Day 0: Approaching Springer Mountain

We have started the approach path! Before we could begin, we had already met a fellow hiker at the REI in Sandy Springs, north of Atlanta. His name is Simon and he is from the United Kingdom. After some small talk, he proposed splitting an Uber, and so we did!

After checking in at Amicalola Falls, we asked someone to take our photo at the famous arch. What are the possibilities? The guy who took our photo was also Dutch! Even on the other side of the world we cannot escape our compatriots.

First impression is that there is a lot of wildlife here! Birds, squirrels and I swear I saw a black turkey flying on a branch! I didn’t know they could fly! My dad still thinks I’m imagining things. In the meantime, he’s been really enjoying all the butterflies here. He loves small creatures and will stop every time to try to take a photo of one if it flies into his field of vision.

We quickly came across the famous waterfall with the infamous 606 (!) step stairs. The waterfall is very beautiful! But wow, you pay for the nice views from the top. Those stairs are no joke!

Before starting, I thought that the first day would be a good warm-up for the rest of the tour. 9 miles is an easy day, right? Mistaken. At least for us it wasn’t. We started at 1:30 pm and arrived at Springer Mountain at 7:30 pm. We were screwed.

Set up camp

After arriving we still had to filter the water, cook, eat and set up our tent. At least that was the idea. My dad and I shuddered at the thought of sleeping in mouse-infested shelters, but it’s pretty surprising how quickly you don’t care anymore when you’re exhausted.

So, we secured our food and set up a spot at the shelter at 9 pm. But after a few minutes I was rudely awakened by a loud roar… or, well… a snore. It was my dad. He was fast asleep, but couldn’t close one eye. And my secondhand shame began to take effect. I woke my dad up and suggested that maybe we should set up our tents anyway. Confused and sleep-drunk, he looked at me and the darkness outside, rolled over on his mat (it sounded like he was crushing a bag of chips), and started snoring again. Oh well… I did my best. Sorry, fellow hikers!

After falling asleep and waking up a dozen times, by 1:30 am I had had enough. I took my sleeping mat and quilt outside and the cowboy camped out on the picnic table, sleeping under the stars. I’m turning into hiker trash sooner than I thought. But the stars were very pretty! Let’s hope to get enough sleep for tomorrow!

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