It begins

3/30/17

Location: Amicalola Falls State Park Campground

Miles: lots by airplane and shuttle; about 1 by foot

Food: airport sandwich for breakfast; lunch was a couple of snacks through the day; dinner was buffet at park lodge

Starting conditions: Pack weighs about 35 pounds. I weigh 210 pounds. My hair is short and well kept. My beard is neatly trimmed. I am confident.

So it begins. After a long set of flights out of Anchorage in which I got about 2 hours of sleep, tops, I landed in Atlanta. I barely had time to get my luggage and figure out where I was when I had to rush to catch a train to a station where I would meet my shuttle that would take me to the state park.

I had planned on setting up camp right away and start the trail in the morning, but that is not how it worked out. My shuttle driver dropped me off at the entrance to the park, which was a solid mile away by trail to the campground. So after putting on my pack and getting my photo taken by the stone arch at the start of the trail, I started walking up the hill to the lodge and campground. It was way warmer than I anticipated– its not a good sign that I am sweating so much and it’s not even April yet– but otherwise it wasn’t too bad. I set up camp, had a hearty meal in the lodge, and came back here to write and get ready for bed.

I feel like I should have a bunch more philosophical thoughts right now since I am on my way to fulfilling​a crazy dream of mine, but I am seriously​ jet lagged​ and can only think about how much I need sleep. I’ll have more thoughts tomorrow when I am on Springer Mountain

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