Date: 2014-04-06
From: Springer Mountain

To: USFS 251
Miles today: 6.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Emotions were high as we drove to Springer. Excitement, nervousness, and sadness as we knew we would have to say goodbye to Jon's mom, Susie. However, we got to extend our time with her as a wrong turn (in an area with no GPS) brought us to the top and halfway back down the wrong mountain! The road was four wheeling at its best: potholes, big rocks, mud, you name it. It was a bumpy ride to say the least. Thank god we were in a truck. We ended up turning around and retracing our steps back to the main road and up to Ellijay where we took Forrest Service Road 42 to the parking lot and ultimately the start of our journey. We all walked to the start together to take the obligatory pictures at the AT plaque and our first white blaze. Back at the parking lot, we said our final goodbye to Susie and headed down the trail. It was gorgeous: open pathways, green rhododendrons, beautiful waterfalls, and no major obstacles to step over. It was surreal as we walked together on the first few miles, of what will hopefully be many, in what felt like a movie set. At miles six, Jon stopped in the pathway and let Kent and I catch up. I quickly saw why and didn't say anything either. We wanted Kent to have the same surprise we did. There was a sign that said "Trail Magic ahead"! I didn't get my hopes up, thinking they could be gone by the time we arrived or have nothing left due to the hour we arrived. But alas a tad further up the trail there was a pop up tent set up with tables of food, chairs and a fire going! We all felt a tad undeserving as we enjoyed our treats, as it was only our first day. That didn't stop us from loading up our pockets and packs with anything that would fit! Our trail magic came from the Georgia Adventure Club, who informed us that the rain, we knew was supposed to come, was not far off. They also said there was a shelter 500 yards away that had a bathroom and a fire pit. The three of us decided, even though it had been a much shorter day than we had planned, we may as well stop at the shelter and stay for the night. Sleeping in the rain, isn't terrible, but packing up camp in the rain is pretty miserable. It wasn't a tough decision. We got to the shelter to find that it was huge and empty! We started a fire and got settled while more hikers slowly trickled in. We ended up with 11 total. Except for Jon and I no one else had done any long distance hiking; yet seven other people with us plan to go to Maine. One couple had never even gone out overnight! We all stood around the campfire and got acquainted until the rain started. It'll be interesting to see who's still around the campfire in two weeks. It dumped on us all night. I was so glad Kent had suggested we set up our tents under the shelter in case the wind blew rain in, because it did and made shirt order of soaking the floor as well as anything on it. Which included Jon, who slept under a table!The lack of experienced hikers led to an early wake up. People had no filter or noise control. No big deal as I was up writing already and fully expected this to be the case in the early days. But Jon wasn't thrilled. Now we'll pack up and start out on day two in our rain gear and see what today brings!