Mike with the First NoBo (NorthBound) Blaze
Amicalola Falls to Stover Creek Shelter 11 Miles
It’s been raining since our flight landed in Atlanta, Georgia late last night. I hope this isn’t an omen, but there were tornado warnings in the Amicalola area last night. Rain always seems to happen around Doug so we should have figured it would be bad weather when we got here. We eat breakfast at the Amicalola Lodge; a buffet. We’re probably going to have a lot of these and something tells me we’ll never get sick of them.
“Let’s do the hike down to the visitor’s center and follow the falls back up.” Doug says. We heard there is a new staircase kind of thing that follows the falls.
“OK, let’s take the old trail down and the staircase back up so we’re not looking down at our feet while we climb the falls.” Someone else had suggested that to us and I try to make it sound like it was my own original.
We set out without packs and have some trouble picking the right trail. We end up taking the newly constructed stair/scaffold thing down the falls instead of up. The treads are very slippery from stray splash and morning condensation. We spend more time looking at our inexperienced feet and less time at the glory of the falls; but we do get a chance to pause and take some pics. It’s like a rainforest here; wet and cold with flora and fauna as foreign to me as any National Geographic documentary. I yearn for the narrator to offer anecdotal trivia and identify the vibrant wildlife. I used to know some of these plants; but, I’ve been in the Arabian deserts and exotic California for the past 18 years and I’m frustrated to wonder at echoes and fragments of familiarity for everything as I pass it by.
We get to the bottom without taking too many pictures and check in to the visitor’s center where they have a host of snakes, rodents and amphibians in glass cages for us to add to our memory banks. I am interested to know the difference between a rat snake, a black snake and a Moccasin. They tell me. It seems like that kind of information might come in handy later on. We enter our names in the log book, “Destination: Maine” and the ladies there tell us that we’re starting off late if we want to get to there.
“I’ll send you ladies a postcard from Katahdin,” I quip. How dare they tell me what I cannot do? We go outside and film the three of us going through the arch at the visitor center. The fog is thick and scenery is unavailable as we climb up the old trail back to the lodge to grab our packs and begin the approach to Springer Mountain.
The sign says, “DIFFICULTY: STRENUOUS” and the climb is tougher than I expected, even with the warning. I silently hope all the climbs aren’t like this one. It’s windy and cold as I reach the summit with my two brothers. There’s a little view through some trees where the first of the Northbound Blazes (Or the last of the Southbound Blazes) rests, painted on the side of a boulder. I wonder how many people walk right past this white splotch on the ground, blithe to its solemn significance.
We go further and side-hike to the Springer Mountain Shelter. Side hikes are designated by Blue Blazes versus the White blazes which indicate the official Route of the Appalachian Trail. We decide to break out lunch: pre-packaged trail meals bought at REI or EMS. “Gums” is there; our first thru-hiker encounter. So far we’ve met only two people, “Many Sleeps” and “Gums.” I’m pretty sure Gums is a homeless guy just living on the trail but he’s the first guy we’ve met so maybe we all get to looking like that after a few hundred miles. Many Sleeps was in his tent on the way to the shelter, just letting people know what's up as they passed. I think he is some sort of volunteer caretaker who hangs out up here by the beginning of the trail to offer information and encouragement.
We cooked up a little something for lunch on the picnic table beside the shelter. I’m too exhausted to wonder how it got here. I imagined someone watching us from faraway: “how cute!” they might say, “their first trail meal together!” I’m sure we’ll be sick of trail food in about a week. The climb was more than a little taxing and we’re glad to catch a rest.
All is well with food in the body; no blisters and we move on to Stover Creek shelter for a total of 11 miles or so. I set up my hammock for the first time in practical application. I’ve spent the last month or so, hammocking in my bedroom where I slept, hung from hooks I mounted in my walls. I would set up in complete darkness each night for training purposes. There is no one else at this shelter/campsite area and we discover the trail register log book in a big Ziplock bag on the shelter floor. I read some of the entries made by the hikers who have gone before us this year. I’m surprised to see so many people near to us in the log book. While hiking it seemed like we were the only people on the mountain; but there are a bunch of people just ahead of us. Maybe we’ll catch them tomorrow… The temperature is dropping; hopefully tonight I'll stay warm in my Hammock…
Mike wants to get a campfire going in the metal-rimmed fire pit they have here. Things are wet and I’m not looking forward to trying to start a fire. It’s been a few years since I actually lit one in the woods. It’s actually a good idea since it’s cold and we’re lonely; even though we have each other. There’s a weird feeling between us as we begin this trail. It’s always a good idea to start a little campfire to lighten the mood of the chilly, overcast blahs; but I wasn’t having much luck getting something going with the dry pine needles I pulled off of the little saplings nearby. Doug chipped in and although we were both avid Boy Scouts; we were having trouble. I looked at him and he looked at me. We knew what the deal was so we did what any good Boy Scout would do; we threw some stove fuel on to a pile of wood and WOOF! Instant Fire! Soon our spirits were lifted and we began to yearn for marshmallows. Maybe next time we're in town we'll pick some up.
David (no trail name yet)
Website:
http://www.brotherproof.com
Blog:
http://brotherproof.blogspot.com
Pictures:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Film:
http://www.youtube.com/wbaf1
Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/brotherproof
David's Website:
http://www.davidpatrone.com
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