Date: 2018-04-22
From: Amicalola Falls Visitor Center

To: Springer Mountain 
Miles today: 9.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Wow I can¢t believe it but I¢m finally on the AT and It¢s been a crazy few days!On Saturday, I drove with my parents to Amicalola Falls and stayed the night in the lodge. Was sunny and beautiful. Had a big buffet dinner. The next morning it wasn¢t even hungry, but had a bit of food at breakfast. We drove down to the visitor center which is also where thru-hikers register. I was #2379, meaning that 2,379 through hikers have officially registered at Amicalola this year (technically it¢s optional). The trail has gotten so popular, they now have an orientation about leave no trace principles, etc. Good idea, but there was stuff I needed to figure out and it was 95% stories about bears. Did demonstrate the PCT style bear bag hang which was interesting.Since you can¢t really drive to the beginning of the trail, there are two options: take the approach trail from the visitor center or drive about a mile past the beginning and hike back in. We had decided earlier we would pick the latter option so my parents could join me for the first mile and I had heard bad things about the approach trail which isn¢t technically blazed and part of the AT. But when the Ranger heard this, he said that the road was washed out and tough to pass in a car. So we decided I would do the approach trail, which was basically 9 miles uphill and added an extra day before a food resupply (Even though not officially part of the trail, I am including the mileage). Luckily they had a hiker box, which is basically free stuff (often times extra food) hikers leave for each other.I walked a bit with my parents, and then started with a few other guys that were in the training. Later I wouldn¢t know them as Dozer, Headbanger, and Fartender.It was gray, but the falls were beautiful. I had heard bad things about the stairs, but they weren¢t bad at all. About halfway up, it started to rain and get rather steep finally turning into a downpour. Fartender and I pushed on and he was super fast. By the time we got to the actual Southern Terminus sign and first white blazes, could barely see anything. Unfortunately I didn¢t get a photo there. There was a shelter about a fifth of a mile up so we just pushed on to there.It was actually a huge complex¢¦ Had to privies and two bear boxes (bears have figured out the cables). With the low visibility and spread out layout, it took us a while to find the actual shelter.  I wasn¢t expecting cold wet weather, so my hands and body in general were freezing. When we got there we were one of the first ones there and it wasn¢t very big. Long story short, by the end of the night there were about 18 people in a space meant  for 12 including a dog and a five year old. I don¢t know why overnighters would stay there in April, but there were a bunch of people that were not thru or long section hikers. The wind picked up and by the end of the night I think was about 40 or 50 mph. It kept hitting one of the bear cables that would then slammed into the side of the shelter. Between being so crammed in and the weather, needless to say I was not happy and barely slept.I had serious doubts about whether I actually wanted to do this, or I could just get picked up the next day!Also, to clarify, shelters are usually three sided wooden structures with room for about 6 to 12 people to sleep in and are located about every 5 to 15 miles along the trail.