Mile 240

Since this is my first post in awhile I’ll spare all my readers the details of my life the last few months. I’ll just start with what I’ve been up to lately. On April 17th I started hiking north from Georgia on the Appalachian Trail or the AT. My plan is to thru hike the 2200 miles of trail from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Mt. Katahdin in Maine.

So far so good. The night before I started hiking I stayed at the Hiker Hostel in Dahlonega and I definitely recommend it to any future hikers. The place was super clean and very helpful and there was a bluegrass festival going on in town. There are two options to start the hike; one option is to start right at the southern terminus which is the peak of Springer Mountain or the other is taking the 9 mile approach trail from Amicacola Falls State Park to the summit. I’m pro waterfall so I opted for the approach trail and was up the top around lunch time with about a million other people.

Since then I’ve really just been crushing it. North Georgia was really cool. Lots of ups and downs, great views and it was about 80 and sunny the whole time I was there. The trail crosses into North Carolina about 75 miles in and once I entered the state I had a sudden urge to take my shirt off and spin round my head like a helicopter. So I did that. Another hundred miles and I got into Great Smoky Mountain National Park. I don’t know what’s so great about it, just kidding it was cool. Through the park and a little beyond it, the trail acts as the border between Tennessee and North Carolina. It’s cool, my left foot is always in TN and my right foot is always in NC, I think.

Since I’ve thru hiked before I feel like I at least have an idea of what I’m doing, not that I’m any good at it, but I do try to keep it simple. For me, the way I like to hike is to not carry much stuff and walk really far everyday. I got used to hiking big miles early on the PCT because there was so much distance between water sources in the desert and greater distances between towns so I had to carry more food and water. Out here I don’t have to carry as much food and water so I can keep my pack pretty light. A lot of hikers seem to be getting there legs and figuring out what kind of fear they can do without.

I feel like I’ve got good speed right now but don’t quite have my all day legs. The word is people start opening it up once we get into Virginia, so I’ll probably pick it up a little over the next few weeks. 4/17 was a little bit of a late start but I’m beginning to find myself in the back of the bubble(bubble is the term used for a group of thru hikers, like school of fish or gaggle of geese). There’s lots of good people here and quite a few formidable hikers.

Since I’m moving through the main bubble of hikers I’m hiking and camping with different people every day. Way more east coast people on this trail, so people don’t look at me like I’m from another planet when I start talking. I’m taking half a day off today and chilling out at this place Standing Bear Hostel right outside the Smoky Mountains and trying to resupply and organize a little bit.

I’ll try to stay on top of this blog but if you want to know what I’m up to on more of a day to day basis feel free to follow me on Instagram @endlesspsummer or on Facebook if you can figure out my other name.

-Endless