Georgia: the worst state

Georgia, the beginning of the northbound Appalachian Trail. Almost everyone who hikes the trail is probably excited to start the Appalachian Trail and some people have been planning this hike for years or have wanted to hike their entire lives. I don’t. I never wanted to hike the AT, so maybe my idea of ​​Georgia is biased, but here is my take on my 1 week trip through Georgia and what I found along my hike.

Bored of brown

Maybe I started early and the leaves weren’t green. I come from Washington state and everything is always green and that’s what I know. When I arrived in Georgia, I wasn’t excited to start the Appalachian Trail, but to get my Triple Crown, I have to do the AT. From day 1 in Amicalola I had no emotions, I was physically prepared but mentally I was far away.

Looking at the approach trail, the only thing I noticed was the waterfall. I love waterfalls and Washington is full of them. Everything else was Brown and not my vibe. I couldn’t get past the color brown.

Hailing from Washington State, we have views upon views and mountains galore. The hike is eerily similar with a lack of switchbacks and difficult terrain. What Georgia lacks is color and views. The color will eventually come, but the views will never. If I had started later in the year I would have enjoyed the green, but the heat would disqualify the color completely.

Kicking stones and hitting my head

Georgia had been very bumpy, tons of rocks and loose stones on the road. The trail conditions are not at all favorable, especially for starting such a long trail. I tripped over hundreds of rocks, most were loose on the trail and could have easily been removed, but I guess that’s part of the trail and we have to adapt. My feet took a beating and I broke a toenail that ended up getting stuck on the bottom of my foot. Luckily I never fell, but since I’m 7 feet tall I have a little more time to catch myself before I fall.

Speaking of being 7 feet, I’d like to ask the monitoring teams to trim the branches a little higher. Lihat juga ygm5. The rhododendium groves, or green tunnel, had an average height of about 6 feet. I was ducking, diving, dodging and tripping over rocks as I did it, there were so many hits to the head along the way and it really bothered me while everyone else was happily jumping through the tunnel.

All in all

I know everyone I met was tired of me criticizing Georgia, but to me, my height and what I found was not glamorous. The moment I crossed the North Carolina border, I immediately began to enjoy the trail. The mountains changed, the flora became greener, the trail conditions became much better and easier, so I have to say, personally, that Georgia was a nightmare and I’m glad it only took me a week to get through it.

Georgia is left behind: good things are yet to come

Now that we’re past the worst of it and into a more cheerful attitude, the rest of the journey still won’t be easy, but I’ll be glad we’re past Georgia and Maine is now the ultimate goal. I came here to leave the past behind, and it took me a week to realize that I’m really on the right path and that everything in the past is «not my problem.»

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