Day 1: Springer Mountain to Hawk Mountain Shelter

It is 8 pm and I am in my tent, as it is raining and there is zero shelter space. You know I don’t sleep in them, but it is nice to have dinner there and get out of the rain. Because it is raining, my dinner plans are thwarted! No place to cook without getting wet. So I’ll eat some leftover lunch to avoid night hunger.

So the day started with an awesome breakfast at the hiker hostel. An hour and a half later, after a heartfelt farewell with Brenda, I boarded the shuttle ride to the parking area near Springer Mountain.

After an hour ride or so, 7 hikers were dropped off in the parking area. I asked the driver, a former thru hiker for any last minute advice. He simply said, “Don’t go.” Hmmmmm… We failed to heed his advice and we all headed to the top of Springer Mountain to begin our thru hikes.

All six of my companions hiked at a faster pace than myself. The next time I saw them, they were already headed back down the mountain. Shortly after I did arrive at the summit, another guy arrived who must’ve started after I did. We introduced ourselves and to my surprise his name was Mike Kelly. Same last name as my first (technically middle) name! How cool is that?

I snapped some photos and then left the summit to begin my thru hike. I arrived back at the drop off point and took some photos of signage and the trail. The plan was to stop at Stover Creek Shelter which was only 3 miles further. I intentionally planned two very short days so I could ease into this.

Well, I arrived at that shelter at 1145am!  I sat around for a bit talking with other hikers and having some lunch. By 1230 or so, I decided I was still feeling great and would try to make the next shelter which was only 5 miles away.

Another guy there was about to leave too, so we decided to hike together. Yay, a hiking partner! We left at about 130pm.

Along the way, we hiked a blue blaze trail to Long Creek Falls. While there, we took a snack break at what turned out to be the highlight of the day. This was about a 50 foot waterfall cascading over a variety of ledges. Pictures and video were in order!

Leaving the falls, we continued towards Hawk Mountain Shelter. We finally arrived at 630 or so to a completely full shelter and multiple tents, usually called tent city.

We set up our tents, in the rain. Sure makes it a challenge to keep stuff dry. Let me rephrase that: it’s impossible to keep stuff dry.

So, here I am. I am super whipped. I’m done writing for the night. Tiredness beats hunger, so this lunch for dinner thing just ain’t happening. Tomorrow’s plan will be to try and reach the next shelter.

Wandering on…

Kelly