Day 1 – Approach Trail to Stover Creek Shelter

Sunday, April 14, 2024. Mostly sunny and breezy, high 73, low 53, dry.

Up at 7:30. Pitcrew and I had a nice buffet breakfast at the lodge. Enjoyed my last good meal for about a week. Got packed up and reassessed the plan for today. Checked out and Pitcrew drove me down to the top of the waterfall parking lot. We said our goodbyes and I headed north on the AT approach trail at 10:10.

Perfect weather today. The 8 mile approach trail is basically uphill the entire way. Didn’t listen to any music or books this morning. Very introspective today thinking about what got me to this point and what the next 2200 miles will bring.  Maxed out at about 2 miles per hour.

Only saw two other NOBOS, but lots of people headed south. All weekend hikers headed back to Amicalola to wrap up their weekend.

Stopped at mile 6 to refill my .7 liter water bottle from a small spring. I filter anything that doesn’t come out of a water faucet. Met Randi, a retired female teacher from Florida out for a 3 week hike. She’s moving a bit faster than me so I let her take the lead.

Summitted Springer mountain at 2:50. It was a 7.95 mile day in 4:45.

Last 1.5 miles was a bitch. Took me almost an hour. Stopped 3 times in last .15 miles. About 4 miles to go to camp. Resting here for a bit.

There were 5 people here when I arrived. One had recently passed me. Guessing others did not do approach trail. I am certain 2 of them were at the lodge when I left this morning. 

There were 5 people here when I arrived. One young guy in a purple hooded sun shirt recently passed me. Rested at Springer for about 30 minutes, had some trail mix and a lot of water. Took some pictures, signed the log book, touched the first white blaze on the AT, put on my pack and headed to camp. About 2.8 miles to go to camp. 

Passed one older gentleman named Tony who is also on his first day. He started at Springer. Stopped to refill my water at a nice creek about .1 miles from camp. Took an extra liter with me in my dirty water bag for later this evening.

Got to Stover creek shelter at AT mile 2.8 at 4:30. Found a good spot and set up my tent. That’s when I discovered my glasses were missing! Searched camp site then walked .1 miles back to the creek where I had filled up on water…and there they were!

Zero cell service. This is why I love my Garmin satellite device. Checked in with Pitcrew via Garmin. Could not have touched base with just a cell phone. I hate those people who say that you don’t need a satellite device on the AT since you almost always have cell service. I learned last summer that was bullshit. But plenty of people online still preach this crap. End of rant. 

Sat down at the shelter and chatted with a group of 3 retired gentleman from Texas on a week long hike. Also saw Randi and Mark who I met at Springer. Mark also did the approach trail today. Overall there were about 14 of us in camp by the end of the evening. There were 5 in the shelter and the rest tented. 

After resting, I got the remainder of my camp set up for the night..inflated sleeping pad and pillow, got out my quilt, generally unpacked gear, started charging electronics. Since I was dry, I did not change into camp clothes. My apple watch died a bit before reaching camp. Need to tweak the settings on power usage. Garmin at 94%, iPhone at 70%, iPad mini at 100%, headphones at 95%.

There were 14 people in camp. About 5 in the shelter and the rest tenting. Made dinner at 7:00. Leftover garlic bologna I did not eat for lunch, curry noodles with dehydrated chicken, and tea. Most of us cooked while hanging out at the shelter picnic table or around the big fire pit by the shelter. Got all my smellables (food, hygiene items, trash, cook gear) packed up and stowed them in the bear box for the night.

Hung out by fire pit and made introductions and generally relaxed and chatted. Amusing that I was the youngest of the 6 of us who hung out and talked till 8:30. Lots of talk about grandkids 🙂

Headed to my tent and settled in. Updated some blog entries for today and checked in with Pitcrew. She was about an hour from home. Being able to text via Garmin satellite device when there is zero cell coverage is awesome. Main reason why I invested in it. Took something to help me sleep and tried to go to sleep about 9:30. 

Overall a good day. Nice to meet a few folks. Great weather. I actually ate well which is something I struggle with the first few days on trail. My body feels good…not much worse than one of my training hikes back home.

Technical Notes

• Breakfast 1000 calories 
• Trail mix 270 calories 
• Bologna 560 calories 
• Curry noodle 450 calories 
• Chicken  170 calories 
• Tea 0 calories 
• Water 4.1 liters
• Miles 10.8
• Time 6:44
• Elevation gain 2900 feet
• Calories consumed 2450
• Calories burned 5500