Month: June 2016

So, I got up at 2AM and I was out of the shelter by 3:45. Made my way to the southern terminus, Springer Mountain. When I got there I called Sammy and let him know my solar charger was not working at the moment so I had no charge left in my phone. All I needed was for him to verify that when I hit the Spot Tracker on, which I thought was 4AM, it was actually tracking me. Unfortunately, he was barely awake and his internet was not functional either. The two of us were a pair, I tell ya. Finally, I threw caution to the wind and said I was just going to start walking and hope it was tracking. Sammy said he would call me back when he had confirmation.

Eventually, Sammy did call and all was well. I didn’t see anybody on the trail for hours. It was dark and quiet. In the early afternoon I started to get a bit tired and hungry, so I made my way to a clearing off the trail and set up cooking. Maybe half into my production, an old guy (Grandpa) and his 16 year old grandson (Veddar) stopped also. They were asking about the next spring, which I knew nothing about, but they decided that spot looked like a good place to take a break too.

I packed up my stuff once I was done and wished them well. We sort of leapfrogged from there on the trail a few times.

At the next break, I ended up chatting with Chance (Spoon Fed), his dad Greg (Froggy) and a girl they were tagging along with, Ashley (Fickle Goat). I ended up also tagging along with this group. We hiked a long day, then stopped for the evening at a picture perfect spot on the trail. In fact, someone had spent a huge amount of time prepping the firewood for us, plus it had an extraordinary view. Everyone said it was fire karma since earlier in the day I had prepped firewood at a site near Blackhawk Shelter.

At camp, Chase let me use his phone charger. Also, I started noticing my bug spray wasn’t quite cutting it. I was starting to get welts from bites all over me. Made a list for the outfitter, this included new bug spray. Crashed for the evening with the intent of getting up early once again.

 

Stayed up all night traveling to Georgia. Got about 20 minutes from Dawsonville, GA. Mailed the last two bounce boxes out to myself from the FedX. Got gas, hopped back in the car and dropped off the rental at the Enterprise and met up with my shuttle driver, Kathy.

Kathy is a nice older woman with a minivan and a penchant for kayaking. She shuttles hikers for a bit of extra income and had spent a time or two on the trail herself. Like all good shuttle drivers, once I was in the van she proceeded to squeeze me for a bit more money by offering to take me to Amicalola Falls first, let me sign in there, then take me to the trailhead for Springer Mountain. That way I didn’t have to hike the approach trail and could start my journey earlier. It would only cost an additional $60. I told her it wasn’t in the budget and she promptly reduced the price to $40. You got me Hon! Kathy had also brought me a chicken sandwich for the road to sweeten the deal. Of course, she charged me for that too. LOL

Ad soon as we pulled up, I grabbed the bag out of the back of the van and realized how freaking heavy it really was. Too much stuff and packing in a hurry left me wondering if I was going to have to chuck some food off a mountain like in the book A Walk In The Woods.

I made the hike up to the Springer Mountain shelter and crashed out for the afternoon/evening. The plan? Wake up at 3AM, pack it up, and head to the southern terminus at the top of Springer Mountain. Kick off starts at 4AM.

 

 

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Today I had a client call me and tell me another client had died. Not good. This is not the first time I have left for the Appalachian Trail (AT) and found out someone I really admire had passed. This hike, in part, is for you Tom. I know you are in a better place, no matter where that ends up being.

My friend, Sammy took me to the rental car place this morning. Picked up a little sedan with some excellent gas mileage. Thank you Enterprise. Went home and repacked a few of my bounce boxes. Called ahead to the hostels I was sending them to to make sure they would hold them for a period of time, since my schedule is flexible.

It took all day to repack the bounce boxes. Got to the Omni Pack and Ship just before closing.   I ran home again to finish prep. (Packed two more bounce boxes which I took with me. Didn’t get to call to verify if they would hold them or not or anything. Fingers crossed.) Jason, my boyfriend, stopped by for one last hug and kiss goodbye. I finally left the apartment at 9pm. Of course, I got all neurotic and had to text Jason to make sure my truck was locked when I left. Had to….

I drove all through the night to get to Dawsonville, GA. The traffic was decent. Weather was decent. Drank way too much coffee, but got myself there, again, just in time. The only remarkable thing about the drive was that there was a ton of construction along the way, but because I travelled in the middle of the night mostly, it didn’t hinder my trip too bad.

I finished my itinerary finally. In the morning I was still running around buying supplies, still packing my bags, and still packing the bounce boxes. The day was maddening.

At the last minute I ended up repacking all my bounce boxes which cost me 8 hours of drive time, but well worth it. I was supposed to leave on Tuesday at 8 AM, but instead left Tuesday at 8PM. I did get three boxes out at the Omni Pack and Ship right before closing Monday night. Then ran home to pack the remaining two boxes which I ended up driving with me toward Atlanta.

Greg and Hayley stopped by, so did Jason, my boyfriend. Last minute love before the big trip. I had an interview scheduled for that afternoon with Wink News, but it got cancelled that morning, which was fine with me since I was still in the prep process.

Eventually, my friend Sammy came to my place and picked me up. I spent the night at his place, so in the morning he could drop me off at the car rental and I wouldn’t have my truck out floating around somewhere.

The service of my phone has been sketchy. My solar charger has not been the best. It gives me one charge and that is all. So, I am temporarily at a hostel right now and I have ten minutes to type out what I have to say, then its adios.

Thank you to Ginny from the Live Room (recording studio) for giving me a haircut. If I had all that hair on the trail I would be insane right now. Thank you to Allen Trevitt from Allen International and the Speckled Egg for believing in the cause and coming through with some much needed corporate sponsorship. Thanks also to Don Sherman, my boss, for letting my play hookie this summer and take two months off to do this hike. Thank you to Sammy Elonen for being my go-to Spot Tracker. Also, my brother Jerrold Dietz and my friend who is like a brother, Greg Wilkerson, for being my secondary Spot Trackers. And thank you to my boyfriend Jason Kreider, who I have only been seeing for six months, for not freaking out and letting me go hike alone without giving me grief. Thank you to my customers who generously donated extra tips to help make it all happen.

Without all these people and many others who showed support who I have not named, Thank you, thank you, thank you… This would not have been possible without you all.

I will start updating this tomorrow. My phone has not been functional since I got on the trail.