All in a good days walk - Part 1
The following has been transcribed directly from the journal that I kept while hiking the Appalachian Trail (AT).
Monday, April 24, 2000
Set the alarm for 4:30 am, but kept hitting the snooze button so I could grab those last minutes of warmth from Stef and little Anabelle.
Departed the house at 5:10am-headed for the Raleigh, North Carolina Airport. Temp is 57 degrees.
Arrive at Raleigh with no problems at 6:40am. Plane leaves at 7:25 am. Being just after the Easter holiday there were a lot of travelers and I believe my flight was full.
Uneventful flight of 1 hour and 35 minutes. Arrived at Nasville, Tennessee Airport at 7:55am CST. Slept for part and read a book for the other. The book is, “The Arab Israeli Wars” by Chaim Herzog. Makes me realize how little I know about world history.
So, am I nervous? Hmm…I felt a touch of the butterflies as I stepped aboard the aircraft, so maybe I am. I suppose it is more curious about what I have gotten myself into.
NASHVILLE - 7:55 am. 49 degrees. Rain. I just realized that I forgot my gloves - either left them in Ryan’s car (he drove me to the airport) or they are laying on the floor in the house.
I found my backpack pretty easily and stepped outside to unwrap it and wait for Mike. I had my pack shrink wrapped in cellophane to keep anyone from tampering with it. Also found that it weighed 49.2 pounds and this is without water, fuel and gloves.
I am sitting outside the baggage claim parking area. There is some light construction going on-they are repairing the road. Anyhow, 2 guys are applying a coating to the road and 1 guy is vacuuming up the water that is pooling from the rain-he just spilled the shop vac-water almost made it to the newly painted area.
Mike, a great friend from Flight School, was delayed in signing out of his unit-we both ended up PCS’ing on the same day. He picked me up at 9:30 am, central time.
We took the 2 and a half hour drive to his mother’s house in Cartersville, Georgia-via Ryans Steak House where we both got steaks. Temperature is down to 46 degrees.
5:25pm, we depart for Amicalola Falls. It is foggy- can only see about 20 feet in front of the truck. 1 and a half hours later, we arrive. His parents drop us off and take our picture outside of the Lodge.
The hotel at Amicalola Falls is amazing, a beautiful fire glowing in a huge great room that overlooks a green, lush mountain valley. The fog breaks for a few moments and we can actually see the vibrant greens of the new spring life down in the valley.
Mike and I decide to buy postcards to send home and mark the beginning of our adventure.
8:30pm-The others arrive-Donny, Todd and Skye and the jokes continue about not going out there. Everyone is joking about not even leaving.
Off to bed…tomorrow the hike begins.
