I leave tomorrow to begin my northbound thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail. I get on a plane bright and early for my one-way flight to Atlanta. From the Atlanta airport, I’ll hop on the subway and take it to the end of the line. From there I have a shuttle arranged to take me to Amicalola Falls state park in Dawsonville, Georgia.
The trail doesn’t actually begin in Amicalola but many thru-hikers opt to start their journey there. From Amicalola there is an 8-mile approach trail to get to the official AT trailhead at Springer Mountain. Despite the extra 8 miles, Amicalola is relatively easy to get to by car and a convenient place to begin the trail. At the visitor center, you can pick up your official thru-hiker hang tag for your pack (not required, but cool to have) and get a picture by the iconic stone archway.
I’ll be arriving at Amicalola late in the day so I decided to splurge on a room in the Amicalola Lodge tomorrow night, then complete the approach trail to Springer on Thursday morning.
It’s hard to believe this day has finally arrived. I’ve been dreaming of thru-hiking as long as I can remember.
The 99%
I am 99% sure that I will complete this thru-hike. I feel excited to finally get started, but I’m calm. I’m confident in my skills, experience, and preparation. I generally know what to expect and I’ve done all the right things. I have the right gear, I’ve saved enough money, I am physically and mentally prepared, and I’ve paid extra attention to training my weaknesses.
The 1%
The remaining 1% is reserved for what I’m most nervous about. Though I am very confident in my mental and physical ability to do this 2,200 hike, there is one thing that would end it for me: an injury. Specifically, I worry about an overuse injury (think stress fracture, plantar fasciitis, or tendonitis). These type of injuries have crept up on me in the past. I’ve never had to end a hiking trip because of it, but I’ve never had a trip this long before either.
I know that finishing is not a given. According to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, only 25% of prospective thru-hikers finish the entire trail. People quit for a variety of reasons — illness, boredom, running out of money. Sometimes the experience just isn’t what they thought it’d be. I do think I have a leg up because of my previous long distance backpacking experience. I’ve completed about 400 miles (18%) of the AT already and I think I mostly know what I’m doing.
Still, things happen. I need to leave a place in my brain for the possibility of some sort of extenuating circumstance out of my control, like an unavoidable injury, a family emergency, or the zombie apocalypse.
But here’s what I do know: if it’s within my control, I will finish.
For now, it’s time to put my worries aside and trust my preparation. I have controlled what I can control, and I will do my best to continue to make smart choices on the trail. Everything else is out of my hands. I can just show up and go along for the ride.
Stay tuned! I intend to maintain a weekly-ish pace of new blog posts while hiking. You can follow my progress here and on my Instagram.
Let the adventure begin!