The dream becomes a reality

Today my dream became a reality. I officially started thru hiking the Appalachian Trail at 12:45pm when I passed under the arch and began the approach trail. At 5:45 I set foot on Springer Mountain and the first white blaze. It is now as real as it can get.

I signed in at the visitors center and was number 1088 to start there. That means at least 1500 more started at the Springer parking lot and did not get a number.

The forecast called for scattered rain today, but it must have been scattered elsewhere. The sun came out several times, which was very welcome. I hiked from the arch to the top of the falls where I said goodbye to my mom. After that I hiked on up the approach trail.

I only saw 3 other hikers until I got to black gap shelter where there were three more. All but one were section hikers and I didn't talk to the other.

When I got to the summit I was very surprised that there was nobody else there. After hearing for weeks that it was super crowded, it came as a pleasant surprise. I took the required pictures and signed the log under intense bombardment by giant gnats.

I drank some of my celebratory Dr Pepper, which was very good after 4+years. The bugs ran me off early and down to the shelter where there are a bunch of scouts and at least 4 other thru hikers.

We chatted while we ate. There is a guy from Maine, and lady from Maryland, and a guy from Texas who kept hiking after eating. Very interesting bunch.

The guy from Maine is called Theseus. He carried a hiking pole cut into a spear on his last trip and he is originally from Greece. Theseus is apparently a Greek god who carried a spear. Fitting.

One hiker was calling shuttles for a ride. Officially 0.2 miles hiked and he is already quitting. He says that without a doubt this is not for him. I guess now is a better time to find that out rather than later on.

My filter was clogged up when I tried to get water. Uh oh. Not good. I got someone to let me have some clean water so I could back flush and it opened it up a little bit. I will have to work on it or replace it at Neels gap.

It's about 8 and getting dark. The scouts are building a fire so that will be nice.

Two more hikers from Boston showed up later and stayed in the shelter. Someone also came in well after dark and hung up a hammock.

It rained a little bit during the night, but nothing to worry about. The moon broke thru the clouds late and lit up the campsite. Very nice.

Officially I hiked 9 miles today, but 8.8 were the approach trail, so 0.2 official miles down. 2189.0 to go!