knocked out about 16 miles, but the pace was good, and afterall, the trail IS the destination, so no racing :-). I am also glad that I had hiking buddies on the first day. (My mother would be happy too). I will get into them later on as I get to know them better. The bottom line is that I shook down the gear (pack is AWESOME), met tons of people and as the last light of today fades, I have to say that my spirit is soaring with the knowledge that everything I need in life weighs less than 35 pounds (that number will have to come down, but I think I had one of the lightest starting weights of all in our group of hostel stayers last night. Some had packs in excess of 50 pounds!!! Ugh! We ran into one ex-Marine & wife on the trail who had just spent the winter cycling across Florida. Commendable, but their packs looked like they were smuggling 4-foot midgets across GA state lines. HUGE! I could write for another hour, but its 8:45 PM and I'm tired, so TTFN.
Things I learned today:
1. It's pointless to have maps of places I won't reach for 3 weeks
2. Poles are a knee saver
3. Life without water sucks...Glad I have a filter.
4. Every shelter in GA has a privy...SWEET. No digging holes until NC.
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