First Week on the AT My lovely wife drove me to Gainesville, GA on Friday, 26 February. After a night with almost no sleep, she drove me to Amicalola Falls State Park where I could register with the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, then get my fat ass through the archway and on my way up to Springer. When signing in, I ended up being number 174 of the year to start an AT thru hike from Amicalola Falls. Neisha wanted to get a picture of me before I started my hike, so we waited for a couple of kids to get their picture taken before it was my turn. As it turned out, one of the kids was /u/jacob420, and he and I had been talking online for a couple weeks before we started, as well as subscribing to each others' YouTube channels. His channel name is Jacob Downing. Check out his videos. The approach trail which I tackled Saturday is 8.8 miles, and not part of the 2189.1 miles of the 2016 AT. Official mileage starts at the summit of Springer Mountain. Once I got to the summit, I signed the log and continued another 0.2 miles to the Springer Shelter. There were a bunch of AT hikers and a few locals at the campground. I set up my tent in a spot next to an 18 year old hiker that ended up with the trail name Nutella. The next morning, a bunch of us packed up and headed out within 30 minutes of each other. I hiked with Nutella to Hawk Mountain Shelter 7.9 miles away. There were a bunch of new faces, human and canine that we encountered, and Lucy the Schnauzer was the one I liked meeting the most. 29 February was a pretty rough day. I got up expecting to only hike about 8.5 miles, so my breakfast consisted of a bag of peanuts. When I reached my destination, another hiker called AK had caught up to me and convinced me to do another 6.5 miles to Neel Gap. In order to get there, I had to climb over Blood Mountain, which was about 6,000 feet higher in elevation than Everest, or so it seemed. By the time we were just short of the summit, I was walking for about 30 seconds, and resting for about 2 minutes. This was as close to bonking as I have ever been. AK waited for me at the top, and I ate a Clif bar, some Oreos, and as much peanut butter as I could fit on my right index finger. After about 15 minutes, I was good to go, so we headed down the back side of Blood with Neel Gap a couple miles away. When it was all said and done, we had completed 15.8 miles over the biggest mountain so far along the AT. We split a cabin 3 ways with another YouTube friend, Eric Lutz. It beat the hell out of sharing a hostel with 30 other stinky, snoring hikers. If you ever have a chance, stay at the Blood Mountain Cabins. I promise that you won't be disappointed. March 2nd was a pretty uneventful day. We didn't start hiking until after 10, and we only did 11.5 miles to Low Gap Shelter. By the time I arrived, it was getting late and cold. I set up my tent and went to bed early. On the 3rd, I was planning to get in about 15 miles to make it to a shelter, then another 11 the next day to get to the Top of Georgia Hostel, where I would stay overnight and pick up a package of food that Neisha sent out to me. Plans changed. When I got to a shelter 7.5 miles into my trip, I stopped to see who was there. Within 10 minutes, it started snowing. Then, it kept snowing. For 6 hours. Instead of pushing on, I set up my tent and stayed for the night. I love my tent, but I hate the condensation that was collecting inside it and dropping into my ears throughout the night. Today is the 4th. When I woke up, I had the start of a sore throat, so I decided to just walk the 2.4 miles to Unicoi Gap and get a shuttle into Hiawassee, GA. After 6.5 days on the trail as a 45 year old dude, it's a good time to take a break, have some hot food, and heal up for some good miles this next week.