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Day 1, Waxing Poetic

Springer Mountain (0) to Hawk Mountain Shelter (8.1) +8.1 miles

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Well... The journey of 2000 miles begins with a single step... Sort of... I promise I won't wax poetic every day, but it's the first day so I feel that it's warrented. The Southern Terminus of the AT is on the summit of Springer Mountain in North Georgia. Technically, the first step isn't counted until you get there. Just getting there isn't a simple task. The nearest "city" to Springer is Gainesville Georgia. So of course, I took the Midnight Train to Georgia. The coincidence is not lost on me that I was born in Gainesville Florida, so it kind of felt like going home in an abstract way. Anyway, the only train leaves at midnight and arrives in Gainesville at 7am. From there, you can shuttle to the top which takes another hour and a half. Except you can't actually shuttle to the top. Although Springer isn't exactly Everest, you can't drive to the summit. You can drive to a mile away, though. So the first mile you hike on your first day doesn't even "count". Technically, I hiked 9.1 miles, but the historic record reflects 8.1. Did I mention that I didn't get to sleep almost at all? The first mile was incredibly difficult. It's hard to describe how exhausting it is to hike up a mountain when you have not slept. Not to mention I felt sick to my stomach for the same reason, and a headache had set in. Oh well, there's only one thing to do. Climb the damn hill. When I finally got to the top I ate a Rice Crispy Treat that marginally improved my mood. I took a picture at the summit as everyone does and I was struck by an unexpectedly intense feeling. I've been to the summit of Katahdin and taken a photo there. It's probably very rare that anyone who hasn't thru hiked has been on both these summits. Even though it's not an impressive feat, it felt cool in a somewhat abstract way. I had finished the beginning, finished the end, and now I'm setting out to fill in the middle. This idea improved my mood even further, and turning around to start my first "real" step on this Thru hike was the cherry on top. After the somewhat grueling and rocky mile uphill, the downhill was an absolute breeze. So much so that I took tons of pictures and basically sprinted through 5 miles of downhill and flat terrain. There really is never going to be better hiking weather. Sunny skies, comfortable temperatures, and a nice breeze. It wasn't until the second mountain climb of the day that I really hit a wall. Getting to the top of Hawk Mountain took a ton out of me. I hiked the next mile in about an hour and arrived at camp around 2pm. An early day, for sure, but I don't want to push it. My legs and feet feel fine but with no sleep, it's really imprudent to go any further. Right now I'm sitting in my tent, cold soaking white rice in a plastic bag for an early dinner. Tomorrow is going to be a very difficult and very early day. Heavy rain and lighting is predicted as well as gusty winds. It's not lost on me that I'm sitting on top of a mountain. My goal is to hike fast to the next shelter and hopefully find a spot there to literally shelter from the storm. I'm apprehensive about tomorrow but I'm strangely comforted by the fact that there's nothing I can do about it. I'm going to keep hiking because there's no other option. It simplifies things. And besides: No Pain, No Rain, No Maine.