Date: 2015-03-27
From: Amicolola Falls

To: Neel's Gap
Miles today: 39.0
Weather: light rain

Journal entry day one:Got dropped off at the visitor center near Springer Mtn today! My frands drove me all the way up from Florida and decked me out with a Mickey musketeer pin and some "magical flames" for the fire so I could be cool. I also chopped all of my hair off today. I've been going back and forth about it and my friends convinced me. I basically have a Pixie cut. It's soooo weird not having that much hair. I keep running my hands through it. I feel good about it but I think that might be because there aren't any mirrors In the woods. Hah We arrived kind of late so I ended up staying at the shelter there. It was a pretty nice and clean shelter with a closed front! Not what I had been expecting. I made a friend there and we talked all about gear and such. We went to the bathroom around midnight and found a little kitty who followed us around for a while. I wanted to cuddle to sleep with it but we left it outside. Haha. Other than not being able to sleep the entire night it was a pretty good first night!Day two: So I weighed my pack and its around 45 with water. ?? I know I need to get rid of some things but I can't decide what. I'm also carrying ten days worth of food so I know that adds just a little more weight than normal. I'm trying to cut my town time in half by carrying more food. I woke up around 7:30 and packed up and ate breakfast. I have a wood burning stove so it was kinda tricky but pretty good for the first time using it. I'm using cotton balls and Vaseline as a fire starter. I'm hoping to really work on my fire craft so I can get my water completely boiling. I cooked three times throughout the day and for just starting I'm feeling pretty good about it. I just need to make sure I collect dry wood and leaves so I don't have to worry about rain. I also think I'm going to get some pb sandwich stuff for lunch when I go into town so that I only use the stove twice. The approach trail was so hard!! The combination of pack weight, being out of shape, and the steep ascents made it a pretty rough day. The start of the trail was a gorgeous waterfall though. So that was pretty neat. (Minus the hundreds of stairs). I took it pretty slow with lots of breaks and ended up setting up camp at the shelter a mile before the official start of the AT. I'm going to have to get used to the strenuous exercise and carrying a heavy pack and pick up my pace, but overall I'm feeling pretty good!! ) Day three: did around 10 miles today to hawk mountain shelter! It rained off and on all day my stuff got pretty wet. I went for the no pack cover approach because I'd heard they don't really work. But after seeing everyone with them I started to think maybe they're just better than nothing so I will definitely be getting one next time I go into town. I made it to springer in roughly an hour and had the amazing view!! I had my phone buried so I didn't get a picture but I will be keeping my phone in my pocket from now on. The next four ish miles after springer were fairly easy and downhill which was a great break from the grueling approach trail. After that it was as to be expected. I'm definitely having trouble with the elevations but hopefully in a couple weeks to a month it'll be like nothing to me! Or at least I won't have to take so many breaks. My pack was a little more bearable today. I've figured out how to adjust the straps for optimum comfort. The night was rainy and wet and cold and I was pretty miserable. Day four: I rushed to get the heck out of camp today at 8:30 since I spent the whole night shivering coughing and wet. The stink of my clothes and everything are really starting to bother me too. But other than those discomforts today was pretty dang good. The sun decided to come out all day and it was beautiful!! Not too hot or too cold. The views were really gorgeous and I loved how even though I'm only hiking a small section there is so much diversity In the forest. Always something new to see! The hike had some tough inclines but overall the hiking is getting easier. I even got into camp before five today so I was pretty happy. I did around 8 miles to gooch mountain shelter. I also finally boiled water on my wood stove (twice!!!) which I was very proud of. But I'm definitely switching to a gas stove. My wonderful mother is sending me one whenever I go into town next. Hopefully that'll make cooking easier and faster so I'm more inclined to eat breakfast and lunch. I've basically been surviving on my granola bars and trail mix so I only hAve to cook dinner. Tomorrow I'm going to try to book it into lance creek to camp and then get up early to try to get into neels gap where hopefully I'll be sharing a cabin with a mother and daughter I met on the trail!! I'm ready to shower and do my laundry and relax!!! Day five: Made it to lance creek today! I think it was around a ten mile day, the longest so far but it didn't feel like it! The trail was pretty descent with only a few steep climbs and mostly downhill or slight inclines. I can feel myself getting stronger and stronger!! I even beat a few people into camp today. Lol. I've been taking fewer breaks since I'm a slower hiker than most. There were so many people headed for this camp site that I made sure to book it so I could get a spot. The weather was so nice today!! So sunny and the wind was perfect. I'm getting pretty sunburned though so I will definitely be using sunscreen from now on. I got into camp pretty early tonight and have done all of my cooking cleaning and other chores and am all settled in by 6! Now if only I can get out of camp sooner. I don't feel like I take too long in the morning but everyone is usually out before me. I know some people get up before the light but I'm still a little spooked about the dark. A couple from San Diego(!! Ocean Beach no less!!) taught me how to put my food bags up in the trees today with rope! We've had bear cables up until this point. Fingers crossed no bears get it and eat all my food! Other than the minor discomforts I'm feeling really great about the trail. All of the people are so freaking friendly it's very hard to feel alone out here even though I'm hiking alone. I'm just having trouble remembering names and faces. I also hit some trail magic in Gooch Gap today. I skipped the meal but got a wonderful Apple from some nice girls. I ate it for lunch and it was the most delicious apple I've ever had. I heard it's supposed to rain tonight and the next two days. I'll just have to deal with it on the hike into neels gap tomorrow and then hopefully with be tucked in a nice little cabin with electricity and showers and laundry and non trail food for the worst of the storm. I am soooooo excited. I have never been this dirty or smelly in my entire life. Hopefully they have what I want, but I have already planned out my off trail meal: lemonade, hot strong coffee, and a turkey sandwich with lettuce and tomato and mustard. I also plan on getting some better meals for the trail. I'm going to try to get stuff I don't have to cook for breakfast and lunch. I will also be charging my phone and indulging in as much internet and music as possible. I've been listening to a couple songs a night before I go to bed. Well I'm going to read my Sherwood book and get some zzz's. Hopefully I don't get eaten by a wild animal in the night before I get to enjoy neels gap!!(PS I write these journals daily but obviously I can't post them until I have Internet so they might be repetitive since I post them all at once. Sorry!!)Day six: today was pretty rough. It was only 7 miles into neels gap but it was five miles walking brutally up blood mountain and then two walking down at a crazy steep descent. But I made it to neels gap by three!! It was so amazing. We ended up getting a cabin at blood mountain cabins and made frozen pizza for dinner and I got to shower and do laundry and get on wifi to Internet. I also had soda which was amazing. We tried to hitch into town for restock but couldn't get a ride. But I should have enough food until we get near to hiawassee. There's some stuff here to stock up on but its a little pricey. It's been a pretty nice night and I'm dreading the leaving tomorrow. But it looks like the weather should be fairly nice this week so that's great! I'm going to stay up and read and snuggle in my gigantic bed. Hopefully I'll get a great nights rest!