Date: 2008-04-01
From: Springer Mountain

To: April Fool's Day- First Official Trail Day
Miles today: 14.8

April 1st, 2008 "APRIL FOOL"S DAY"14.8 miles to Gooch Shelter, 15.1 miles total AT. The phone rang abruptly, jolting me awake in a strange bed. My heart started pounding... this was it : my first official day on the trail. I laid there a moment trying to slow my heartbeat and gather my thoughts. We'd stayed the night at the Amicolola Falls Lodge in the loft suite. Judah and I had taken the steps down to the bottom of the falls the day before, after I'd had a short nap and before we had gone up Springer Mountain together. The falls there are gorgeous, and tumble hundreds of feet over practically vertical moss covered bedrock to the bottom.Later, at the top of Springer, Judah had signed the register after me at my urging. He wrote: "Judah Londo, 11 years old" (he's 10 but his birthday is the 20th)-- All the way within 3 years!" That raised his parents eyebrows - hum.... But now it was time to shoulder my pack and head for the trail. This was it! My first real day on the trail!! I was nervous, and my heart beat refused to slow to it's normal pace. I forced myself to eat breakfast, though I wasn't hungry. Outside it was still dark, and the fog so thick I couldn't see more than 30 feet, but into the fog I was bound! On the way out, we stopped at the visitor's center to weigh my pack. It wasn't open yet, but the scale was outside, so I hoisted it onto the hook and peered up anxiously to the result. 27 pounds with three days of food, 8 ounces of fuel and 3 liters of water on board. Not Bad! I felt a tinge of pride. I'd worked hard to make my lightweight gear and keep the things I was bringing to a minimum. I had hoped to come in under 25 pounds, but knew I'd polish off a liter of water in no time to make that weight. By the time we arrived back at the trail it was light and the fog not so dense. Final goodbye's were teary and I asked each of them to add a wish to my protection pouch, a beautiful leather pouch my friend Ginny had made me that carried things from my husband Oz and friends back home. It was then that Jeff took me by the shoulders and looked me in the eyes. He handed me a small slip of paper and said, "it's only a receipt, but what it stands for is this: always remember, wherever you are along the trail, I'm just a phone call away." I started to cry and hugged him. I didn't need to put the receipt in the pouch. His offer was already there, resting in my pouch over my heart. I felt a great relief, a lifting of tension and anxiety that had been hovering like a cloud since the phone rang that morning. Final hugs all around, and I turned and walked down the trail into the forest. It was a little before 7:30am. The hike was glorious. In the morning there was a misting, but it never really worked itself into a proper rain. There was a fog which gave the forest an ancient feel as I had the trail all to myself. Soon I was passing through a forest of rhododendrons with swelling buds. In a month or so the forest will be a riot of blooms. I saw three deer cross the trail and disappear into the fog and heard the rattle of wood peckers at various points as I walked. Soon I reached Steven Creek Shelter and ran into Oatmeal, Bone Lady and several other thru-hikers, but they were all having breakfast, so I hiked on alone.Later in the morning the fog burned off and it became a gorgeous sunny day. Along the way I met up with a fellow who's trail name was "Sugarfree Snail." He was stopped in the middle of the trail and didn't look well.  I found out he was diabetic and his blood sugar was extremely high. When you're blood sugar is really high your body has to take drastic measures and begins dumping sugar out in the urine to bring it down to safe levels in the blood. So you pee like a race horse! He was totally out of water at that point, so I offered to give him half of mine, but he said he'd be fine until the next water source and hiked on. But as more time and miles went by I started to worry about him. He'd told me he was only covering about 4 miles a day (he'd already been out there a couple of days!), and six miles had passed since I left him before I finally found water. By that time I was really worried. Given his condition, unless someone else had given him water he was definitely in trouble. So I called the folks at Amacolala Lodge to report his location and my concerns about his situation. I found out later in the day that he'd had to be medivac'd out by helicopter! I hope he's OK. My destination for the day was Gooch Mountain Shelter and when I reached Justus Creek a mile or so before it, I decided to wash up on my way in. At the shelter I met the following hikers: House the Cat, Peregres, Y2K, Joel, Lauren, Sea Bass and of course Bone Lady and Oatmeal. My first night out and a merry bunch indeed!