HIke Away!!!

Well folks, it has begun :-) Today is now our tenth day on the trail headed north. A week and a half ago on Thursday, March 8th, Laura's father Ron dropped Laura, Pete, Roxi and I off at the visitor's center at Amicalola Falls State Park, the starting point of the AT approach trail. Our boots were tied tight, our backpack's fully loaded, and minds and hearts pointed northward. After taking the ceremonious picture hiking through "the arch", we promptly... got back in the car and drove to the top of the falls; we had already done that part yesterday without packs, so whats the point of doing it again with 45 pounds on our backs??

It was then that we hit the trail north. The weather was unseasonably warm; 70 degrees. After 7.5 miles of cruising along mostly uphill trail, we reached the top of Springer Mt., the official Southern Terminus of the Appalachian Trail. After some hoots and hollers, a little food and water, we settled down for a nap, and got sunburned.

It has now been 10 days since hot sun and warms rocks on top of Springer. We have learned how to sleep with two dogs and two humans in one tent (not easy, especially if one or both of the dogs happens to have diarrhea all night long). Blisters have been formed, popped, cursed at, and eventually fixed. Dogs have barked with joy, delight, fear, and puzzlement. Rain has fallen and clothing has (and currently is) been dried in the sun and wind. We have found and shared in the first moments of trail magic, an indescribable experience that occurs when most needed but least expected.

After Springer we took four days to hike to Neel's Gap. Though our days were relatively short, only 7 to 10 miles, we still felt quite sore and needed the break that Neel's Gap would provide. After summitting Blood Mt. We descended for three miles to the Gap. Once there we promptly downed some cheese and sausage as well as some ice cream. We picked up the box of food we had dropped off on our drive down, fixed up a couple of blisters, and generally refreshed. After spending the night in the hostel we picked up our packs and trudged back into the woods.

The weather up to this point had been amazing; a couple of showered during the night, but almost all sun during the day with relatively warm temperatures. However, this past Tuesday afternoon, that all changed. Our first rain storm arrived fairly hesitantly; just a few sprinkles at the top of Trey Mtn. Clouds tentatively hung to the mountain side. And then Erl (the weather God) decided that was enough fooling around and dumped the bucket on us. For four miles we hiked in a downpour, slogging through growing streams slumping trees. Erl must have been looking after us, though, for as soon as we arrived at our campsite, the rain stopped. We set up camp and ate in peace. Erl however was grumbling after giving us some respite, and we took to bed as soon the rain began to fall again. The following morning we hiked out in clouds and mist and arrived at the Cloud9 Hostel yesterday evening.

We are now showered and warm, fed and fortified. We'll head back out into the woods this evening, and likely will be away for two weeks before another update. Please write us notes and tell other people about this site, we'd really like to share this we as many people as possible. Also remember to visit the Dessin Animal Shelter website at www.dessinshelter.com. And of course, please come hike with us!! We are now on our way to the Natahala Outdoor Center in N. Carolina; after that we'll be in the Great Smokey Mtns. Hoping all is well, and thanks for reading!!

Pooch, Roxi, Tom Dooley, and Pete

(PS those are our trail names, distinguish as you will ;-)