First Week

I guess it feels like a week. When I think about leaving Amicalola Falls and saying goodbye to our parents, it seems a bit longer. And when I think about meeting our fellow thru-hikers it seems a bit shorter. But today marks our first week on the AT, and that actually feels about right.

I was expecting it to be difficult.

It is.

The first day we hiked the approach trail - 8.5 miles just to get to the AT. We hiked the entire day, and at the end those miles didn't even count towards our ultimate goal. "Negative miles." Honestly, I felt a bit discouraged after our first day.

But one step at a time. Literally.

One step.

After another.

After another.

Each one working towards a small goal, which leads to a larger goal, which ultimately leads to the end goal. It's can definitely be a mental battle telling yourself not to be disheartened by the progress.

My knee began to seriously hurt to the point where I didn't know how I would be able to bend it. KitFox was getting some painful blisters on her feet. But we continue to walk it off. And we will continue to walk. One step at a time.

About four days in we arrived in Neels Gap at the outfitters and were greeted by an encouraging and cheerful staff (all of whom had thru-hiked before). We resupplied. Got a shower. Got a knee brace. And ate some luxurious hiker food like pizza and soda. It was a great boost and our first little milestone of the trip.

The next few days felt great. We were moving and hitting our small goals. It was still difficult but exhilarating and rewarding.

Now we are in town for our second resupply and our first "nero" day (nearly zero). We hiked a couple miles this morning to get to the road then shuttled into town with some other thru-hikers to spend the day relaxing and feasting. Tomorrow we are off again and will hit another, somewhat larger, goal of crossing our first state boundary.

It has only been one week, but within that week we have camped in the midst of thunder, lightning, and high winds. We have seen snow on top of Blood Mountain. Seen signs of bears. Walked among the clouds. Crawled up steep ascents and scrambled down treacherous descents. We have met and hiked with other thru-hikers such as Cicada, Chief, and Smiley. And we have passed others like Animal, Old Hiker, and FireFox. We have gone to sleep when the sun has set and awakened when the sun has risen. We have yet to pass completely through Georgia, but we have walked over seventy miles and will soon be in North Carolina.

It has only been one week, but we are not taking any of it for granted. There is much more walking to come.