AT ‘23 Post 0 - Day 5 (61.5 KM) - Slow Go

The plaque delineating the Southern Terminus of the Appalachian Trail

Hello from Blairsville GA! I’m currently writing this post from a canopied hammock, watching the rain go by on my first zero. I've been christened "High Speed" as my trail name already. Ironically despite my new nickname, the title of todays post has been my mantra this first week on trail. Go slow, listen to your body, don’t injure yourself, and enjoy. Other than some bad chub rub, I’ve been healthy otherwise. Here’s my notes for the first four days of my trip.

Su Mar 12/23 - Day 0 - Stover Creek Shelter (4.5 KM)

I awoke at 5:45 with just enough time to shower, eat some leftover pizza, and get to the airport. My flight left at 9:00 AM for Atlanta, Georgia, and by 12:45 PM I was in Ron’s “Yellow Blazing” grey Toyota 4 runner, on the way to pick up three more hikers destined for Springer Mt. At a gas station on the way up I had my last chocolate shake for who knows how long, bought a grilled cheese BLT to pack out for dinner, and commiserated with my fellow hikers about the rainy weather we were in for. Ron, Rob, April, and Puffin, thanks for the fun ride up!

My shuttle driver Ron was incredibly friendly, brimming with southern charm. He had endless funny stories and quick wit. He acted as a fountain of wisdom regarding the first section of the trail leading up to Hiawassee. He kept us laughing and always guessing, as we routinely fell into his theoretical hiker traps. His nonstop exam questions about where to get water, what spot to pitch our tent, and avoiding hiker hotspots were enlightening. (Note from the future: all of Ron’s tips ended up being spot on, thanks again man!)

At Amicalola Falls we stopped to pick up my thru hiker badge (#1095, woo!) and run through a quick orientation. Then it was another hour over dangerous winding mountain roads before we came to the Springer Mt parking lot. We took some pictures and I headed up to the Southern Terminus of the Appalachian Trail.

Around 4:35 PM I came to mile 0 of the AT. At the top I met an incredibly friendly family from Georgia that helped me take some shots. They recommend I try boiled peanuts at some point. On the list it goes. I also met Kiera and Surplus, two other thru hikers, at mile 0. I took my obligatory first shots with the plaque delineating the Southern Terminus, walked off, returned minutes later because I forgot to sign the registrar, signed the registrar the wrong date in my panic in the rain, and then headed back off to truly begin the AT. I was surprised to not feel much of anything when I touched mile 0. I expected it to be an emotional moment, culminating after years of training and effort, but I ended up not feeling much of anything. I just wanted to get started and grind out some KM. It kind of reminded me of the anxiety before a test. Let’s stop the suspense and just get going already.

Obligatory shot at mile 0

After a quick 4.5 KM down the rainy and muddy trail I came to my shelter around 6 PM. Here I met Chuck and Emily from Maryland, Cookie from Ohio, Ray from Texas, and again ran into Surplus and Kiera. I decided to sleep in the shelter to avoid having to tent in the rain. I spent the night eating and drinking with my new companions. Around 8 we started packing it in, and now here I am at 8:48 finishing off my blog post from my sleeping pad.

First shelter stay! We're exhausted already

I wonder who will end up shaking out as my trail family, or tramily. For now I’m trying to not be too awkward, learn about everyone, and go with the flow. I’m also trying to learn as much about the next sections of trail as possible to plan my attack strategically.

Tomorrow should be dry so I’m hoping to push it to a shelter 18 KM away. Worst case I can dry camp between sections. Let’s get it done.

Mo Mar 13/23 - Day 1 - Gooch Gap Shelter (25.3 KM)

20 KM in one day! Didn’t expect to do it day 1 but I’m happy with my progress. It was mostly cruisy terrain with some minor uphills and downhills. Nothing crazy so far. The only annoying thing was the mud and slick rocks from the rain yesterday.

Stopped at Hawk Mountain shelter (12.6 KM) for a break and met some Texans and other thru hikers. Everyone seemed to be aiming for Gooch gap, so I made that my goal. Good luck to Carlos with his hike; he finished the Pinhoti Trail before starting his AT thru as a warm up!

Hiked across some beautiful ridge lines today. It was blessedly dry and sunny the whole day. Unfortunately it was still oddly cold and windy. I expected the Georgian spring to be warmer; it fell below freezing last night and is heading for -8 Celsius tonight! Yikes!

Took lunch with my new hiker friends Guts, Little Bear, and Body Shop. Guts is diabetic and allergic to peanuts; brave man! His glucmeter needs internet when he resets it; a real crazy issue to work around backcountry!

I rolled into Goochs Gap around 6:15 and managed to steal the last spot in the shelter. It’s packed! Hard to find spots for tents with everyone here. Seems like a few people want to hit Neels Gap by Wednesday; we might share a cottage together if it’s cheap. Had a good dinner and met some more hikers. Feeling the tramily vibes already. The other hikers setup a big bonfire and it was amazing to finally warm up a bit.

3 x-therms in a row at Goochs Gap... My pad not included

Well it’s hiker midnight (9 PM) and time for me to crash. Peace!

Tu Mar 14/23 - Day 2 - Lance Creek Campsite (38.4 KM)

This morning was once again brittle cold. Definitely freezing or lower as my quarter full clean bottle of water froze straight through. Weather says -5C last night and -7 tonight. Fun! The AT is giving me a warm Canadian welcome with a cold snap in my first week.

Started off once again by plunging into the icy cold morning, running to the bear box to grab my food bag, and getting some coffee on the brew. Next I forced down some dried fruit between the freezing mad shivers and grabbed a granola bar to (marginally) defrost in my pocket.

Usually once everyone has some coffee in them and have resuscitated a bit, then the friendly shelter banter begins. Breakfast was shared with my new trail friends Popeye, Cookie, Peanut, Peroni, Rob, Radish, and a few others I’m sure I forgot. There’s a lot of people on the trail! At least 50-100 at the last shelter. Tonight seems more like 40ish but still a good turnout!

Only had to power through about 13 KM today. Finished it in 4 hours and 20 minutes on the dot. Insert obligatory pot joke here. It was so cold that I pretty much jogged up the mountain to stay warm and passed a bunch of hikers that left before me. I ran by Popeye and his group heading to the hostel, Peanut and her group, and a few others that I hadn’t met. One guy ended up seeing me madly jogging by and said “hey man, you’re name should be High Speed!”. I laughed at first, but I think it’s a good name. It’ll be ironic when they realize I’m actually quite a slow hiker and was simply frantically trying to beat the cold today. I’ll take it for now and see what else sticks.

I did end up booking a spot at Blood Mountain Cabins. We found 4 people by the end of the day to share it, which should fit perfect for the two Queen beds and a sofa it provides. For $130, split 4 ways, $33 is a good bargain! It looks like the trail will be a great opportunity to work on my leadership skills vis a vis recruiting people to my cabin and bonfire based causes.

We had a big bonfire tonight. At 1 PM I declared to a bunch of hikers lunching on a beautiful overlook, “I’m going to power on to Lance Creek and start a fire”. I powered on, arrived around 2 PM, stole the perfect tent spot on the edge early (as per my shuttle driver Ron’s sage advice), and started gathering wood. Luckily Garret, a section hiker I walked with for a few KM, was carrying a new silky hand saw! Score! I was never more happy to have a section hiker handy. We processed quite a bit of wood, burned a huge bonfire, and even left a good cache of leftover logs for the next hikers coming through. People came together to help grow the fire in different ways, some finding dry kindling, some sawing logs, others stoking the fire and taking care of it. We had a nice big party with dinner! Terrible selfie included. I was very happy once more by my community building. I guess it’s a little easy to attract others by providing warmth on a freezing night. I’ll take whatever I can get!

My community campfire!

I met Sling, Tent Peg, Firebug, Renegade, Earlybird, Churro, and again some others I’m sure I’m missing at the site. Renegade and his crew are mostly ex military Paratroopers. Interesting stories from their motley crew. Lots of people in the service on the trail so far. Renegade explained to me that my trail name is a military slang; the phrase goes “high speed, low drag”. I told him I’m actually high drag but I’ll take it!

Tomorrow at Neels Gap I’m taking my first nero (near zero, or half day off). But I’ll have to get over Blood Mountain to get it, a fun 1500 ft elevation up and down. I’ll hike the 12 KM to Neels, get there around 3, check in at the cabin, take a shower, get my clothes washed, eat real food, and blessedly sleep in a warm bed.

All in all a cold but satisfying day.

We Mar 15/23 - Day 3 - Neels Gap (50.4 KM)

I awoke to my alarm at 8 AM and popped out of my tent. The cavalry left without us! Only me and Cookie were left with our tents. Guess everyone was gunning it for Neels gap and their first real food in 3 days.

Last night wasn’t as cold as the night before. Or at least it didn’t seem like it in my tent. I did wear every layer I could, including my rain jacket and kilt. In the morning I built body heat by breaking camp quickly and hitting the trail early. With only 12 KM left, I figured I’d power through to Neels.

I rolled out of camp just before Cookie. The morning was cold as usual but the immediate uphill leading to Blood Mountain helped get the heat and blood flowing quickly. I hiked for a couple of hours, eventually catching up once again to Peanut, Lisa, and the newly trail name christened Gadget (originally Ben). As I passed by the side trail for Woods Hole shelter, I thought my eyes deceived me with the flickers of flame. But living up to their trail name, Firebug and her father Sling had built a big bonfire to warm hikers coming up the mountain! It was a blessing to get a chance to warm up by the fire and eat some breakfast, chatting with the others. Everyone loved the effort and Sling joked that he did in fact accept Venmo or PayPal.

It was hard to pull myself from the fire, but after a fascinating story about parasailing, I managed to rip myself away and start the main ascent to Blood Mountain. The mountain climb wasn’t as hard as I expected it to be. On the way up I ran into Tent Peg again. We made it to the peak, said hello to our fellow thru hikers, and took some obligatory shots from the top of the mountain.

Atop Blood Mountain!

The descent was much worse than the ascent for Blood Mt. The side going down to Neels was full of giant rocks and boulders covered with ice and freshly melted ice. This made them slick and hard to find a good foothold. Peanut and the gang I had caught up with let me go first so that I could be the Guinea pig. If I tripped or fell (which did occur a few times), her and the group would pick a different way down. Always fun to be the test patient! She ended up giving me a couple of coolers when we got to the bottom of the mountain, so at least I was paid for it. As we got down the other side the wind calmed and the temperature rose, warming us nicely. As a side note, hiking over this mountain we ran into at least 6 incredibly bearded mountain men out for a stroll. They were gorgeous.

After our climb down and 12KM day, we were finally at the Mountain Crossing store at Neels Gap! Everyone was super stoked. The first realish food we’ve encountered on the trail and a warm cabin to sleep in. The shop sells frozen pizzas that they bake on site and some other microwaveable goodies. They have a plethora of options for the pizza; cheese or pepperoni. It was a tough choice but I went for pepperoni. There’s no alcohol though; it’s a dry county. That was a real kick in the teeth to be honest. Most of us were craving a beer after 4 days in the backcountry. Be forewarned!

Pizza at Neels

After eating some much needed food and chilling out by the store for awhile, we headed to our cabin. Body Shop had already made it and checked in before us. We got a good laugh when we learned we were in the so called “beaver cabin” complete with big ass full on beaver taxidermy. Fitting for a Canadian!

Gaah!

After a much needed and glorious shower, we headed back to the store to grab some food for dinner. Another pizza, a frozen breakfast sammy, and some fruit for me. I drank a Mountain Dew on the mountain and tried a Mr. Pibbs for the first time. It’s kind of like root bear and Dr Pepper had a baby. Not bad, I like it. I can feel the hiker hunger coming on. On the way we ran into Guts and Little Bear! Glad to see they’re still alive and well. I hadn’t seen them since day 1 and was getting concerned that Guts never got his glucometer working.

We settled in for the night, and around 6 PM we heard a knock. Rob, our fourth cabin mate, had finally made it! I had been texting him about our progress but his phone had died on the hike to Neels. He got lucky that the first cabin he knocked on was ours. We welcomed him into the warmth. We chatted and learned that Rob was a hero firefighter on 9/11! His trail name is Sleepwalker due to his PTSD related insomnia making it like he’s sleepwalking when he’s awake. He is actually hiking the trail as a donation incentive for the Paws of War organization. A hero firefighter from 9/11 walking for a cause, and here I am sitting in my rain skirt! I had no idea about his history or mission when he asked to join the cabin. Please donate to his cause if you can! Amazing some of the people you meet on the trail. When I met Rob I knew him only as the guy I slept beside in the last shelter with a cute snore. Funny how things end up. When we drew straws for the beds, I ended up winning a solo bed. After hearing Robs story I gave it to him! No way I’m taking a warm bed from a 9/11 vet.

Tent Peg, me, Sleepwalker (Rob), and Body Shop

We celebrated our first cabin night with an instant coffee tasting; Nescafé Hazelnut vs Nescafé Gold vs Starbucks. TL;DR the Nescafé Gold won on a technicality. We agreed that the Starbucks tasted most like real coffee, even if it was a 3/5 experience at best. And we played some cribbage, which I refreshed the others on. I ended up winning in a close battle with Tent Pegs. But we skunked the hell out of Body Shop. Skunk new trail name for Body Shop perhaps?

We were too late for the laundry service so we simply hung out our clothes to dry. Hence me sitting in my rain skirt chatting with a 9/11 hero. It’s no problem though; It’s going to rain tomorrow night and the day after, so we’re hosteling again after a 9ish KM hike to Hogpen Gap. We’ll stay at that hostel on Friday and take a day off (our first zero) from the rain. They said they can shuttle us into Blairsville GA too, so getting into town will be nice. Laundry and the like can come then.

How many mountains have I climbed now? Springer, Hawk, Ramrock, Blood… Did I miss one? At least 4 already in 4 days. Good stuff.

Th Mar 16/23 - Day 4 - Hogpen Gap (61.5)

I slept like a baby last night. Sleeping in a real bed, albeit beside another hiker, was majestic. The group communally arose around 8:30. I microwaved some leftover pizza and a frozen breakfast sandwich, which I paired with some instant coffee. Muy bien.

We took some pictures of the group, got dressed in our gross uncleaned hiking gear, and set off for Hogpen Gap.

The hiking was up and down all day. 500 feet up and 500 down, then a ridgeline, then another 500 up and down, for about four loops. Although I can’t really complain, after all it was only an 11 KM day. We left at 10 AM and made it to our gap for pickup at 2:40 PM.

We caught up to Guts and Littlebear, and ended up aggregating them into our hiking pod. We learned that Guts suffers from MD, and that this AT hike might be his last hurrah. He managed to work his way out of a cane to get fit enough to hike the trail. Crazy considering how spry he is now. Some truly amazing stories we’re running into here. Makes me feel stunningly humbled and somewhat normal comparatively, even with my own baggage.

Our pod before Tesnatee Gap. Me, Body Shop, Little Bear, Tent Pegs, and Guts

When we got to Tesnatee Gap, about 2 KM from the end of our day, we ran into trail magic! An amazing buffet of dirty hiker food and healthy real food alike. They even were giving away toques and mini hiker towels! I tried to give some money, but they wouldn’t take anything from hikers. I ate a sandwich, a hostess cake, a honeybun, a mandarin, took a hot chocolate and broke up a cheese string in it… Can you tell the hiker hunger is coming on? All in all it was an amazing resupply too, including hot hands, sanitizer, and a prayer that we have the wisdom and luck to make it through to Maine.

First trail magic! Thanks so much!

After that it was a quick scramble up to Hogpen Gap and a pickup from there to the Home in the Woods hostel. We were in high spirits as Tent Peg, Body Shop, and I got into the pickup truck to go to our lodgings. The “hostel” is actually a cute cottage home in the woods, ran by Bonnie and Paul Hayward. The inside is beautiful, and they seem to have made every attention to detail in terms of hiker needs. Well stocked fridge of pop. Lots of food available at all times. Big 12 plug power bars easily available, soap intuitively accessible, and many, many spots to hang jackets, gear, and whatever else your typical dirty hiker might need to air out. We are lucky to stay here; Bonnie and Paul are closing up shop for good in May! Although they said anyone they liked that had previously stayed are grandfathered in and allowed to return. Let’s see if my typically polarizing and obnoxious personality will earn a return trip.

Bonnie and Paul at dinner... Too wholesome

We once again showered up and headed into town with Paul. I picked up beer, some toenail clippers, and a pint of ice cream. I was culturally enriched about the various dollar stores in America by Paul. There’s Dollar General, Dollar Tree, and Family Dollar. In return I told him about Dollarama, and how the name works in both English and French.

Looking hot in our borrowed hostel scrubs and pink crocs at Dollar General

We got back, I drank a bit, and we met the hiker staying with us for the night; Tech (né Nathan). We thought Harper’s Ferry was in Virginia, and he mentioned that the trail technically went into West Virginia just to Harper’s, and then immediately back into Virginia. I said “you caught us on a technicality… I’ll call you Tech”. After forgetting Nathan’s name for the third time in a row, Tent Peg ended up saying “ah heck man, I’m just calling you Tech!”, and the name stuck! On top of that, he’s actually great with technology, teaching us cool tricks with our AT navigation apps. And he went to Georgia Tech too! My first christening of a trail name! A very blessed day indeed.

Us with Tech at breakfast with our new "What would Paul Hayward Do?" bracelets... Long story for another time

Back at the hostel Bonnie and Paul made us an amazing dinner of lasagna, with brownie and vanilla ice cream for dessert. All homemade with a southern charm, of course. It was delicious, we ate a ton. Complete with another prayer for us to make it safely to wherever we need to be. Nuff said.

All in all it was another great day. We’ll be zeroing here through the rain tomorrow, celebrating St Patrick’s Day, and then heading off the 12 miles (or 19K) to Blue Mountain Shelter. Today we cleared 3 more mountains. Phew.