Speaking of Springer to Damascus

imported
#1

I loved the newness and the unknown about this part of the trail, almost more than any other part until the Whites.

I remember getting really shell-shocked when going into town, being a real green horn when it came to hitching with strangers, the heaviness of town packs, and almost constant guessing of what equipment you really needed versus what was just fluff. The learning experience during this part was great.

You still learn as you go, and the trail always takes you into unknown corridors, but it seems like it all became routine after 6 or 8 hundred miles. You knew what you needed on your town stops, and how many miles you could average. The excitement of the trail still lingered, but not quite at the level it was in the first quarter of it, for me at least. Don’t get me wrong, I like knowing what I am doing, but the first part of the trail seemed like some of the most memorable times out there.

Does this ring true for others?

nobody

#2

Yup. I’ve hiked Springer to Damascus 12 times now. Still my favorite section of trail.

Wolf

#3

I begin my Thru-Hike at Springer on April 1, 2004. There is a great amount of enthusiasm and excitement about this venture and there is a lot of fear. Because I have not been to Springer Mountain and the Georgia mountains I do not know what to expect.

Oh sure, I have read the journals of others and that helps but what I read is their hike and their experience. I have not had that experience myself. So,what do I expect in this unknown stretch of trail? What is there?

One thing that is there: People! On other hikes I have experienced an aloneness and a quiet that was quite loud in my mind. No one around. Since I hike in the midweek times there was no one expected for days. So on the AT I will expect that people will be streaming north. But still, it will all be new to me.

Fear? I have known fear before – out on the sea in storms with a woman screaming for me to head my boat to shore as wave after wave came crashing over the bow of the boat – black water which wasn’t seen or known until it soaked me through and through. But I had a tiller to hang onto and a destination in mind. On the trail the instruments for locomotion are my legs and the actions of my mind moving me forward. What is there? How will I recognize a stopping place? Where will I rest? Who will I meet? So many questions about an unknown place.

60 days to go.

Skylander

Skylander

#4

it helps that it is stunningly beautiful and you are in the hands of the hospitible south. those balds??? holy calamity! for me, that section doesnt beat maine in the fall with hardened friends, but the south is my favorite region in general. soul oozes off of those mountain laurel branches, a huge heart rocks on every porch, and its good and humid. magical.
and there are so many clueless hacks out there at ground zero! this bothers some, but those fools always know how to party, if nothing else! yes, its is a good ol time. can you say springer fever?

milo

#5

makes me want to be out there right now. But I guess pretty much everything does!

Tha Wookie