Date: 2007-03-12
From: Springer Mountain

To: Long Creek Falls
Miles today: 4.9

March 12, The Adventure BeginsToday was a perfect day to start hiking the Appalachian Trail. The day started when I woke up at 6:05 and checked my watch. Breakfast was at 7 a.m. so I started tearing down my bunk at the Hiker Hostel and getting ready. We had some eggs, french toast and orange juice - a great meal prepared by our hosts.After that, we all sort of chatted and waited for the shuttling to start. I weighed my pack and somehow it was 34 pounds. I'm still convinced that the scale wasn't accurate because my pack was 25 pounds at home without water and I only added 48 ounces of water. Ah well, at that point it didn't matter, it was all coming to Springer anyway.So, after figuring out rides and seeing the sunrise in the Hiker Hostel driveway, Michele and I hopped in a shuttle with a nice man from Texas, his daughter and her boyfriend, and Paul, our chauffer. The ride was nice and scenic and maybe a little too bumpy for Michele who I thought might get sick when we finally got out of the car (she didn't, no worries).After about an hour, we were at the parking lot on Springer Mountain. We needed to start by hiking 0.9 miles to the summit and then we could turn around and come back through the lot. Turns out we arrived at the same time as folks from the Georgia Appalachian Trail Crew so we got to start thanking them for their work right away. I was saying we had to hike 0.9 miles...?...so, we made it to the Springer summit and we were greeted by some great folks who recognized Michele and her countless TrailJournals entries. We were also greeted by a fabulous view (Geek said he had never seen such a good view from Springer) and the infamous AT ridgerunner who talked to us about Leave No Trace. We took lots of pictures and soaked it all in. We were finally at the moment we had been planning for so long and dreaming of even longer. To me, the long grass and the way everything was tucked away in the middle of nowhere, it made Springer actually feel like it was a dream.We took all of the necessary photos and signed the register ... and then we started moving on. Michele and I just kept saying how lucky we were to have such great weather - it was sunny and about 65 degrees (perfect). The trail was very nice to us - a lot less steep than we ever imagined the first day would be. We took a lot of breaks to enjoy the scenery, cool off our feet, snack, and just to breathe in the fresh air. We took it very slow and easy today and it was great. In fact, when we got to Long Creek Falls, we even decided to stop for the night since it was such a cool place. We are near the falls and the stream follows along our sites. We later found out that the shelter we were aiming for was so full that people had begun to backtrack for places to sleep - the estimated number of thru-hikers starting today was 100! So, we're pretty fired up that we stayed here.The rest of the evening here went a little like this: I put up my tent and got all of my gear situated, gave myself a foot bath in the creek, stocked up on water and purified it, made dinner, hung my food so no critters get it, chatted with some guys that are out here on Spring Break and now I am in my tent for the night. I surprised myself today by getting a little sad when I set up camp. I am pretty used to setting up my tent when I'm camping or backpacking for a weekend or a few days with friends but it finally hit me that I'm here for a lot longer than that. I had a feeling that I'd realize I was on the AT when I set up camp tonight but I never thought it would bum me out at all. Good thing I have Michele here!I was also so surprised at how green the trail already is - and there are rhododendron (or rO-da-da-drum according to Michele) everywhere!I am so glad to be out here and this day was such a dream.All in all, I feel good. My back is a little sore and my feet are pretty tired but it was a great day. I am off to rest by the sounds of the falls and the creek.   Post Trail Thoughts:We met Scribe and Gadget for the first time as we climbed Springer that day. They were coming down as we headed up. My very first trail friends.Also, I didn't want to admit it at the time but I was a little freaked out to camp where we did that night. There was a guy there, Patriot, who was totally ill prepared laying around in his jeans. He introduced himself to us by saying he had a hatchet and he could used it if anything went wrong. After getting to know him a bit in the next few days, we all agreed he was harmless. To this day, I still think he was but rumor had it the folks at Mountain Crossings found a gun in his pack and took him for a one way ride away from the trail. I was also a little bummed that I had not made it farther that day. When we stopped for a break at the creek, I knew it would be a graet place to stay. I still felt good but my feet were pretty tired already. Certain sounded like she wanted to stay so I wasn't a hard candidate to convince. It was a beautiful place and a perfect first night on the trail.