AT Trip 1

October 23, 2023 – October 24, 2023 · 21.5 miles

AT Trip 1 Report

10/23/2023 to 10/24/2023

Total Miles - 21.5

Pics & Vids 2

To the trail 2

Day 1 2

Day 2 3

Trip References 4

Pics & Vids

To the trail

At 8 a.m., Ross and I left from Huntsville, AL, in my 2006 Red Honda Ridgeline and headed to the Woody Gap Trailhead. There, we met Ron, our shuttle guide. He was in a Gray Toyota 4Runner with the words “Yellow Blazin” across the windshield. After introductions, Ross and I swung our packs into Ron’s vehicle and started the ride to Springer Mountain.

On the ride over, we learned Ron spent 17 years serving in the US Forest Service. Then, after learning how much hikers were being charged to be shuttled to AT trailheads, Ron decided he needed to do something. So, Ron’s Shuttle Service was born. Ron detailed how he has shuttled section hikers, through hikers, international hikers, and everything in between to trailheads. He works long hours servicing the areas from Springer Mountain all the way to Fontana Dam, and truly has a big heart for the hiking community.

For Ross and me, Ron was a wealth of advice and wisdom on what to bring, where to make water stops, sights that should be seen, where the false summits were, and more. Thank goodness Ron brought up the topic of water stops. Ross and I suggested that we could just “boyscout it” if we ran out of water. Ron’s immediate look of concern suggested he had little faith in that plan. Ron then pulled out “The A.T. Guide” and demanded we take pictures of the pages associated with our hike. We did and referenced them often while on the hike.

Day 1

On the trail, we hiked southbound to the Springer Mountain southern terminus. At the terminus, we took pictures with the famous plaque of Warner Hall, which bore the message “A Footpath for Those Who Seek Fellowship with the Wilderness.” From there, we headed northbound towards Stove Creek Shelter. The shelter had steel cables for bear bags, a metal enclosure for food, and wooden platforms to sleep on. However, we decided to hike on to Long Creek Falls instead since it was our first night on the trail.

The decision to hike onward paid off; we found an empty site to camp and were greeted with the beautiful sight of Long Creek Falls. We set up camp, cooked food by the falls, and enjoyed some good pipe tobacco afterward. We then attempted to hang our food and toiletries in the bear bag. After feuding over how the bear bag system worked, and ripping down a few branches - some of which landed on us - we finally managed to hang it on our eighth attempt. On our way back to camp, we spotted two black salamanders retreating into their hole in a large decayed stump and managed to capture some pictures of them. The night ended with us tossing and turning, managing to get very little sleep.

Day 2

Ross awoke first around 7 a.m. and retrieved the bear bag, which was intact and had not been tampered with. I woke up shortly after Ross returned to the campsite. We ate breakfast—Ross had a dehydrated meal, while I had dry cereal. As we were packing up the camp, we spotted some small trout in the creek next to our campsite. Once we finished packing, we moseyed over to check out Long Creek Falls, which looked very pretty in the morning light. We took some pictures and started our hike around 9

Two miles out, we ran across a group of through-hikers who looked lean and mean. All the party members had tan skin, light loads, fast paces, and strong smells. One of them was wearing a rice paddy hat. They responded to our “good mornings” with quick hellos and smiles. Shortly afterward, we arrived at the exit for Hawk Mountain Shelter.

On Day 1, Ron told us that this was the last water stop for 7 miles. Ross and I canvassed our rations and determined that between the two of us, we had enough water—around 2 to 2.5 liters—to make it the next 7 miles. This is where the “vacation,” as Ron described it, ended, and the test of endurance began. We started the PUDs (Pointless Ups and Downs) and chugged along.

Somewhere around Horseshoe Gap, we ran into Stagger (trail name) or Peter (real name). Stagger was around 60 years old. Our conversation initially centered on the hiking pack Ross was wearing. Stagger then inquired whether a homeless man was still living in the Hawk Mountain Shelter. Ross thought to himself, “Aren’t we all kind of homeless out here?” We informed Stagger that we had not actually stopped in the shelter and therefore did not know. He then shared with us that he was finishing the Appalachian Trail after 30 years of section hiking, having started in his 30s from the northern terminus but life events had prevented him from finishing earlier. When we asked about his pack weight, he informed us it was roughly 16 pounds. “Wow, that’s light!” we thought. After wrapping up our conversation with Stagger, we started the ascent of Sassafras Mountain.

“Sassafras kicked my ass”—that’s what Ron told us on the trip to Springer Mountain. And sure enough, Sassafras also kicked our asses. With very steep ascents and a false summit, Sassafras Mountain was no joke. It proved to be a good test of our hiking stamina. Upon reaching the real summit, Ross and I took a well-deserved break. On the backside of Sassafras Mountain, the trail became more manageable as we zigzagged down. With water on our minds, we finally arrived at Justus Creek, relieved to have made it out of the “desert.”

At Justus Creek, we filtered water and took a ten-minute break. A mile later, I began to fall apart. A lack of sleep and having only cereal for breakfast had caught up with me; my energy levels were at zero. Luckily, Ross had homemade jerky and almonds, which revitalized me, providing periodic bursts of energy. Looking back, I should have eaten one of the 1,000-plus calorie meals I’d brought with me for breakfast—hindsight is 20/20. I was facing a serious calorie and energy deficit. Fortunately, Ross was in better shape and remained patient with my situation.

We had originally planned to sleep two nights on the trail but decided to test our limits by making a big push of close to 16 miles. And push we did. I crawled up the remaining ups and stumbled down the downs. We stopped at every overlook for more breaks and finally arrived back at the truck around 6

Trip References

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