Springer, GA —> Hot Springs, NC
I started late - very late - way after the bubbles. I didn't know hiking southbound was an option at the time. I began my northbound Appalachian Trail Thru hike on June 4, 2018. When I registered and started at Amicalola Falls, I was given the AT thru-hiker tag labeled #4,028. Over 4000 people would attempt to thru-hike in 2018. Statistically only 10-15% would make it to Mt.Katahdin and 0% were anywhere to be found when I started.
In retrospect, the hike up Amicalola Falls was the toughest climb of the trail for me because I was carrying way too much food and water. I didn’t realize how many opportunities to resupply there were on trail so I was carrying food for ten days and water for three. Rookie hiker problem. We stopped and took pictures at the plaque on Springer mountain.
I started the trail with my college teammate John who hiked with me to the border of GA and NC. It took us a
few days to get there but the entire time I felt the impending sense of doom that when he left I would be painfully alone in woods I was so afraid of.
The first hundred miles of the AT was my shakedown hike. I shed a lot of weight from my pack, especially food. I packed food like I was traversing the arctic but quickly realized I could resupply in towns every couple of days. When John and I reached the state line, his dad was waiting for him. He gave me four nectarines then they left. I wanted to chase his car down the dirt road. When the dust settled and the car had vanished I felt sinking loneliness. This is it. This is the start of my thru-hike.
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