---

Week 1 Overview

---

Day 1

May 3, 2019

• Approach Trail: Amicalola Falls Visitor Center (mile -8.8) to Springer Mountain (mile 0.0)
• AT Route: Springer Mountain (mile 0.0) to Hawk Mountain Shelter (mile 8.1)
• Daily Mileage: 16.9 miles

Last night I spent a restless night at Amicalola Falls Lodge, waking up over and over again to check the clock. Mostly, I was excited and anxious to begin the trail. But something else was weighing on my mind.

For the last week, I’ve been on the fence about whether to hike the Approach Trail (from Amicalola Falls to the AT’s southern terminus) or just skip it. It’s not part of the official AT. And it’s 8.8 grueling miles that I don’t really need to hike. I could just get a shuttle to the top and tag Springer Mountain instead.

Of course, the real reason I don’t want to hike it has to do with where the AT shelters fall with the extra mileage. If I start at Springer Mountain, I could hike two moderately hard 15-mile days to get to Neels Gap. And that means I’d only need to carry about two days of food.

But, when you throw in the Approach Trail’s extra 8.8 miles, it really throws everything off. I won’t get to Neels Gap until Day 3. That’s not really a hardship per se, but it means I’ll have to come up with a plan on how to deal with the area around Jarrard Gap – i.e., the only section on trail where you MUST have a bear canister (and nope, I’m not carrying one). So what should I do??

Meeting Sam

I arrived at the Amicalola Falls Visitor Center around 8:30 am the morning. While waiting for the ATC volunteer to arrive and officially register me as a thru-hiker, I ran into another AT hiker named Sam and chatted him up for a bit.

Sam was in the Army for nine years before moving to Dallas to get a job in the IT field. He’s 100% certain he’s going to hike the Approach Trail, and hearing that news made me feel like a bit of a wuss for thinking about skipping it. After all, what’s 8.8 extra miles of hiking for a trail that’s already nearly 2,200 miles long?? And so, I mentally committed myself to the extra task.

Master Splinter (the ATC Ridgerunner) showed up around 9 am, and he talked us through some basic trail info. He also showed us how to hang a bear bag using the PCT method (apparently the bears are getting wise to defeating a traditional bear bag hang), and then sent us on our way.

I set off before Sam and headed toward Amicalola Falls to tackle the dreaded 600 stairs. The morning was warm, foggy, and humid – and I was drenched in sweat when I made it to the top of the falls. Nonetheless, I felt pretty strong.

Unfortunately, the remainder of the Approach Trail kicked my butt, and it rained lightly as I hiked toward Springer Mountain. The trail’s steep inclines and rocks were definitely more than I expected.

Springer Mountain (Twice)

When I finally reached the top of Springer Mountain, I was surprised. I was the only one up there, and it wasn’t nearly as grand of a place as I envisioned in my mind. It’s just another small mountaintop with a few boulders and a small backcountry campsite nearby.

Then I saw the plaque indicating the AT’s southern terminus and the very FIRST white blaze (though it was pointing toward the campsite, NOT the actual trail). Well folks, I guess that means I made it all the way to the top and could start my “real” hike now.

While I stood there taking it in, I saw a metal handle in the side of the boulder showing me where the first official AT log was stored. But then I completely forgot about it as I took a bunch of photos of the summit to commemorate the start of my thru-hike.

When I put my camera away, I looked around to find the actual AT. But, there wasn’t a single tree with a white blaze to be seen. What the heck?!?

Through process of elimination, I figured out which way to go and headed off to the Springer Mountain shelter, where I sat and enjoyed my lunch. While eating, I suddenly remembered something! I completely forgot to sign the AT log at the summit. Doh!

So after lunch I backtracked southbound on the AT where ran into Sam once again. As it turns out, he also failed to sign the log, so we both headed back to the summit together to correct our error.

When we arrived for the second time, two other guys were standing around. I showed everyone where to find the log, and I even got someone to take my picture at the AT’s southern terminus (yeah!). Then I signed my real name and wrote “Sisu” next to it to remind me to be tough on this journey.

First miles on the AT

After finally completing that task, Sam and I hiked the trail together for a bit. As we headed toward the Stover Creek Shelter, he started oversharing about himself, and immediately disclosed that he’s bipolar. It seems like a weird thing to bring up right after you meet someone, but I’ll soon learn that’s typical on the AT. Small talk goes by the wayside pretty quick.

Once at the shelter, we couldn’t decide whether to stay or go. We’d put in 10+ miles, but it was only 3 pm. So, we linked up with two female hikers and head off to the next shelter – Hawk Mountain – which was another 6 miles down the trail.

By the time we all arrived at Hawk Mountain, there was a full crowd of about 15 people in tents or the shelter itself. After setting up and getting some water, I sat down over by the fire pit and start cooking dinner and getting to know the others around me.

It surprised me to find out this small group at the shelter contains six military veterans. In addition to Sam and I, there’s a Vietnam veteran, a Gulf War vet, and two other other OIF/OEF vets. It seems strange to have so many of us military folks out here, but it’s somewhat comforting in its familiarity.

---

Day 2

May 4, 2019

• Route: Hawk Mountain Shelter (mile 8.1) to Lance Creek Restoration Area (mile 24)
• Daily Mileage: 15.9 miles

I woke up today around 6:15 am after so-so sleep, and was on the trail by 7:10. Most the others were just stirring when I left, so I had a quiet trail to myself this morning.

The views were pretty nice, but I quickly realized I’m hiking much slower than I expected to be. On other trails in the past, I seemed to be able to keep a 3 mph pace. But, the AT is steeper and more difficult than I anticipated, and I’m struggling to hike at a mere 2.5 mph.

I made sure to do a better job of packing snacks in my pouches today too, so I can keep my energy up on the climbs. Yesterday I was running on pure adrenaline and realized I didn’t eat enough. I don’t want to make the same mistake today.

Rain, rain, go away

As I pushed toward Woody Gap, I started feeling some light rain hit the top of my head, and it only got stronger and harder. By the time I reached the parking lot at the gap, it started pouring rain.

Luckily, there was a small kiosk with a map and a decent sized roof overhang to sit down under to keep me semi-dry. And there was some trail magic too — a box of Krispy Kreme donuts — making it my first time getting goodies on the trail!

While I sat there, I hoped to wait out a short-lived thunderstorm, and broke out my stove to cook some lunch. Soon I was joined by several others hikers under the roof as the rain really poured hard down around us.

Then small pea-sized hail started pelting the ground!! This was surreal. It was May and hailing in Georgia!

The storm seemed to break after 20 minutes and some of my fellow hikers headed up the trail. Before I could join them, ‘Round 2’ of the storm hit, and more torrential rain started falling.

One of the hikers who joined me was a real chatterbox and just couldn’t stop talking about his hiking exploits over the past 35 years. I tried not to make eye contact while he regaled the others with his stories.

He and a few others finally decided to call a nearby hostel for a ride so they could wait out the afternoon rain there. I felt relieved when they finally left. I know I shouldn’t be so judgmental out here on the AT, but…it’s hard.

Time to get wet

After hanging out another 25 minutes, I realized the rain wasn’t going to stop anytime soon, so I needed to get hiking. I put on my rain pants and pulled out the umbrella and set down the trail.

The umbrella was a great choice, and the storm was not nearly as bad as I feared. My chest and head stayed dry, and it was warm enough out that I didn’t really care about the rest of me getting wet.

As the rain dropped down to a drizzle, I made it to the Lance Creek Restoration area and had a hard choice to make. I’d hiked close to 16 miles that day and I was on the cusp of Jarrad Gap, where I’d need that dang bear canister.

My choices were: (1) make camp here and call it a day; or (2) push another 7 miles to Neels Gap.

Option 2 wasn’t really viable though, and I knew it. I’d have to hike another 3+ hours AND go up and over Blood Mountain (the highest point the AT crosses within Georgia) in the process.

It was already close to 4 pm, so it seemed like a smarter choice to call it a day at 15.9 miles than to try to push for 23 miles on my second day on trail.

Baltimore Charlotte & Jack

In the end, I’m so glad I decided to stay at Lance Creek.

First off, I met a couple from New Hampshire who shared with me that Top of Georgia (TOG) hostel had unexpectedly closed for the season as of May 1st. That sucked! Stopping at TOG had been part of my food resupply plan and their shuttle was how I planned to get into Hiawassee. That wasn’t going to work now, so it was time to figure out plan B.

I also got the chance to meet Baltimore Charlotte and her service dog Jack. I passed them both on my way to Lance Creek in the rain. Charlotte was wearing ACU pants, so I assumed she had some affiliation with the military. And Jack was wearing a dog pack that said “service dog” (as opposed to the many hikers out hiking with their pet dogs).

It turns out Charlotte is an Army vet who currently works in Baltimore as a mentor in the Veteran’s Treatment Courts. We really enjoyed getting to know each other and had a great time talking at camp. It was definitely time better spent than hiking another 7 miles today. My only regret is I didn’t get a photo of Charlotte and Jack 🙁

---

Day 3

May 5, 2019

• Route: Lance Creek Restoration Shelter (mile 24) to Low Gap Shelter (mile 42.8)
• Daily Mileage: 18.8 miles

It rained all night, and by morning I realized the tent pad I set up on was in a really poor location. It was next to a steep hill, and mud had run down over the hill and just caked the side of my tent and my rain fly. What a gross mess to pack up and carry.

The rain kept up in the early morning, and I didn’t make it on the trail until nearly 8:45 am. That’s a later start than I really wanted. I probably need to start developing a bit of a schedule out here so I’m not stuck hiking after dark.

Tackling Blood Mountain

As it turns out, the hike up Blood Mountain was to slow, and I’m really glad I didn’t attempt it last night on the end of a 16-mile day.

When I finally made it to the shelter at the top of the mountain, there was an entire group of Boy Scouts inside taking a break inside. They were all animated and excited because they’d recently seen a black bear, but soon they cleared out.

There were also some hikers who spent the night in the shelter to try to stay dry and warm during the cold, rainy night. The shelter is made of stone, and while it kept them dry, it was fairly dank and cold even in mid-morning.

One of the hikers who spend the night there claims the building was struck by lightening in the evening, and several hikers resting against one of the wall felt the sting of the electricity run through them. I’m not sure I about the veracity of that claim, but the shelter is definitely exposed up there.

I parted ways with my fellow hikers as I headed down the trail north toward Neels Gap. As I started to descend, the trail went over a bunch of really slick rocks. I saw a white blaze on the rocks ahead of me, and started thinking this would be a really easy place to have a bad slip and fall.

No sooner did I have that thought, then that exact thing happened to me. My feet slipped out from under me and my trekking poles when flying. I fell backwards and put my arm out to break my fall and felt my right shoulder take the brunt of the force. Dang that hurt!!

Shaken, I dusted myself off and got back up. After finding my poles, I started to go back down the rock again while babying my sore shoulder. The last blaze I’d seen right before my fall was pointing straight down this wet rock. I was seriously miffed that the trail would go down such a treacherous path.

I carefully picked my way further and further down the rock face, but noticed I didn’t see any more blazes. I toyed with going back up again, because this route just didn’t seem right. Then again, this part of the trail was lousy with blazes. I often went much longer without seeing one than I thought was reasonable.

After 10 minutes of getting down the slick rock and finally reaching the treeline again at the bottom, I saw something white on the side of a tree.

It was a sign that read:

THIS IS NOT THE AT. GO BACK UP AND TURN RIGHT AT THE TOP!

What the heck?? Are telling me I just made my way down this slippery wet rock face for NOTHING?!? How in the world did I miss a blaze telling me to turn all the way up at the top?

When finally I got back up to top of all the rocks, I saw the white blaze where I fell down. It was a single blaze pointed forward (i.e., down the rocks where I’d just come up from). There wasn’t anything telling me to turn left or right. What the heck?!

Apparently no one told the Georgia AT trail maintainers it’s traditional to mark 90 degree turns with TWO blazes. Apparently I was expected to be constantly looking around to the left and right at all the trees instead of at the white blaze on the ground and the slippery rocks I was walking over. Jeez!

This was not a great start to my AT adventure!

Neels Gap

Once I was back on the correct trail, I started the steep descent down to Neels Gap and Mountain Crossing Outfitters. The route was super slow going, but I made it down in time for lunch and some really nice views.

Neels Gap is one of those major milestones for AT hikers. At 31.1 miles (or right at 40 miles if you happened to hike the Approach Trail), you have a good feel for what is working and what isn’t.

This is a place where many hikers change out their gear – often buying bigger shoes because their feet have swollen an extra size and/or buying warmer clothes and gear. The gear shop even does free shakedowns of your pack so you can mail any extraneous items back home that might be unnecessarily weighing you down.

Neels Gap is also one of those notorious place where some thru-hikers quit because the AT was not what they expected. There’s a giant tree in front of the outfitter filled with shoes and boots of people who called off their hike right there.

But, I’m feeling pretty good about the trail. I played it smart yesterday and didn’t push too far. I’ve braved my first major rain (and hail) storm. I’ve fallen and gotten back up. I’ve even gotten a bit off trail.

I think I might still be in this for the long haul!

Wildcat Mountain

No sooner did I pat myself on the back about continuing on the trail, when the AT threw another challenge at me… Wildcat Mountain.

Although this climb from Tesnatee Gap to the top of the mountain is only 0.5 miles long, it was a brutal. The steep switchbacks had me cursing the state of Georgia out loud.

I wasn’t the only one irritated either. This bit of trail was when I first encountered Stars & Bars (more on them below) who whole-heartedly agreed this particular mountain really sucked!

I was so winded at the top of Wildcat Mountain that I considered calling it a day at the Whitley Gap shelter. Then I saw that the shelter was 1.2 miles off trail. Nope! I am not walking that far off trail for any shelter. So, I kept on until going.

Next up was Low Gap shelter, which was only slightly off trail and with plenty of camping spots nearby too. I went down to grab some water from the stream, and that’s when I noticed a group a section hikers in their 50s and 60s with all their stuff sprawled out in the shelter.

I glanced over to the shelter’s picnic table too and noticed they had a bottle of Jim Beam and a second bottle of Wild Turkey. At that sight, all I could think was, “Who carries a heavy bottle of Wild Turkey all the way out here?!?” Friggin Georgia section hikers! I decided to give them a wide berth and camped up near some hikers way up near the trail instead.

---

Day 4

May 6, 2019

• Route: Low Gap Shelter (mile 42.7) to Unicoi Gap (mile 52.5)
• Daily Mileage: 9.7 miles

I slept absolutely horribly last night. When it got cold in the early morning hours, one of the section hikers near me decided to pull out her emergency foil blanket and wrapped herself in it like a baked potato.

Apparently she felt she really needed it to survive the night in 40 degree weather. So, every time she moved, all I could hear was *crinkle*, *crinkle*, *crinkle*. It was like having someone eating a bag of potato chips right next you all night long.

As I lay there awake half the night, I started thinking more and more about my resupply plan. I’d brought enough food to theoretically get me to Hiawassee near mile 69.

However, now that I knew TOG was closed for the season, there didn’t seem to be any reason to go to Hiawassee over any other trail town. Back in April, we’d come out to the AT to do a little trail magic at Unicoi Gap, and drove a hiker into the town of Helen for his resupply.

That’s when I discovered Helen was the cutest little place, with all the buildings made up to look like a Alpine or Bavarian town. I’d hope to see it again in closer detail some day, but assumed I’d bypass it while I was on the AT in favor of TOG and their shuttle into Hiawassee.

With TOG closed, I had no reason to race past Helen. I could resupply there instead of Hiawasee. And so I made a plan to stop at Unicoi Gap and take a break in Helen after just 9.7 miles of hiking. I could get a bed, shower, and resupply. I could even lay out my tent and get all the mud off it from Lance Creek two nights ago.

Helen, GA

When I arrived at the parking lot at Unicoi Gap there was a shuttle dropping someone off. What luck! Then, I asked how much it would be to get into Helen, and she quoted me $40! WTF? That’s highway robbery!

The driver claimed she was based out of Hiawassee and the 9-mile drive from Unicoi Gap to Helen was just too far out of her way to do it for less money. Hmmmm. Thanks, but no thanks.

I decided to take my chances with hitchhiking instead. I’ve never hitched before, but I knew the towns near the AT were used to hikers looking for rides, so I was going to give it a try.

The biggest downside to my plan was that the Unicoi Gap parking lot was on the wrong side of the road. It would be easy for driver’s going to west to Hiawassee to pull over, but not for those going in the opposite direction to Helen.

I put my thumb out nonetheless, and had several eastbound cars blow past without even slowing. Then a truck pulled into the lot. I walked over and asked for a hitch to Helen.

It turns out he was actually a day hiker coming to Unicoi Gap to go hiking that afternoon, but he agreed to drop me in Helen before he got on the trail. And so I had my ride to Helen!

---

Day 5

May 7, 2019

• Route: Unicoi Gap (mile 52.5) to Plum Orchard Gap (mile 73.7)
• Daily Mileage: 21.2 miles

After taking my ‘near-o’ into Helen, I felt like I needed to make up for it with a big day of hiking. Unfortunately, my mileage goal for the day had several obstacles. Namely, Tray Mountain, Kelly Knob, and Buzzard Knob.

These three peaks were typical Georgia terrain. Straight up, straight down. As I got to the top of Kelly Knob, I was physically spent. And so were all the three other hikers sitting on a fallen log breathing heavily and trying to eat.

Honor Hike

The summit of Kelly Knob is where I ran into Jeremy (aka Stars of the “Stars and Bars” hiking duo) again. Sitting up on a log trying to catch my breath, I was starting to think he was my bad luck charm. First, we met up on the dreaded Wildcat Mountain. Now, we’re back together again on Kelly Knob. He seemed to only show up near me on THE hardest climbs.

But then I noticed he had a ‘thin blue line’ flag next to him and asked about it. As the daughter of a retired police officer, I immediately recognized what it was and was curious why he was hiking with it.

As it turns out, Stars and his brother-in-law Jeff (aka Bars) were both law enforcement officers from California hiking for Honor Hike to honor the memory of last year’s fallen officers.

Stars was carrying the flag and a bag full of dog tags. Each dog tag had the name of one of the 150+ fallen law enforcement officers from 2018, and they were hiking a mile on the AT in memory for each one. Wow!

Although they started the hike together, Jeff developed an infection in his foot, shortly after Wildcat Mountain, so he had to take some time off. But, I was impressed with their dedication and interesting story.

Getting my trail name

Day 5 was a long, long day. I hiked late into the early evening and showed up completely spent when I arrived at Orchard Gap. This was my first 20+ mile day and the steep terrain took everything out of me.

As I approached the shelter, I was genuinely surprised to see good old Sam (from Day 1) sitting there hanging out. I hadn’t seen him since our very first shelter! When I popped into Helen yesterday, he was able to leapfrog ahead of me.

Sam introduced me to a young couple from Maine, who he’d affectionately referred to as the “Maine-iacs” due to their penchant for hiking big miles and their super fast pace. He then introduced me to them as “Sisu,” since that is what I wrote next to my name in the log up on Springer Mountain.

Even though he didn’t know my beloved history with the Finnish word Sisu, I willingly accepted it as my official trail name for the AT at the end of Day 5.

---

Day 6

May 8, 2019

• Route: Plum Orchard Gap (mile 73.7) to Carter Gap (mile 93.5)
• Daily Milege: 19.8 miles

After settling into my tent last night and nearly passing out from exhaustion, I heard two more hikers roll in to the shelter after dark. I could overhear them introducing themselves to Sam – who was the only hiker staying in the shelter – and they said their trail names were Luna and Squirrel.

Apparently, they’d gone into Hiawassee that day to resupply and didn’t leave town until late. So they did some night hiking to the shelter and arrived after dark.

Luna was a prospective Triple Crowner who was attempting the AT after already completing the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) and Continental Divide Trail (CDT). Meanwhile, Squirrel was a first time thru-hiker visiting from Germany.

I didn’t properly meet them until breakfast, and our morning introductions were brief because I was really looking forward to the next few miles of trail. That’s because in less than 5 miles, I’d finally be out of Georgia!!

North Carolina

The hike out of Georgia went slow, and I had some knee pain the entire way. Perhaps yesterday’s 21-mile day was too far. I need to dial it back and stick to 15-20 mile days instead.

Unfortunately, the only shelter options for today’s section of the trail are at 12.4 miles or 20 miles. Neither one is a great option to fulfill that particular mileage goal.

At the North Carolina border, I called Keith to celebrate and discovered I had a voicemail from the Veterans’ Administration trying to schedule my physical for my VA claim.

I knew the was coming, but the idea of taking time off trail and interrupting my momentum this early on in my thru-hike was something I was dreading.

As luck would have it though, I discovered I won’t need to get off trail until week 6 for that little obligation. No need to fret about lost momentum until after mile 600 (hopefully!).

Pushing on

The afternoon climb up Standing Indian Mountain was easier than expected and better graded than most the mountains in Georgia. As a result, I got to the shelter near the top pretty early.

Rather than stay there I pushed on toward one of the tent sites further down the trail. Of course, as hikers will often do, I started doing the mental math of how many miles until my next resupply (Franklin, NC) while I was hiking there.

And so when I got to the designated campsite, I decided to keep pushing all the way to the shelter, just to make it easier to catch the shuttle into Franklin tomorrow. So much for my earlier plan to take it easy on the mileage, right?

When I finally got to the Carter Gap shelter, I caught up to the Maine-iacs as well as three ladies in their 60s who were out section hiking. They all got plenty of entertainment too as they watched me tiredly toss my rock bag toward a branch to hang my bear bag that evening.

Unlike Georgia, there are no bear boxes near the shelters in North Carolina. Nor were there any bear cables or a privy at this particular shelter. So perhaps Georgia had some redeeming qualities after all…

---

Day 7

May 9, 2019

• Route: Carter Gap (mile 93.5) to Winding Stair Gap (mile 109.3)
• Daily Mileage: 15.9 miles

It rained most of the night and was windy. Luckily I got up to grab my hiking clothes off the line around 10 pm, so they weren’t hanging there getting soaked overnight.

Moreover, I was packed and out on the trail by 8 am because I really wanted to catch the $3 afternoon shuttle into Franklin for my resupply. The town shuttle comes to two locations – Rock Gap and Winding Stair Gap – and I wanted to push myself to make it to the further trailhead if possible.

The hiking there was pretty moderate too, with the exception to the hike to the top of Albert Mountain. Getting to the summit of the mountain involves a very steep rock scramble, but there’s also a fire tower with great views. It’s also a great way to commemorate hiking 100 miles on the AT.

On my way to Albert Mountain, I also ran into the infamous Ron Haven (owner of Baltimore Jack’s hostel in Franklin) while he was out dropping off a hiker. He was an extremely nice and chatty fellow and seemed to genuinely love his role with the trail community.

Without too much strain, I made Winding Stair Gap with about 20 minutes to spare. Then I set off for a night in Franklin to wash clothes, resupply my food bag, and take a shower. Sleeping in a real bed wasn’t too bad either!

---

Week 1 Overview

And so my first week started in Amicalola Falls State Park, GA and wrapped up in Franklin, NC with the following stats:

• Lowest mileage day: 9.7 miles
• Highest mileage day: 21.2 miles
• Number of AT shelters slept in: 0
• Number of town resupplies: 2
• Number of days with some rainfall: 4
• Number of days with hail: 1
• Total miles hiked: 118.1 (109.3 miles on the AT + 8.8 miles on the Approach Trail)