I had planned to maybe wake with the other five hikers I was with last night, have breakfast, and possibly head back to trail together. But I was restless through the night last night. That always tends to be the case for me when I’m not in my tent on a long trail, especially when it’s a shared dorm type situation.
The others I was with were mostly younger, and although the younger energy was fun, it was also apparent as I was trying to pack it up and get to sleep. But it was fun to be with some others for a bit. Nick, the first hiker who I met of the five yesterday, has done the first 300 or 500 miles of the AT last year and was able to tell me a lot about Trail Days, which is a thru hiking weekend event that takes place in around a month. It’s something that the PCT and CDT had as well, but I missed both of them, and never had much interest in attending. I’m quite looking forward to attending this one though.
I was restless through the night and I was restless when I woke up this morning. Nick had some instant coffee that he was kind enough to share, as I was out of my own until my next resupply, but soon after that I was back to trail. I think that they were planning to get to trail around 9; I ended up on trail about an hour before then. I wondered a few times as I took breaks through the day if I’d end up seeing them again or not. I did not. I hope to see them at Trail Days though.
Most of the day I hiked alone, except for about a mile or two that I shared with a German dude named Navigator. He was kind of funny, and remarked about my packing two non alcoholic beers up the mountains today. I drank both of them on trail at different points.
I talked to a few other hikers at the shelters. I had dinner at one, and then walked by another one where several were set up to camp. I’m starting to get a feel for the social culture of the trail, and where/how to meet others. I just need to step off trail and go to shelters for breaks more often. That and trail towns.
Tomorrow I’ll reach Lake Fantaine Dam. I guess it’s a little resort or something. I really need a food resupply to get me the next 2 days to Newfound Gap and Gatlenburg. So if I can’t get what I need from the general store at the lake tomorrow morning, I’ll need to hitch a bit farther to get somewhere that has a better food selection.
It’s becoming summer. The flowers are starting to come out. Leaves are budding more. There are more birds in the morning. It’s a beautiful thing.
I haven’t felt excitement like this in so long that I barely even remembered that such a feeling existed! For the last month it’s all been so busy preparing for the trail that I haven’t been able to let myself become excited for the trail.
That’s different now though. I’m so excited that I can’t even contain myself.
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I arrived in Atlanta late last night, got my checked bag, caught my ride out of town, and it was two hours to Above the Clouds, the hostel I’m staying at tonight.
My ride was a guy named Ron, who had been running an AT shuttle for the last 19 years. He was a character. Almost twenty years of stories from shuttling hikers along with stories from his own hikes on the AT and elsewhere. He was a wealth of knowledge, and I can imagine that he’d be even more useful to someone new to thru hiking. Most of my curiosity along our drive was specific to the AT, and less about thru hiking.
The hostel was closed well before we arrived, but they’d arranged for me to stay in a cabin on the property and left the porch light on.
It already feels different out here than anything I’ve felt before, and it’s not only the excitement. Something feels like it exists in this part of the world than I’ve found before this. Like the air is thicker. No not the humidity. Something you feel more in your chest. I find it hard to explain.
It was hard to sleep through the excitement, but woke this morning around sunrise.
The owner of the hostel made breakfast and showed me around after pointing out the full coffee pot. It brings me right back to trail, being here. There were only a few people here when I arrived, but by now, in the evening, there are nearly a dozen of us. I’m the only one who has yet to start the hike. Everyone else here has done 20-30 miles to get here. I’ll start tomorrow.
The owner of the hostel, a guy named Lucky, mentioned that he had a home gym around back, and I asked if he’d let me use it. He said he’s always trying to get people to use the weight equipment in there, but evidently nobody ever does. Go figure–hikers are tired, even after just 20-30 miles. They don’t want to lift weights after coming off trail.
So I was able to get in one more workout before going to trail tomorrow. Much of the equipment was dusty and ruddy, but it still felt good.
The hikers here are mostly new to thru hiking, and it’s been fun going through their gear and helping to reduce weight. It reminds me of being on my first long trails, and how much different hiking is to me now.
On my first thru hike my base weight (the weight of all my gear, minus my worn weight, food weight, and water weight) was around 24lbs. That was way too heavy. That was 10 years ago. My base weight this time is 17.49lbs. I weighted it all out this morning, and I’m really pleased with this.
The fun goes up when the weight goes down. I’ve met people who have had “sub-10” base weights, but to me that just sacrifices too much gear. I like my comforts, but I’m also pleased to have dropped my base weight this much.
My worn weight is 5lbs, and food will be around 2lbs per day. I could start out with just a day of food for as much resupply opportunity as there is on this trail. But I’m stocked for 4 days, and plan to carry that full weight from the trailhead.
Tomorrow I’ll start at the approach trail at around 8 or 9am. I want to start earlier, but I need to get a ride to trail, and that’s about an hour south of here. I also will register with the Appalachian Trail Association before starting the approach trail. That’s 9 miles, to the start of the official AT, and from there it’s north.
I don’t need to make big miles tomorrow, but I like to on my first day of a thru trail. If there weren’t the limitation of starting late in the morning, I’d like to get 30 miles tomorrow, but we’ll see.
The forecast is calling for a bit of rain tomorrow, then pretty good weather for the foreseeable future past there.
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After working out I mostly hung out with the other hikers for the rest of the day. Did a couple of pack shake downs, shipped my “normal” clothes and shoes back that I wore on the plane yesterday.
My food resupply box was here when I arrived for breakfast this morning. So I packed food, weighed all my gear, and a few of us ordered food from a near by grocery store. Made a dinner of pasta and beef. Had a salad. Frank another beer.
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Wow… that was cool. Between the last paragraph and this one some of the hikers were asking me about injuries and what not. We started going over stretches and preventative exercise, and it led to my getting to do about an hour of bodywork. That’s something that I’ve really wanted to do on trail, but I know that I’m not able to practice like I would at my office, because I don’t have a table or lotions or anything like that. But I can practice this massage, and that’s basically what I did for the hour in a couple different hikers. Their feedback was really validating. One guy said after the session that he’s going to start getting massage monthly when he gets back home.
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Tomorrow I’ll have breakfast and coffee with the other hikers and take a ride to the approach trail.
I’m so excited that I can barely even see straight. No idea how I’m going to get sleep tonight. Shit… I might be able to even make a little income or pay my stay at hostels in trail if I’m able to do bodywork like I did today.
Life is good.
I haven’t felt that way in a long long time. I forgot it was possible to feel good again.
I arrived in Palm Springs 5 days ago. It was my grandmother’s 84th birthday, and I wanted to see her before I leave for the Appalachian Trail. My mom flew down from WA for the week as well, so it was an opportunity to see both of them before starting the hike.
I was pleased to see that grandmother is doing a lot better than the last time I saw her, in the fall of last year. She was diagnosed with cancer several years back, and the whole family worries about her sometimes. But again, it was good to see her well and to have the opportunity to fatten up on big dinners before the trail.
The three weeks leading up to this trip to CA were overwhelming. Of course I was trying to train for the trail, but I was also moving out of my apartment, putting things in storage, renting out my work office, putting in notice in my other jobs, parking my car for the summer, saying goodbyes… there was a lot.
So landing here was a needed break. I was mostly able to rest and be with family over the last 4 days. I needed it more than I realized. Granted, my Garmin thinks I’m dead, based on my recent lack of exercise. But I know that will be resolved soon, once I’m on trail.
I’m in the airport at Palm Springs now–flying to Atlanta in about 20 minutes.
I won’t start the hike until Friday (two days from today), but I’ll land in Georgia tonight after a four-hour flight. I had planned to sleep in the airport in Atlanta, but changed plans yesterday. Now I’ll be getting picked up tonight at 9pm, then it’s a 2-hour drive to the Above the Clouds Hostel in Suches, Georgia. I’ll stay at the hostel tonight and tomorrow, then I’ll start the hike on Friday morning, or whenever I can get a ride to the approach trail.
The hike itself doesn’t actually start at the AT trailhead; rather, it’s 9 miles into a state park, if I’m not mistaken. But I’m planning that approach trail and to start the official AT on Friday, April 11.
I was going to start on April 1st, but 8 months ago I had a psychedelic vision that it was important to start just a bit later–on the 11th. So here we are.
I board my flight in just a few minutes. I’ll likely journal again tomorrow while I’m at the hostel and waiting for Friday.
Appalachian Trail Journal 2025 