April 14th – Springer Mt. To Hawk Mtn. Shelter
Total miles on AT – 8.1
Elevation gain – 690 ft (1122 including hike up Springer from parking lot)
Elevation loss – 1278ft
Weather: overcast and cool

It’s real tonight. Last night sleeping in a hotel in Gainesville, GA it wasn’t real, but tonight sleeping in my tent at Hawk Mountain Shelter it’s real. There are too many people here, an unbelievable amount, way more than when I was here 19 years ago. People are using their cells to check in at home. I met a few people today but I miss everyone off the trail already. Never ever was I even close to this lonely traveling around the world. Thoughts of quitting are already filling me up. But I left work behind to do this and to do it right where I won’t have to rush to finish in mid August. I have made this a priority and I’ll see it to the end. I think once spring hits and leaves come out it will be better. Wait…on second thought…I have been this desperately lonely – on that first night in Agra, India my first night alone in that country. I recovered from that so maybe there’s hope.

I haven’t done anything in the past 16 days since my final hike in New Zealand. I should have at least stretched. I was so tight today. My right knee wouldn’t warm up and then my right hip even got sore.

Boy, some of these cell phones are loud. They have them on speaker phone and I can here them 75 yards away. What a different place the trail is compared to when I grew up. Planes fly overhead incessantly taking away any sense of wilderness feel. But that cell! Wow!

I forgot to pack my spork so I ate my macaroni with a jagged sharp Swiss Army knife.

I got pictures with Mom and Dad at Big Stamp Gap about a mile from the top of Springer. Dad accompanied me a couple hundred yards. I went a few more couple hundred yards but then rushed back to the car to catch them before they left because I forgot my camelback – I would have had nothing to carry water with! Not a great start. Then I trudged up to Springer visiting the Springer Mtn. Shelter beforehand. It didn’t look familiar from 19 years ago when I hiked the first 200 miles of the trail. I got videos and pictures from the top and left the summit at 11:15. I arrived at Hawk Mtn. at 4:15.

I felt so slow today. I just couldn’t warm up, and my knees bothered me all day. It was a bit nightmarish and very worrisome.

At least it became sunny and warm after starting out in overcast weather in the high 40s.

Hawk Mtn. Shelter does not look how I remember it either. I wonder if they have moved the locations in the past 19 years.

I can’t believe I’ll be away from family and friends for the next five months. They’re so much closer geographically than when I was halfway around the world, which for some reason makes me miss them all the more. Five months is a long time!

April 15th Hawk Mtn. Shelter to Lance Creek
Total miles on AT – 16.2
Elevation gain – 2136ft
Elevation loss – 2462ft
Weather: partly sunny and mild

Man, how things can change quickly. I went from desperation last night to settling right in on day 2. I was not tight today and was able to cover a lot of ground. It was easy hiking in that there were very few rocks and roots, unlike yesterday. Boy, I was In a bad place last night. I looked at how much I had covered (8.1 miles) and how much I had left to go (2181.0 miles) and it was just so daunting, so overwhelming, especially when, judging from yesterday, I didn’t think I would be able to cover more than 8 miles a day here at the start.

I experienced my first trail magic at Woody Gap. Woody Gap is where I hiked 2 or 3 years ago when I did my Georgia football road trip. On that hike I went up to where I am camping tonight. This time around, there was a huge Porsche gathering along the Woody Gap road. I had heard them roaring up and down the mountain roads well before I even got to Woody Gap.

There was a guy at Woody Gap who had thru-hiked last year and was giving people alcoholic drinks and made burgers. I missed the burgers but had a Jameson and ginger ale. Funny enough, it was the ice cubes I was most thankful for since I found no trace of water at Woody Gap like my guide had said there would be.

I met Alex “2.0” tonight at Lance Creek Campground who had made a fire and I was happy to share it with him. 2.0 is from Augusta, GA. I thought for some reason he said Augusta, Maine and went on about my family’s place at Cold Spring Farm, and told him where it was and was shocked when he said his Maine geography wasn’t that strong. He wants to teach ESL and already has a certificate so we talked about good locations around the world to teach for a young guy with no experience.

My major motivation right now is to get to the middle of the Smokies in time for my good buddy’s bachelor party weekend. I am thinking that I will be able to make it to Gatlinburg in 15 days after all as long as I keep stretching and taking my protein and healthy vitamin and mineral powder. The green vitamin powder actually doesn’t taste that bad.

It was sunny most of the day and made for good hiking weather. I met a group of hikers going to the hostel from Woody Gap, but I was glad I pushed on. So many planes fly over at night and I have to take an antihistamine every evening to calm myself. Hopefully I can find more peace out here with all that.

I’m going to try to do another 14 tomorrow. It’s already 10 o’clock so I should try and get some sleep. I’ll do some more stretching before I go to close my eyes. Hopefully I can get an earlier start tomorrow. I slept over 11 hours last night. Yikes! I guess that’s mostly the antihistamine. Hope to meet more interesting people tomorrow. Kinda sucks to have to pass everyone. I guess I’ll have to make most of my friends after Gatlinburg.

The homesickness is much better tonight. Man I thought was in real trouble there last night. Bottom line – there were just too many people at that shelter. maybe 50? Who knows. I think I might continue to avoid staying in shelters until I get to know people better. There’s no chance to write in shelters because my headlamp and the tic tic of my iPad mini would keep everyone up. But it takes a while to set up and take down my tent – that’s the only disadvantage.

April 16th Lance Creek to Low Gap Shelter
Total miles on AT – 18.9
Elevation gain – 3398ft
Elevation loss – 3237ft
Weather: clear and warm

18.9 miles today? Are you kidding me? And after a 16.2 mile day? It’s all 2.0’s fault. He pushed me to do it. I hope I can walk tomorrow. I mean literally I hope can even walk. I am now ahead of schedule to get to Gatlinburg in time for Mike’s bachelor party weekend. What a turn of events. It was perfectly clear all day without a cloud in the sky.

I met Don Juan in the morning. He’s from south of San Antonio. He was struggling up Sassafras Mt. He said he just wasn’t used to the altitude. Now someone who says that – do they mean they are not used to climbing hills or do they really think that being up at 3500ft is affecting their blood and ability to breathe? Because I don’t think it really does. I’m glad I came in to the trail in shape.

Soon after, I met Alex 1.0. Alex 1.0 was with a woman named Matti. Hopefully I’ll see some of them down the trail, but I just keep passing people, except for 2.0 who left before me but whom I caught up with at Neil’s Gap. On our 11.5 mile afternoon hike (without stopping for over 4 and a half hours) we caught up with Taser, so called because he had a taser in his pack when he first started. This is day 6 for him because he started with 60 pounds on his back. He’s down to 40 now and he was able to keep up with 2.0 even all the way to Low Gap. It must have felt good for him to get in a 14/15 mile day. He is a 21 year old electrician who uses the “F” word in every sentence and he is a bit of a nervous chatty, but nice and well-meaning.

I was able to get out of Neil’s Gap only blowing 32 dollars. I got a new spork, two expensive dinner packets, a carabiner, some pop tarts, and I warmed up a cheeseburger, and bought another sandwich.

My face and neck burned today. I hadn’t bought any sunblock because I thought the sun wouldn’t be that strong in April in Georgia, especially since I just came from summer in Australia and New Zealand. Mistake. No one can hike a perfect thru hike their first time around I suppose.

I hope to get into town tomorrow – Hiawassee – to resupply for four days to Franklin, NC. Got to keep stretching so that I don’t stiffen up. It’s been a long two days. Only going to do 9.7 miles tomorrow. But I need to have a productive time in town and get things done.

Despite the warmer temps today, mainly due to the sun, it got chilly when the sun went down. My tent has done a good job keeping in the warmth and I am happy to have it. Many other people just have hammocks. I hate sleeping in a hammock.

Hope to meet some people tomorrow that I can maybe share a ride into town with and maybe even a hotel room. Hiking all afternoon with 2.0 I finally feel like I’ve made a connection. So many folks have already started to form hiker cliques.

April 17th Low Gap Shelter to Unicoi Gap (night in Hiawassee)
Total miles on AT – 9.7
Elevation gain – 1204
Elevation loss – 1284
Weather: clear and warm

I didn’t sleep quite as soundly last night. It was chilly and I get claustrophobic in my mummy sleeping bag. I don’t like it at all. I couldn’t get my arms free and I couldn’t find the zipper and my head would get lost in the hood. It felt like drowning.

I got going at ten after 9:00 this morning and my left big toe really bothered me throughout the morning. It started to hurt yesterday. I thought maybe I had turf toe although I am not sure what that means. It got a little better in the afternoon. I met Bigfoot who was hiking barefoot because he sprained an ankle the first day. His feet were indeed huge.

I had lunch at Blue Mountain Shelter just after the 50 mile mark with two French Canadian women and their dog. The dog spooked me. And dogs continue to be spooked by me. Yesterday a dog on Blood Mountain freaked out in my presence to the surprise of its owner.

I met the infamous “Chuckwagon.” He has been camping out at different parts of the trail and doing trail magic for people. Now he is offerings rides into town for a certain amount. He has a huge personality, a little much to take a first. I’m not sure what his motivation is for being out here. I ran into him as he was walking up from Unicoi Gap. He was shirtless showing off a stout and strong unshapely figure.

I arrived at Unicoi Gap at the same time as “Train” and right behind us was a day hiker, a Vietnamese post doc student at the university of Georgia. He offered us a ride into town. Trail magic!

I had an audible panic attack in the car and had to explain myself. I am rooming with Train tonight at the Budget Inn. Train is a 65 year-old man from Williamsport, PA who now lives in Fort Myers. He has talked numerous times of being anxious at night while not on the trail. He misses his wife.

I pigged out at an all-you-can-eat buffet where I met thru-hikers by the names of Sassy, Friskie, The Chef, and Burrito-Hammock. We had a nice time laughing together.

I might be the only person who has actually added to his pack while on the trail. I bought two hats today – a red cap when I couldn’t find a full-brimmed hat, and a black hat with a full brim that I saw later at a pharmacy.

I saw a horrible license plate at the Budget Inn. it was a confederate flag. On the top it said, “I had a dream.” On the bottom it said, “We need change.” Is this really the country I am from? I swear I feel more like a fish out of water in the backcountry American South than anywhere I have visited around the world.

I got a nice message from Brian Egan today about his friend who almost completed the AT in 2010. He took his life three years later. Brian asked if I could carry his spirit through the section he did not complete – Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee.

Onward and northward…