First Days: This Is Not a Story

It’s the end of Day 2 on the trail and no one has been eaten by a bear yet. We are at Hawk Mountain shelter – it’s our first night sleeping in the small 2-person tent that we picked up at REI just three days earlier (an ultralight Big Agnes Copper Spur together with a DYI footprint made of Tyvek – people, never spend 70$ on an official footprint!). It’s fairly busy but not crowded, and by the time the sun sets at 7pm most people are already huddled inside their sleeping bags.

Arriving in Atlanta on Thursday, we were welcomed into the home of our lovely American hosts Colleen and Andy. Colleen took us shopping for trail food and some last minute items and made sure we were well fed while Andy shared a wealth of useful tips and  information. Throughout our stay we were treated like family – their son thru-hiked the AT last year and, impressed by how kind people were to him, Colleen now wants to help other hikers. It’s incredible how deeply the AT seems to impact on people, even those who’ve never set foot on it!

Having Colleen and Andy being the ones to finally send us off on our journey on Saturday seemed like a good omen. After registering at the Appalachian Trail Conservancy in Amicalola Falls (I’m thru-hiker number 714), we waved goodbye and began the steep climb up towards Springer Mountain. As the elevation grew, the surrounding forest quickly became enwrapped in a white fog, making it  impossible to see further than 50m. Walking through the eerily silent woods felt like a strangely natural thing to do, as if I had already forgotten the concept of being ‘inside’. We stopped at the Black Gap shelter, opting to sleep inside the simple wooden structure instead of setting up our tent, and fell asleep to the sounds of thunder and rain.

The second day showed no signs of the storm from the night before, and we took our first steps on the AT in bright sunshine. The first 9 miles we had hiked, known as the “approach trail”, are not yet part of the Appalachian trail. It is thus fairly common for aspiring thru-hikers to quit without ever reaching the AT. In fact, two of the people we met on our first night had decided to quit after just one day and were now looking for a lift back to the city. There is definitely a hunger games-y feeling to all of this! As we set out, I wondered if we would at least make it through until Neels Gap, our first resupply point 5 days later. 

On the trail, I feel like a character in some greater narrative. There is something exhilarating about the idea of walking to Maine, from all places. Evoking images from the books of John Irving, Maine at this moment seems almost like a mythical place, closer to fiction than reality. But in the past years I’ve grown tired of living in a story that never feels quite like mine. Life, as it turns out, is much more bizarre, messed up and spectacular than what any single narrative can contain. Neither will this journey follow a prewritten path; each step I take is a step into the unknown.

Tomorrow, it’s another 8 miles walk until the next shelter and I already can’t wait. Keep your fingers crossed that we’ll make it out here at least long enough to get our trail names!