Date: 2014-04-17
From: Springer Mountain

To: Justus Creek
Miles today: 14.4
Weather: broken clouds

We're off!The good folks at Hiker Hostel dropped the three of us off on the AT 0.9 miles from the top of Springer. The only other person dropped off with us was Val, from Germany . Val took three months off from work just to hike the AT as far as he gets, with no specific goal other than to enjoy the experience. Pretty cool!We all hiked the 0.9 miles south to reach the summit, where we took a bunch of photos and I signed the register kept in a little box in the side of a rock. In the picture I'm holding a sign commemorating the 125th anniversary of Williamson - the incredible junior college trade school where Linda and I most recently served. Just before leaving home I grabbed the Purdue hat to bring for the photo op, but I couldn't find my USAFA '69 hat I had hoped to bring. (I'm still looking for other things in hiding from our recent move, too!)About a half mile from Springer, Sarah was surprised when the big rock next to her started moving.Our plans for the next few days are tricky since Linda will be day hiking and Sarah and I will be sleeping in my tent. So we have to coordinate shuttle pick up points and times at road crossings for Linda with campsites for Sarah and me. Today we hiked together to Horse gap at the 10.5 mile point, where Linda met her shuttle back to the Hiker Hostel at 4:30 (total of 11.4 miles hiking). Sarah and I continued on another 4 miles to Justus Creek where we set up our tent in a nice flat spot at the top of the bank. We saw lots of folks along the way. Some thru hiking, some day hiking, and some out for a few days. We leap frogged with Val throughout the day - I suspect he could have left us in the dust, but he was also meeting the shuttle at Horse Gap at 4:30. In his excitement of getting started this morning, he had left his trekking poles on the van. They were bringing them back to him when they picked up Linda. A couple of hours into our hike, a young woman came up from behind that I recognized. "Wired!" I had checked Trail Journals awhile ago to see who was also starting out today and recognized her name. I had seen her blog when she hiked the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) 4 years ago. She did the CDT last year, so this will complete her "triple crown." Wired slowed down a little to hike with us for a while and we all enjoyed getting to know each other a bit. When we reached a ridge and got cell coverage, Wired stopped for a break to send her blog update and we pressed on after calling the hostel to confirm Linda's pick up. Later on, Wired and a young guy who had blown by us earlier caught up with us. Harley hikes fast but likes to take afternoon naps. We had unknowingly passed him when he was taking a nap break in a sunny spot off the side of the trail. After a short chat, they took off down the trail ahead of us, perhaps never to be seen again???After seeing Linda off, Sarah and I had a couple of small mountains to hike over before the next water source at Justus Creek. We had thought about making it to the Gooch Mtn Shelter 1.6 miles further where there's water AND a privy, but it was getting close to sunset and we were tired. While Sarah made soup (she brought my Jetboil) I hiked up the ridge to see if I could get cell coverage to call Linda. I took both my AT&T cell phone and my Verizon tablet. There were 3 or 4 tents already set up above us. As I continued on the trail to go around the tents, one of campers starting waving her arms at me. It was Wired! She introduced me to two of the other campers, both young men thru hiking, but unfortunately I don't remember their names. All three had Verizon phones and were getting at least one bar at their tents or slightly uphill. I had nothing. On either device. So I climbed up to the top of the ridge. Still nothing. On either device. As I came down, Wired offered to let me use her phone, so I just had her send Linda a text for me. I'm really enjoying the good folks I'm meeting on the trail! :-)Sarah and I set up the tent with the awning facing the creek for a beautiful view. And we slept well with the sounds of the babbling brook singing us lullabies. A great first day on the trail! I was indescribably blessed to be able to share it with my amazing bride and our wonderful daughter!