Date: 2004-05-02
From: Bound for Amicalola

To: Stover Creek Shelter
Miles today: 2.5
Weather: heavy intensity rain

It was 45 minutes past noon. The crack-of-noon club lives on. Surely though, the crack-of-noon would not suffice for the rest of the trail to Katahdin. Maybe a half hour later, it started to rain again. Time to try out the new ¢rain¢ gear. The Epic shell jacket was a bright yellow and made me happy in this thick gray place. The folks at Wild Things only claim that it is wind proof and water resistant but very breathable. I had tested it in the shower, and it only leaked at the seams so I seam gripped the seams with a kid's medicine syringe. The rain was light and short in duration. The jacket worked just fine. Before long the trail turned out onto a road for a bit and followed it to a little parking area where there was a small kiosk with some vending machines. There was a typical family of four taking shelter from the rain there. I took the opportunity to eat a second orange which I had intended to eat on the plane rather than carry on the trail. Fortunately there was a trash can for the peel so it wouldn't have to be packed for the next 8 days. The dad in the group had an old orange external frame pack. It turned out that they had spent last night on Springer in celebration of the start of his thru-hike 25 years ago, and this was the pack he had used. We had a good little chat.First AttemptAfter a bit of thought, I realized that my first attempt had been 24 years ago. I wouldn¢t mention that again to anyone for a couple of weeks. Admittedly, there was some concern of a jinx, especially with the rain. That first attempt had started with three nice days, and then the rain began. It rained every day for most of the day for the next week or so until I got off the trail. I had meant to review my journal from that adventure before starting this one but hadn¢t had the time to unearth it. I didn¢t know where I got off, how many miles or how many days I had gone. I didn¢t want to think of it. As Jackson Browne says in a song, ¢Please don¢t confront me with my failures, for I have not forgotten them.¢The approach trail climbed steadily but never steeply. At one point there was a fork in the trail with a sign. I was feeling pretty good. There were blue blazes heading off on the left fork so I took the right one. A few minutes later there were yellow blazes. How could this be? Great, I¢ve lost the trail already. Turn around. Backtrack for 3 minutes.There¢s the sign. Ok, the order of things is a bit odd on the sign. Why the blue blazes? That¢s right; this is still the approach trail, you turkey. That trail goes to some Inn. Alright, best we pay better attention in the future. Maybe the sleepless night was catching up to me. At least no one else knows. Ha.Something surprising happened about a quarter mile before the summit of Springer. There was this big step up between 2 trees. The lack of sleep for the last 33 hours really was catching up to me; so, I grabbed the trees, placed a foot up on the rock between the trees and paused for a second before making the lunge. When I woke up, I laughed and made the lunge. Falling asleep while hiking was a new one for me. Eventually there were some plaques bolted to some rocks beneath my feet in the trail, but I was looking for a big sign. Then the trail started to descend, and the blazes had changed to white. What? That had been the beginning of the AT. Turn around again. Just 2 minutes this time. There must be a register. Oh, here it is behind a stainless steel door in a rock. So, I signed the register at about 4:15pm on May 2, 2004. Then it was time for the foggy photo shoot of plaques and the register. The summit is wooded and grassy and looks more like a town park than a summit. It¢s not even 5 o¢clock. There¢s a shelter in two tenths, but it¢s probably crowded. Might as well head down to the next shelter. It¢s only 2.5 miles. What¢s another hour?The AT BeginsIt was only 5:45 pm when Stover Creek Shelter came into view. It was a fine shelter, and no one else was there. The creek was just 50 feet away and there were bear cables nearby too.For dinner there was Moosilauke Goulash with a desert of chocolate covered cranberry raisins both given to me by June Rogier for the trip. Both were delicious though a pound of cranberries was a bit weighty. I got cold that night, and I wound up wearing my hat, mittens, polypro shirt & legs and my puffy Chuck Roast Jacket. Glad to have it all along.