Date: 2007-11-16
From: Hawk Mountain Shelter

To: Springer Mountain
Miles today: 7.6
Weather: clear sky

Took off from Hawk Mountain Shelter at 7 am and got to Springer around 10 am. It was very cold and my water bottles were forming ice inside like slushies while I hiked. Hoar frost pushed up a lot of ice from the ground along the trail. I had no food left except for two snickers bars. We took the obligatory pictures by the rock with the plaque on it on Springer Summit and waited for his parents to arrive. I drew an entry in the journal book in the rock of a cartoon of a cedar tree hiking for myself. Contacts parents showed up with a picnic but having stood around for over an hour in the cold without moving we were both starting to feel a little hyperthermic so we went back down to his parents rental car to warm up with the heater on. After warming up we had a tail gate picnic with champaign. They drove us down to Amicalola State Park for Contact to sign the Thru hiker registry and then take showers and change to fresh clothes. From there they drove me to the North Sandy Spring MARTA train station so I could get to the airport. Contact definitely has great parents. I changed my ticket to a 6am flight and just stayed the night in the airport which was easy compared to sleeping in freezing temperatures in a shelter. I was sad to leave the trail but happy to complete my goal of backpacking the southern half of the trail. When I hike the Northern half of the AT I can add those exploits to this trailjournal too.I definitely recommend hiking the AT out there to people who are considering it. I like the Flip Flop way of hiking the AT (Do the northern half first going north from Harpers Ferry and the southern half second heading south from Harpers Ferry starting the first week of September). Or just section hike for the amount of time you can get off from work. Expense doesn't have to be an impediment. My two month and one week trip cost me about $1,000. I was able to do this by never once staying at a Hotel, not buying any alcohol, or going on sightseeing trips off the trail. I focused on the trail itself and buying food at grocery stores along the route. I didn't have any support person and didn't have any mail drops. Other than a stove, insoles and a dry bag I didn't buy any gear along the trail either. I wore the same pair of $39 New Balance 471 trail runners for the whole time although I plan to use the 800 series of New Balance trail runners the next time. Two things that I didn't have that I would recommend are a cell phone(Verizon), Aqua Mira and a big agnes rem air mattress. I had a pocket rocket stove but would use a Trangea alcohol stove if I had to do it over again since it is a lot easier to get alcohol than propane cartridges. My down sleeping bag was great - I didn't need a synthetic bag - just keep your down bag in a dry bag. I used a disposable film camera but would recommend a digital camera. My base weight was 19-20 pounds but with a lot of food and water got well over 30 pounds a few times. I will probably switch to Aqua Mira instead of a water filter for the Northern Half. I liked staying at shelters off season. It was good to meet other hikers and talk about the trail in the shelters as opposed to tenting out by yourself.