Appalachian Trail: First Impressions

1 – The access trail to Amicalola Falls is reason enough to climb the main staircase. The AT is known for its endless ascents and descents, but the Approach Trail has literally 600 stairs, all of them uphill. Do yourself a favor and take the stairs before you reach the AT. Climb many stairs.

2 – The trail has more international hikers than I thought. Rural Georgia doesn’t strike me as a top destination for international travelers, but in the last week I’ve encountered people of at least half a dozen different nationalities. I guess this shouldn’t be too surprising, since we all know that the only thing Germans love is two

3 – I’ve met more people in their 60s and 70s in the last week than I have in the last decade. I went into this experience fearing that I would be the oldest person on the trail. It was very far away. Half of the conversations I’ve heard at shelters have to do with advice about retirement or grandchildren. I don’t know if this says more about the path or about me; Maybe I just gravitate toward solid financial planners.

4 – Murphy’s Law is real. After setting up camp atop Springer Mountain, just hours into my trip, I made a horrifying discovery. My pillow refused to stay inflated. The thing had sat in my closet for months, unused and with a small undetected hole. Common sense should have told me to test all my equipment one last time before hitting the trail; But of course, why listen to common sense before heading into the woods?

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