End of day location: Stover Creek Shelter

Today was just a walk in the woods. It felt like any other back packing trip i’ve taken in the past 8 years. It was only the knowledge that this trail stretches nearly 2200 miles ahead of us that makes it special.

We drove about 4 hours from South Carolina to the ranger station and weighted our packs on their venerable spring scale just outside the door. Mine weighted in at 30 lbs with about 4 days of food and 2 liters of water. I spent 2 years getting my pack weight down from the 44+ lbs I used to carry and I’m pretty proud of that. Many other hikers ahead of us wrote down pack weights of 36 to 54 pounds.

Post sign in, we drove another half hour to a point a mile from the start of the trail. En route, we stopped for a motorcycle accident that had happened minutes before. This guy, Chuck, had been thrown from his bike and had broken ribs, collarbone and ankle. I did a bit of an assessment and we hung 0out with him until the ambulance Claude called arrived.

Later…
Hope Chuck is in less pain tonight!

After saying good-bye to John at the trail head (Thanks John! You’re awesome!) We hiked a mile to the top of Springer Mountain. The views were just ok, but seeing the “southern terminus of the AT” plaque was moving. D & I signed in at the first trail register (Notebook maintained for thru-hikers at shelters up and down the trail) and I wrote “GA –> ME ‘04” for the first time. I’ve always loved that the northbound states spell “game” and the south is “mega” Just the word freak in me.

Met Neil, a northbound thru hiker who hung out with us at the fire Claude built tonight. 40 degrees now and falling to sleep with a creek in the background and some good miles tomorrow.