Heading to GA

Goodbye home, goodbye dogs, goodbye indoor plumbing, goodbye shower, goodbye deodorant. I'll see all of you again in a few months.

Tomorrow is the Day

Tomorrow morning, I will be leaving home for my hike. Mostly everything is done and ready except for a few things on my honey-do list and actually packing my backpack. We'll probably leave Raeford around noon and spend 5 or 6 hours driving to Gainesville, GA where we'll be staying at the 6 star Motel 6. It's called that because it has a 6 star rating, right? Saturday morning, we'll head to Amicalola where I'll check in at the visitors' center, then start walking. My plan is to complete the approach trail and pitch my tent near the shelter 0.2 miles past the Springer Mountain trail head. There's a privy there, so I can get rid of Saturday's Waffle House breakfast before I start hiking Sunday. It's hard to plan out exactly how far I'll be hiking each day, but a rough estimate will have me at Neel Gap on about day 4 where I'll pick up my first mail drop. It would be awesome to start out doing 20 mile days, but that isn't going to happen. 8 or so miles per day will keep me happy until I get my trail legs under me. Hopefully, my average miles per day will be up to 15 or so after a couple weeks. My plan is to take a long lunch every day and try to nap for a bit before heading out for the afternoon's miles. Tonight's dinner, being my last here for a long time, is going to be a good one. I got the brisket on the smoker early this morning, and we'll be chowing down at about 7 tonight. I might as well go all out for my last meal at home.