33/n: Up and down
day 1: Gainesville to Stover Creek Shelter M2.8 via Springer Approach Trail +8.8mi
It is really difficult to think about what to write.
I could write about the Amtrak experience. The incredible spacious seats with a lot of legroom. The sound of the horn piercing through the night every time the train passed a crossing. The guy talking about the pandemic six hours straight.
I could write about the pandemic making everyone crazy and affecting my travels. „Hi I’m Berni from Germany“ I say „I’m probably the last german you’ll meet on this trail“. How by now it might well be, that I get into a town and all the stores are closed.
I could write about Ron, the guy who picked me up at Gainesville and drove me to the trailhead and about his enthusiasm for the trail and his passion in being a shuttle service for AT hikers.
day 2: Stover Creek Shelter M2.8 to Lance Creek Restoration Area M23.9
I could write about my first days in Georgia. How everything is covered in thick, impenetrable mist. How it is very cold and wet and spring still is around the corner.
I could write about my first shopping experience in a Georgian supermarket, that was filled with Mexican specialties and how I bought cheese in can without feeling any shame. About my first impression about switching to stove-less. How I adapt my resupplying behavior compared to the TeA — I just try to habe at least the days worth of food in my backpack, so it’s just resupplying at every chance I get in small amounts.
I could write about all the things I’ve learned about storing food safe from bears and about how all the shelters have either bear-boxes to store or bear-cables to hang your food and how I’ve not even yet heard a or seen a bear.
I could write about how this this trail is so much different from the TeA. How there are so many people walking it — 1063 ahead of me. How for some of them it is more a cultural experience than an athletic endeavor. How the AT merchandise and swag they wear and carry almost makes a campground or shelter feel like a place at a festival.
About how I’m passing at least 30 people everyday and how I meet 10 or more people on the campgrounds or shelters every evening. How nice it is to have those little gatherings and encounters. How good it feels to talk to people about trivial or important stuff. How everyone is giving me a lot of positive feedback for my endeavor of finishing that trail within my time.
day 3: Lance Creek Restoration Area M23.9 to Blue Mountain Shelter M50.1
I could write about that endeavor. How always calculate, everyday, how far I would have to go everyday. That I would have to maintain at least a 25 miles average to have a chance of finishing it. How I would have to do at least five 30 miles days before I can even think about a
zero day. About how good it feels to be able to do 25 miles not easily but highly confident.
About how happy I am that my body is supporting me and about how I’m pretty positive about my choice of shoes. The Hoka One Speedgoats are perfect so far. They won’t last all the trail through but they hopefully won’t cause any injury either.
About how much I love my new gear. But how I still have a lot of things to improve. Like the way in pitch my tent or the way I organize my pack.
About why I switched to miles, because it makes planning easier.
About the trail magic the AT is famous for. About two guys just setting up a pavilion and a grill and serving Burger, Hot Dog, vegetables, fruit, beer and soda to hikers for free. Because the AT is a cultural experience and people are proud to be a part of it and being part of it also means giving back.
day 4: Blue Mountain Shelter M50.1 Plumorchard Gap Shelter M73.7
About two lovely ladies who circled back to pick me up at Dicks Creek Gap and drove me to Hiawassee, where I needed to do some resupplying. But then also introduced me to the southern hospitality and to that part of Georgia, invited me to a burger and a coffee at their favorite restaurant that wasn’t closed due to the pandemic, drove me to the supermarket and dropped me off back on the trail where they picked me up. About how that encounter brightened my day so I walked the 5 miles to the shelter in no time.
I could write about all that, and I still wouldn’t have checked all the topics that occupied my mind the past days.
What I will write is that this trail again is first and foremost a mental challenge for me. And that I take it one day at a time. It sure is tough to pass all those people everyday, knowing that I’ll probably never see them again. To be a solo hiker until Katahdin. But the silver lining is, I meet very nice and interesting people every day and I enjoy that a lot.
