springer approach trail to stover creek shelter

day 1. springer approach trail to stover creek shelter.

springer approach trail: 8.1 miles

appalachian trail miles: 2.8 miles

total miles: 10.9

just getting here has been such a trip. when maggie and i left home the COVID19 pandemic was at wash your hands, maybe consider not gathering in large groups. as we travelled the three days to georgia the situation continued to deteriorate.

we stayed with family and friends on the way and talked mostly about the newest pandemic news.

stayed at a hotel in gainesville, ga. mom had made a reservation at a fancy restaurant. there were only 3 other tables of people.

slept surprisingly well. i expected to lay awake with the normal night before something new expectations and fears merry go round. though this morning getting going was a bit painful.

had planned to eat breakfast and completely forgot. arrived at amicalola state park and checked in. got my 2020 at through hiker badge.

hiked with the entire family up the east trail. it was very misty and rained on us just a few times. i had planned on the official trail up the center of the valley, but immediately out of the gate headed the wrong way. it turned out to be for the best as when we got to the top of the falls, i ran to the bottom to take a photo and discovered that the stairs along the side were the perforated metal type. the dogs would have hated them, and we would have only discovered them after hiking almost a mile.

maggie, the dogs and i left the parents at the top of the falls and headed up the approach trail. the plan was that parents would finish walking around the falls and then drive the two cars around to a parking lot 1 mile after the summit of springer mountain.

as we hiked the approach trail the weather improved, with times of full sun. it’s generally not this warm this early in the season, and with no leaves on the trees yet, i wished i had some sunblock.

it felt really good to be on the trail. i’ve been dreaming of this day for decades. i thought we were moving slowly, but we covered a lot of ground and before i knew it we were summiting springer mountain.

despite only seeing a few folks on the way up, the summit was pretty full. i signed the log book for posterity and took a few snaps of the plaque and the first white blaze!

we had signal at the summit and quickly discovered that there were some issues withe the parental driving plan. they got wind that the road to the parking lot required a four wheel drive vehicle and was essentially off roading. we left them to it and headed to the parking lot to wait.

it took almost 2 hours for them to get there. the road was apparently fine, but the GPS kept cutting out and they ended up miles away from the intended route.

proper good byes for the dogs and maggie, but had to prevent mom and dad from touching due to the pandemic. in the few miles up springer it had already felt so far away.

everyone piled in their vehicles and they were off. i headed north, for the first time completely alone. a very quiet 1.8 miles later i arrived at the shelter. there have to be almost 20 tents here, and only 1 person in the shelter. everyone was having dinner when i arrived, and since the weather was good i joined them before setting up my tent. only two folks from outside the US, one from australia, one from holland. lots of stories about other folks who couldn’t make it.

conversation is a bit awkward at the moment as no one knows anything about one another. no one has through hiked before, so for everyone it’s their first night.

looks like it’s going to rain tonight and a bit tomorrow. i was in just a t-shirt and shorts today, but the temperature is dropping pretty rapidly.