Springer in the morning

After a long two-day drive, we finally made it to Amicalola Falls State park at 6:00 this evening. Of course we forgot to check the weather forecast before we left Rochester, so we drove through a blizzard as we made our way from Buffalo to Cleveland. It was whiteout conditions at some points and we saw a bunch of cars that had skidded off the road, including an 18 wheeler at one point. I was white knuckle driving. We made it to Cincinnati on Thursday night and hit the road this morning at 9. I had a lot of time to think and I'm pretty sure the only thing I forgot was a sponge to clean my cook pot after every meal. I was just going to suck it up and use my bandana, but Mom found one at a gas station.

The drive also let me get mentally prepared for the trail and come up with a list of goals. I think it's an important part of the preparation and will help me to guage my progress in a unit other than miles. Here is the list in order:
1. Have fun
2. Hike my own hike
3. Find myself
4. Seek out adventure
5. Summit Mt Katahdin
I hope that by reminding myself of these goals it will help me to enjoy myself but also push myself and get outside my comfort zone so that I can grow as a person.

When we did finally arrive at Amicalola Falls State Park, the visitor center was closed so I had to register outside in the binder. There was only one other entry on the thru-hiker page, a guy who left on February 9th carrying a 60 pound pack! I had my official weigh in before I left Rochester and my pack weighs around 20 pounds without food and water. When I hit the trail tomorrow, I will be carrying 6 pounds of food and about 4 pounds of water. I am very happy with that number considering the fact that when I did my 50 miler hike in 7th grade with the Boy Scouts, I was carrying a 35 pound pack! I am 9 years older, at least 60 pounds heavier, and a couple inches taller then I was back then. This should be a piece of cake! [insert weak chuckle here] I currently tip the scales at 185 pounds. I wonder how much I will lose on the trip. I know that I will definitely lose the donut I have been carrying around since freshman year.

After registering as a thru-hiker, we walked around the visitor center and found a cool plaque and "the portal" as I like to call it which marks the beginning of the Approach Trail to the top of Springer Mountain. I will not be hiking the Approach Trail as it is an extra 8 mile path that leads to the top of Springer and is not considered part of the Appalachian Trail proper (it's not part of the 2178.3 miles). Instead, tomorrow morning we will drive around Springer to the northern side using Forest Service roads and park one mile down the AT from the summit. From there we will backtrack to the top of Springer Mountain, take a load of pictures, sign the register, take a look at the shelter that is at the top, and then hike back to the parking lot. Then it is time for good-byes. Mom and Dad will head to Charlotte to visit some old family friends and I will head North to Katahdin. My goal is to hike at least the first 7.8 miles to Gooch Mountain Shelter. Beyond that, I will likely depart from the schedule I wrote out. 

It is still hard for me to believe that I start hiking tomorrow. It is hard to put the whole scope of this trip into perspective. If everything goes well, I will be hiking almost every day for the next six months. That is just RIDONCULOUS!!! I just hope that it is an adventure that I can look back on fondly when I am an old man.  I doubt that I will sleep much tonight. I am too excited to get out there!!

Tomorrow morning I will shave for the last time until August (that is if my girlfriend lets me get away with graduation pictures with a beard). As for now, I am gonna try and get some sleep so I am ready for my big day tomorrow. Here is to adventure!

p.s. - I added some sweet pictures of the trail head to my webshots, check them out!!