AT Update #1: the First Week

Current Location: Hiawassee, GA

Miles Hiked: 69.2, plus the 8.8 mile approach trail

Miles to go: 2125.9

Percent of trail completed: 3%

And we’re off! It’s day 7 and everything is going great so far. I’m having a blast.

Georgia is gorgeous! Because the trees are still bare, I have unobstructed views of the mountains. I’ve had all types of weather this week, from 15° to 65°, from sunburn sunny to pouring cats and dogs, and bitter winds up to 35 mph. A little bit of everything.

I feel strong. I think my physical training really paid off. It was the end of day 3 before anyone passed me on the trail. Not that it’s a race, and it’s not good to compare yourself to other hikers, but I couldn’t help but notice. It was a nice little ego boost for the first couple days to pass but never be passed.

I have some blisters and some minor aches and pains in my legs and hips, but nothing too concerning.

The theme of this week has been trusting my decision making process, specifically decisions about taking risk versus being cautious. I am becoming very aware of how risk tolerance is a very personal thing. The tipping point, the point when the risk outweighs the potential reward, varies wildly from person to person. So although it is always prudent to get advice from others, I need to know my own risk tipping point, so I can make the right decisions for me.

A few examples are below.

Approaching Blood Mountain, the highest point on the trail this far, I crossed two women coming down the opposite way. They gravely warned me to not go to the summit. It was very windy, they said, and a sheet of ice covering a treacherous granite drop off. The strongly advised me to take a side trail that bypassed the summit.

When I arrived at the junction to the alternate trail, there were four other thru hikers there. They too had been warned by the two women and were trying to decide what to do. It seemed awfully early in the thru hike to “cheat” by taking an alternate route but no one wanted to risk a hike-ending injury either.

Two more day hikers approached who had just come down from the summit. According to them, it wasn’t that bad. That was 2 votes for it’s terrifying and 2 votes for it’s not that bad. Hmm.

A young guy and myself decided to go for it. The other three thru hikers opted for the bypass route.

Boy was I glad I went for it. Blood Mountain was absolutely stunning, and I felt no danger whatsoever. No scary granite drop off, no sheets of ice. Just a few frosty rocks here and there, nothing that seemed unreasonably unsafe to my eyes. Danger is all about perspective.

Later that day I arrived at Neels Gap, the first major milestone for northbound thru hikers. I took advantage of the one bar of service to check the weather for the night. Low of 15°. Ouch. It had rained all day the day before and my gear was still wet. This one was not a risk I felt good about taking.

Neels Gap has an outfitter that has a 8-bed hostel for thru hikers. It was already late in the afternoon and I assumed they had already filled up for the night, but I figured I’d at least check. They had one bunk left! I snatched it.

My gut had told me to get up super early that morning and I’m glad I listened. If I had arrived any later, I’m sure I would be out of luck. Other hikers camped that night, but the idea of spending the night in such cold weather with wet gear surpassed my personal risk threshold. It felt like the right move to spend the night in the hostel.

The next morning the forecast was the same – temperatures in the teens overnight. Several of the other hikers from the hostel opted to stay the night in a hotel and offered for me to join them. They didn’t feel up to sleeping in those temps, and I don’t blame them. For me though, with my gear all dried out, my risk meter was back on the “go for it“ side. 15° with wet gear sounds dangerous, but 15° with dry gear sounds like an adventure. I declined their offer to split a hotel room.

That night pushed my gear to its limits, but I stayed warm enough. And now I have a very important piece of information: I know that I can handle temps in the upper teens, but colder than that would be pushing it into the danger zone. Very important to know.

I’m sure the next few months will offer a gazillion more opportunities to make personal risk assessments. I feel good about the decisions I’ve made thus far but I’m looking forward to sharpening the skill further.

What’s Next

Today I’m making a quick stop in Hiawassee to resupply before hitting the rainy trail again this evening. Only 9 miles before I cross the border to North Carolina and I can cross off the first of fourteen states. I’m looking forward to the Smokies!

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