trail fact: First 2,000 Miler. In 1936, Myron Avery became the first "2,000-miler," having walked and measured every step of the flagged or constructed A.T. route.
Springer Mountain, GA.
Southern Terminus of the
Appalachian Trail.
"Okay, whatever takes my mind off of my own life."
The first week in Georgia brought unseasonably warm temperatures (80°F), unexpectedly big mountains (Blood Mountain), blisters, fatigue, and excitement. There were many anxious people on the trail heading north to Maine.
March 2000.
With six months worth of dried food bought, bagged, and boxed I was ready to head to Georgia. The preparation was over - it was time to leave the clean sheets, warm blankets, hot showers, and temperature-controlled house behind and face living and surviving in the woods with a tent and sleeping bag for the next six months. I was so excited! It took only two days to drive to Georgia to the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail (or AT). Amazing to think that it would take me THREE MONTHS to walk back to Pennsylvania from there!!
On March 5, 2000 I stood on the summit of Springer Mountain, Georgia, signed the logbook as a northbound thru-hiker from Pennsylvania, and pondered for a minute what the next six months would bring. I had NO IDEA what types of challenges I would face, physically, mentally, or emotionally. I thought it would be an easy hike through the mountains with plenty of time to relax, enjoy the views, and think about my life. I did not think at all that in less than one week I would lose my hiking partner and be faced with the fear of continuing this journey alone, that in one month I would be completely overcome with pain from a foot injury, that in 3 months I would be so over the views, the trail, the trees, that all I wanted to do was get out of the woods and to a town where I could eat massive amounts of food, watch bad tv and drink beer. The weather was perfect on that first day, 70°F, bright sun, blue skies - the exact picture of how you imagine a six month being-at-one-with-nature type of fantasy to be but in no way at all representative of the reality. Little did I know that I would be facing the cold, snow, and wind, that I would be hiking for days in pouring rain, that I would be stuck in countless lightening storms, that I would run out of food and have to ration six Skittles for a whole day while hiking 15 miles, that I would deal with broken gear, bad trail, excessive heat, bears, snakes, and sometimes worst of all, solitude. Why did I do this again do you ask? Because I loved every second of it!!!
Journal Entry 3.11.00
"What a storm last night! All was calm at the Blue Mountain Shelter until 11:30pm. Then it hit - high winds, non-stop lightening, sheets of rain, and the occasional crack of thunder. I was convinced that the shelter was going to get blown off the mountain or swept away by the river of rain flowing beneath us. At times the rain was blowing horizontally into the shelter right on my face and all my stuff. I got up at one stage and covered myself with the tent fly, put my pack cover on, and moved all my gear to the back of the shelter. Then when I was finally able to doze off I awoke to the feeling of a mouse crawling through my hair - ahhh! It was a night I will not soon forget."
