3/17/01 (Day 1)
I'm writing from the comfort of my tent near Hawk Mtn. shelter. Outside the wind is blowing a cold steady breeze and the mini-bears (chipmunks and field mice) are busy trying to figure a way into the bear bags Chip and I have hung from the tree. Today couldn't have been better! What a fabulous beginning to the journey! We arrived at Amicalola Falls State Park, registered at the Welcome Center, officially weighed our packs (mine was 51 lbs., Chip's was 53 lbs.) and took some photos. We then drove up to within a mile of the starting point atop Springer Mtn. and proceeded with Chip's wife Christie, son Steven, and friend Paul to the top of Springer. We had to wait our turn to take photos at the top as there were many other thru-hikers there as well as a Boy Scout troop. Finally we said goodbye to the family and began hiking around 12:30 p.m.
There are a lot of people out here on the trail! Some are planning to thru-hike to Katahdin (end point in Maine). Others are "section hiking" a couple hundred miles, and there were plenty of day hikers enjoying an outstanding March St. Patrick's Day in the Georgia mountains. I'm in better shape than Chip but we hiked together the fist half of the afternoon and enjoyed our first trail lunch together. Hey Mom, that peanut butter wannabe stuff tastes a lot better after a few miles of hiking than it did back home! We arrived at Hawk Mtn. shelter around 4 p.m. and set up our tents away from the crowd staying at the shelter. A fellow tent camper commented that the shelter area looks like a trailer park with all the people, gear, and tents surrounding it. We expect the crowd to thin as we get some miles behind us and the weekend comes to a close tomorrow. Chip brought a great bottle of Pinot Noir and cheese to celebrate our first evening meal. What a life! And I hear it's all downhill from here! Not!!
It's going to be a major adjustment getting used to going to bed so early. It's 8:15 now and virtually everyone around is asleep. I checked out my radio and it's picking up 2 stations with the NCAA tournament, so I'll check it out before calling it a night. Go HEELS! The trail was so beautiful today...we passed several fast running streams, walked through a virgin hemlock stand of trees and soaked up the sun in a few choice spots. Today's statistics: Sunny, high temp 52 degrees, perfect hiking weather. Thanks for the forecast Thom!! Miles: 7.6
