Date: 2013-04-01
From: Springer Mt

To: Hightower Gap
Miles today: 8.6
Weather: clear sky

What a wonderful day! There really are not words to describe how beautiful it is here on the trail, and how great it feels to be out here. I was sitting on a little wooden bridge at Three Forks with my shoes and socks off, eating a Reese's cup, and a hiker gentleman came along and we struck up a little conversation, in the way that hikers do. I don't remember what he asked me or what prompted my comment, but I said to him, "Life is absolutely perfect. At this moment, everything is perfect." I said it sort of light-heartedly, almost in jest, but I realized after he walked on that I meant it. At that moment, in the warm sunshine with a cool breeze, sitting at a beautiful little tumbling creek and looking at the mountains all around and the blue blue sky and the rhododendrons growing all the bank, that life really was perfect!Here is how today went: Mike and I woke up at the Days Inn and hurriedly got our stuff into the Jeep and got breakfast at a local restaurant. Then we went to the Hiker Hostel where I met fellow Summit Sisters Patti and Sydney (trail name Tic Tac), ladies I had corresponded with online but never met. Everyone loaded into the hostel van and Mike and I followed in the Jeep, up a scarey set of roads--steep, bumpy, curvy, narrow, etc. All gravel, of course. Finally we got to the summit of Springer Mt, and walked the 0.9 mile from the parking lot to the true summit, which is the beginning of the AT. We lingered there for a while, lots of photo ops, and we met another Summit Sister, Janet (trail name Slow and Steady, although I would say that she is faster than me.) The weather was pitch-perfect. Then we hiked the 0.9 mile back to the parking lot, where I said goodbye to Mike, and the less said about that, the better. It was hard. I walked on alone, and it felt weird. I have never hiked alone before, and I realized my safety net is gone, and it's all on me now. Then,,,,,I hiked. And I hiked and I hiked. It was a gentle downhill down Springer Mt, then up and over Hawk Mt, which also was a rather gentle grade. At the bottom of Hawk Mt. is Hightower Gap, and the hostel van was waiting there for us. I was the last one to arrive, about 25 minutes later than our agreed-on meeting time. I am very slow. No one made me feel bad about it, and now I am back at the hostel and I've had a shower and a trip to Wally World for peanut butter and jelly and bread and bananas, my suppers for the rest of the week. I can't say enough good about the Hiker Hostel, or about slackpacking. The hostel is warm and welcoming, well-run, comfortable, and immaculately clean. Slackpacking is a great way to start the hike. It I had the Green Monster on my back (my full pack) I would probably still be out there. I was amazed that hikers flew past me like I was standing still, with their full packs on, and me with my light day pack. I definitely do NOT have trail legs yet. A word about "crowds" and the trail. I have always heard that the trail is crowded in the spring, with everyone starting at about the same time, at the same place. Yes, I did see people today, but most of the time I was hiking alone, and could go for a very long time without seeing anyone at all. It didn't "feel" crowded, compared to crowded in other situations. I feel good. I have bad knees, and they took a lot of stress today with all the climbing, and especially the descents. But I got knee braces at a drug store, and between the braces and vitamin I (ibuprofen) they feel good. My plantar fasciitis started squeeking at me, just a bit, but that stopped too. My feet feel good. Oh, and I had to buy sunblock at the store tonight! Between the high elevation, no leaf cover this early in spring, and a gorgeous sun, I am definitely pink. As I came down from Springer into the parking lot, there was a nice guy named Mountain Squid who told me I was getting pink, and gave me some sunblock. I guess that qualifies as my first trail magic! (For my non-hiking family and friends, "trail magic" is the term for acts of kindness from "trail angels", or just incidents of serendipity that seem to happen to hikers. Often there are just great people who leave coolers full of beverages in ice chests at road crossings, or even set up their grills and give food away to hungry hikers.Trail Magic!  Tomorrow, do about 11 miles, including climbs up and over Justus Mt, and Sassafras Mt., which I understand will be tougher climbs than today's mountains. Wish me luck! (Actually, I already feel very very lucky. Wish me safety.)