Date: 2017-03-03
From: Amicalola Falls State Park + Lodge

To: Zero Day
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

First post from Jen, who has emerged from the delirium of The Flu!After months of dreaming, planning, reading and preparing , we are here at the AT Approach Trail, about 8 miles from Springer Mountain, the official southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail. And we did a portion of it yesterday. Twice.Our health test while recovering was to hike down the 600+ steps from Amicalola Falls lodge, leaving our packs at the top. ... which meant we'd eventually have to come back up.At the visitor center, we registered our thru-hike. I am Hiker No. 348 for 2017; Nathan is 349. Then, cheery, seasoned hiker Rachel (AT 2015), with the ATC, handed us that school bus yellow AT Leave No Trace placard I so coveted from online photos. "Bears are real," she shared, and showed us her canister adorned with claw marks from Tray Mountain. I'm glad we splurged on one to carry ourselves. It added some weight, but looks like it'll be worth it. And by packing our double sleeping bag instead of two individual ones in their separate stuff sacks and liners, we banked 2 pounds. At the last weigh-in, without water on board, Nathan's pack was 34 pounds. Mine is 29. We think this is a good place to start.Rachel showed us a parallel path back to the lodge -- sans steps! -- and we concluded that one more night at the lodge would be wise. We will begin tomorrow, Saturday, March 4, 2017, somewhere along the Approach Trail and hike past Springer.In the meantime, the good folks at Amicalola Falls State Park Lodge are taking good care of us and other hikers who file through. The annual AT Kick Off starts this evening but is underway in earnest tomorrow, with many presenters and authors whose names we recognize. I don't believe in coincidences any more, except to at first acknowledge the coincidence, then give credit to a Higher Power whose plans I can't possibly fathom. I sure do get a kick out of watching them unfold ... or looking back and seeing the gift in what might not have felt like it at the time.What am I talking about?We planned to start the trail two days ago. Had I not been so weak and ill that we checked into the lodge, we would have been exposed on the trail when a severe storm blew in with golf ball hail, lightning and 50 mph winds. Never mind the rain that we're sure to see plenty of later.Plus,We'd almost giving up on the Approach Trail and considered a shuttle to Springer, missing out on the Falls experience and walking through that famed arch I've seen in movies and photos and wanted to be a part of. I thought of it like a wedding threshold. Turns out, we could approach The Approach creatively! There, we met a woman traveling the country solo in her RV with a motorized scooter, grateful for parks like this one that are ADA accessible. Nathan took her photo at the Falls. Had we not decided to "slack-pack" the Approach Trail flip-flop style, we wouldn't have met Rachel, with her recommendations and affirmations (and a photo of us in the arch, which she took and texted from her personal phone because ours weren't cooperating).And what I always come back to:Nathan, and the experiences that brought us together and the adventures we get to have together. Not just talking and scheming but actually doing. I heard Nathan chatting with sweet Barbara, who got us into a Lodge room in record time before I hurled again. Barbara shared with him that we're doing her bucket list. After a few pleasantries and jokes, Nathan asked, pointedly, "What if someone takes the bucket away?"We're not going to wait to find out. Today is it.jen