Date: 2005-06-05
From: Amicalola Falls State Park (AT Approach Trail)

To: Hiawassee, Georgia
Miles today: 50.0
Weather: light rain

This entry is temporary. This is a copy of my first group email, which covered our travels from when we started the Appalachian Trail, up to our stop in Hiawassee, Georgia. Our start date was May 6th, 2005, and our stop in Hiawassee, Georgia, was on May 12th, I believe. Later, I will go back and update everything day-by-day, so stay tuned...Dear Everybody: The plaque at the start of the trail said: "A path for those who seek fellowship with nature." This, to me, implied a sort of one-ness with nature. Instead, what I have found, rather than being one with nature, is that I feel like I've been set up to go one-on-one with nature, and I'm getting the crap kicked out of me!! Quite honestly, this is, hands down, the most difficult thing I have ever done. My body was not prepared for what I've been subjecting it to, and once the body gives up, the mind either better be REALLY strong, or it's gonna give way too. This is definitely not to say that I plan on giving up, just that I honestly didn't know how tough this was gonna be! This is certainly a place where one can find out a whole bunch about themselves. Okay, now to the happy, fun stuff! I miss everybody on this email list, and I hope that each and every one of you is doing well. I know you guys all miss me, right?!?! As we speak, I have not shaved my face since the morning of my last day at the bank, and I've only showered twice since embarking on the trail!! Isn't that disgusting?! The librarian here is probably gonna boot us outta here once she catches wind of us...literally! We haven't made the kind of time we need to, but our bodies are still getting adjusted. We're hitting 10-11 miles daily, but we hope to be at 15 or more within 10 days. I didn't know that a human being could get blisters as bad as what I've got now, but I keep telling myself to grin and bear it. Speaking of bears, none to see yet, but I'm certain that every rustling leaf, whistling wind, or breaking branch is a humongous bear, just waiting to have me for lunch!! I've kind of got this "homeless hiker family" that Cody (my hiking partner) and I have gathered along the way. There are two twenty year-old college guys from Mississippi State that are always laughing and in good spirits. That helps us along. Then there's our "trail mom," Bonnie, who is 58, and is hiking half of the trail by herself! She's a character; She's got a New York accent, is kinda ditsy, and is packing a loaded pistol on every step of the trail!! Good thing she likes us!! The last member of our "family" is Brooklyn Mark, who's a budding writer that has lived everywhere from Charlotte, to Boulder, to San Francisco, to most recently, Brooklyn, NY. He's a great intellectual if you get starved for that type of conversation on the trail. The other people help to make it bearable sometimes, so I welcome them if they come along. Well, gotta go. Sorry there aren't any pictures, but I seem to have temporarily mis-placed my USB cable for my camera!! Par for the course for me, I tell ya!!! Take care of yourselves, and I'll talk to you all soon!! CHRIS (my trail name, which everyone has out here, is "Lambchop." Just call me "Lambchop")