Day 1, Amicalola Falls to Stover Creek Shelter, 11.8 miles
In the morning my nerves were on edge. Looking at the previous trip, I thought, «What am I doing here?» I grabbed a bar and left the comfort of the Amicalola lodge to head to the AT hiker orientation. Four other hikers and I learned about Leave No Trace, bear safety, wildfires, and norovirus. With a new fear of vomiting and shitting my brains out while backpacking (sorry for the visual), I reluctantly returned to my hotel room.
I made a breakfast of S’mores Pop-Tarts and hotel coffee while I packed. Finally it was time to start walking.
Once I was on the trail, most of my worries disappeared. I know what I’m doing, I’ve been backpacking since I was 12 years old. The approach trail was pretty quiet, but apparently everyone walking today saw a bear. I was paying attention but I missed it. Oops.
After a grueling climb, I reached the top of Springer Mountain, the official start of the Appalachian Trail. I chatted a bit with some people at the top, admired the view and signed the notebook. A man was not walking, but bicycling from Key West to the northernmost point of Minnesota. Wow. Good luck kid.
One time I started to feel a little sore on the Appalachian Trail, so I stopped for lunch by a stream. I had tuna salad in a tortilla. Not the best, but I had a few squirts for dessert. Scrumptious. I decided to stop once I reached the Stover Creek shelter. It was only four in the afternoon, but many people had told me to take it easy the first few days.
The highlight of my day was going out and eating with other people at the shelter. On the dinner menu there was packaged fried rice with a Spam single and a Snickers for dessert. Honestly, a great meal. Conversation-wise, it was really nice to chat with people who were trying to stop by or just get out for a week or two. The conversation flowed very easily and it was interesting to hear everyone’s story. A first day for books, thanks for reading.
Day 2, 11.6 miles, Stover Creek Shelter to Devils Kitchen
Oh my god. There were many ups and downs. We literally climbed an entire mountain only to go down the entire mountain with no flat parts. I am totally feeling the downhill in my right knee and will have to slow down and make sure it heals.
The day started pretty well. Despite sleeping poorly, I woke up energized and started walking around 8:15am. I ate some crumbly Pop-Tarts to get some food into my body. After a couple of hours, I stopped at a beautiful waterfall and made coffee and oatmeal. The rest of the day was a lot of PUD (useless ups and downs).
After a brutal descent, I fell to the ground to rest my body. Suddenly, a car passed by and Max welcomed us with the magic of the trail. I was sore and hot, so I was confused when he greeted us and pulled out lawn chairs. Then he mentioned he had water and Jolly Ranchers, and I ran out. I bought a watermelon and a blue raspberry for the road.
Wow, I needed those Jolly Ranchers. The next 1.7 miles consisted of a 670-foot climb and a 530-foot descent. I just checked the elevation map to validate my struggle. After this stretch, my knee was not happy with me. I tried doing some belly breathing and humming songs to mask the pain. It didn’t work. Finally I came to a glorious stream. I took 2 ibuprofen and joined a girl who was “freezing” her knees in the creek.
I thought that would work, but I could barely drag my body literally 100 yards to camp. I decided I needed to treat this A$AP and did some knee stretching and strengthening exercises that I had done during PT.
The rest of the night was great. There was a nice crew camping at Devil’s Kitchen and we all chatted while we made dinner. Scooby and I hung a bear and it looked pretty good! That’s all for tonight.
Day 3, Devils Kitchen to Woods Hole Shelter, 13.7 miles
Forget about that blog from yesterday, we’re cooking baby! Crushed 13.7 miles today. Phantom gave me some KT tape this morning and showed me some stretches for my knee. He also told me it was probably related to my IT band. A big shout out to him!
I continued to struggle for the first few kilometers, but decided to make some changes. I created a plan with some warm-ups, stretches, and strengthening to try to do every day. I also shortened my stride and stretched my IT band and glutes with my hiking pole. Slowly but surely, my knee started to feel better!
Honestly, I had a great time today. I was meeting new people, seeing the same friends from days before and enjoying the sun. The trail got easier in the afternoon and I listened to some music to pass the time. What a vibe.
I have another shout out to Rob 1 and Rob 2. The 2 Robs were generous in offering extra space in their bear canisters for my food. Woods Hole Shelter requires bear canisters, but I don’t have any. I told them that in return I would give them some Gushers.
The night in Woods Hole was pleasant. There was a small group and we chatted while having dinner at the shelter. We had service and verified that tonight it drops to 32 degrees. I’m crouched down with all my warm clothes and my duvet. Wish me luck!
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