Date: 2013-05-01
From: Springer Mountain

To: Horse Gap
Miles today: 10.5

"SOMEDAY has arrived. NOBO carrying the dreams of more than half a century. Going with joy in my heart into the beauty of the forest and the trail. Ole Slo"This is the entry I made in the trail register at the top of Springer Mountain this morning. Before we go on from here let me backtrack what has happened since I posted yesterday's entry last night. While sitting and minding my own business the phone rang and it was Jack wanting to know where I was. I told him I was at a hostel in Dahlonega. That wasn't good enough, he wanted the address. He had driven hours to be able to see Pat and I off and wish us well. He made it to the hostel and we arranged for him to follow the shuttle today. We should have paid attention when both Leigh, the owner along with her husband, and the shuttle driver, Jimmy, Said he could follow "as long as he can keep up."At breakfast this morning in the hostel were Don and Dom from near Toronto, Carol from NC Andrea from Germany and Bob. Jack arrived right after we ate to fall in behind the shuttle.Jimmy showed nerves of steel speeding around curves on the narrow, gravel single lane mountain road which had no guard rails protecting from sheer drop offs. No one else in the van was as confident as Jimmy and I wondered how Jack was doing behind us in his pick up. He made it to the trailhead right with us.Jack got the first pictures of us as we headed toward the summit of Springer where we encountered our first white blaze painted on a rock poking out of the ground. The fruit of untold numbers of miles of his driving. We both appreciate your support Jack even though we question your sanity. Before leaving the hostel my Muse told me to go with joy in my heart. What a beautiful thought to start this hike. I did and it showed. There was so much joy filling my heart that it spilled out all over my face. I don't think I stopped smiling until later this evening when Pat and I tried to hang our food bags. More on this in another entry.The wildflowers were amazing all day long. Among a whole bunch that will show up later in the photo section in this journal were the violets. They came in three styles. There were purple flowers about two thirds as big as the blue violets we buy in the grocery store and put on a shelf. There were yellow ones, smaller than the purple flowers, finally there were elegant and tiny white flowers little more than a quarter inch across. The purple were abundant all day long, the yellow showed up often in patches and the white flowered violets were very rare, only showing up in two thinly populated colonies. Beautiful.We walked through several Rhododendron tunnels. You know these will be breathtaking when they are in bloom next month. Both visually and aromatically.The Benton Mackaye Trail, commemorating the Father of the AT, crosses the At twice before both trails share the same tread way. The Mackaye maintainers paint white diamonds to mark the trail and they do so with a vengeance. The result can be disconcerting to an AT hiker when the oblong white blazes are outnumbered at least five to one. I was always wondering if the trails had diverged and I was now following the wrong trail. It was a relief when the trails did in fact diverge and I was aware of it. Speaking of blazes, with Pat leadingThe way I fell into the habit of not paying attention to the blazes. At one point I asked I we were still on the AT and shortly thereafter he proudly pointed out the blaze which proved he was taking us down the right path. I told him I thought I would follow him all the way to Maine. After filling our water bottles and treating them chemically I noticed the taste of mountain stream water is better than any bought at a grocery store.Only saw seven other hikers all day and three of them were at the hostel with us last might.We got to horse gap at 5:30, set up camp and were in our tents avoiding the skeeters by 7:15.A first day filled with beauty and unsurpassed joy. :-) Sleep well, I'm gonna.