We survived the first night!

Well, every journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.  Turns out so does every journey of 2200 miles, and we have taken those steps. 

At the last check in, we were on our way to Springer Mountain to start in Meagan's Altima.  Turns out that Altimas don't handle Jeep trails too well, especially with an extra 750 pounds in the car.  Meagan was a trooper though, and after getting out to push just a couple times, and leaving only one or two (presumably/hopefully unimportant) car parts on the side.of the road, we found the trailhead.

After presenting Meagan with the most selfless gift we could think of (a framed photo of the three of us, which, incidentally we have printed several dozen of to give as gifts to all those "trail angels" who assist us), we took our first steps into the wild to start this unforgettable journey.
Immediately we were transported far from Georgia by the lush river valleys and rhododendron forests.  We all likened it to far away tropical places we have seen; for Flip it was Australia, for me it was Costa Rica, and for Skip it was his grandparents old yard (apparently fans of rhododendrons, although intense debate ensued whether those plants in their yard had indeed been rhododendrons).

We walked on, putting the miles and reality behind us, meeting other hikers with various goals.  Some were hiking to the next gap (a lowlying area between peaks, aka notch), some were hiking for a month, and some, like us, were aiming for the promised land of Mt. Katahdin in Maine.

After a good few hours of hiking downhill, we came to our first lunch spot, Long Creek Falls.  After a nutritious lunch of pepperoni, peanut butter and tortillas, we kept moving to get to our first campsite.  Along the way we had such stimulating conversation as who would win in a fight, Superman or Obi Wan Kenobi (Obi Wan, obviously) and also Skip informed us of what to do if we happen to see a beautiful troll with a tail wearing a woolspun dress.  The story is a bit too long to include all of it, mostly due to the copious amount of detailed instructions in this situation, and the importance of said details to the group's safety, but I assure you, it is worth asking one of us at a later date.  As it happens, we haven't seen any such trolls yet, although we may have found Skip his trail name.

Trail names are an old tradition on the AT which are basically alter egos that you assume for the duration of your hike based on some characteristic, habit, or unfortunate mishap that pertains to you.  As of now, none of us has a definitive trail name; they happen as they happen.

So we wandered into our first campsite 15 miles later, not too bad for starting at the crack of noon.  It was next to a nice little babbling brook, where we resupplied our water and set up our Taj Mahal, a three person tent.  What the label didn't mention is that those three people would need to be small children or pygmies.  Or trolls I suppose.  In other words, we are going to be extremely close cuddlers for the next five months, which, when compounded by the smell, makes for some very hilarious moments. 
We also met Buzzy that night when he and his friend Richard offered us some leftover chicken and rice, with a side of Dewars.  The chicken was heavenly, the Dewars necessary.  Buzzy is from Maryland, down with his buddy Richard to help him check off hiking from his bucket list.  They were only going a short distance, but Richard had never been hiking before.  At 75 years young, he decided to finally attack a goal he'd had for quite a while.  Pretty damn impressive if you ask me. 

I finished my chat with him and then crashed for the night.  I slept fairly well for the first night, thanks in large part to the cancelling efffect of the earplugs that I grabbed in a last minute "maybe I'll need these" moment.  This was crucial in negating the buzz-saw noises coming from Flip and Skip.  They informed me the next morning that I also may or may not snore a little bit, but I didn't hear that once, so it must not be true.  I did have a very nice moment when I woke up in the middle of the night, a gentle cool breeze was blowing through the tent, and I started to grasp just how great this adventure was going to be...

...then I woke up with sore knees, ankles and a stiff back, and considered that my middle of the night thought train might have been a bit pre-emptive.  We stretched a bit, had a nice meal of Carnation Breakfast, oatmeal and coffee, broke camp and started out around 10:30 (so we slept a bit late, big deal).

The weather was a bit drizzly, but definitely bearable, and after a few miles of getting warmed up, we fell into a nice rhythm.  We passed so many vistas that had spectacular views.  That would be my guess anyway, but since we were hanging out in a cloud we didn't get a chance to see them.

We marched on to Woody Gap in the Chattahoochie National Forest where we stopped along with several other hikers to eat lunch.  We saw Buzzy and Richard there, as that was where they were being picked up to end their hike.  We said our goodbyes and snapped a quick photo of them and continued on our way, ever North.

It was about this time we heard about a monster storm coming our way to dump four inches of rain in the next few days.  It has a name, so you know it will be a doozie.  I've always been bad with names, and this storm was no different, but I trust we will get a bit pummeled by it in a day or two.  We are aiming to be in shelters those days instead of our tent at night, but also those shelters are the ones previously mentioned that are infested with the Nora virus.  Explosive internal organs or pneumonia?  Sometimes decision making can be hard on the trail, but with our collective intelligence I'm sure we'll make the choice that seems the easiest at the time.  The decision could hinge on how much TP we have left at that point, but of course time will tell.

Anyway, after a few more soggy hours of hiking, we'd put 13 miles in our rearviews and were ready to hunker down for the night.  Only one small problem: increased black bear and human interactions made it necessary to use a bear box on the trail.  Since we don't have one, and we also were not in a mood for being eaten, we decided instead to hike about a quarter mile away to cook, clean and hang the bear bags (a bear bag is when you hang your food from a tree to keep bears from rummaging through your tent and eating you).  Tent goes up, we go in, I start to blog, and team chainsaw is already in full action again in here.  Tomorrow we will hit Neel's Gap where I should be able to post this.  After that it will be Hiawassee, GA for the next civilization.  Until then, it's time for me to put the ear plugs in.  Happy trails!