2024

Writing from Neels Gap at around 11AM after getting our first food resupply and waiting for our electronics to charge. It was a little chilly last night, probably high twenties with wind chill. Still slept great though. Our campsite was beautiful and we had a nice bit of sunrise through the trees.  We packed up and were walking by 7:45am. The ascent up Blood Mountain was pretty easy since we had camped about half way up. The .8 to the summit was quick and we had awesome views of the mountains and the surrounding Chattahoochee wilderness.  It was really cool actually seeing the views from Blood Mountain since when we were here in 2020 it was in the middle of a torrential downpour. There’s a pretty cool stone shelter at the top of Blood Mountain.  We talked to a couple other thru hikers, it seems like we’re running into more now. We were probably just in between groups before. One hiker mentioned that he had started yesterday and is planning on covering the distance from Sp...

Writing from my tent, at a tent site on the side of Blood Mountain, the highest part of the AT in Georgia.   Today was a lot more laid back than yesterday. It rained on and off through the night, which was actually quite soothing. Our campsite was next to a small mountain stream called Justice Creek. Between the sound of the stream, the gentle rain falling on my tent, and the cool but not cold weather I had fantastic sleep. I managed my water consumption better, so I only had to get out of my tent twice. Luckily both times were during gaps in the rain. Apart from that and waking up to distant thunderstorms in the middle of the night, I slept through from 9:30pm to 7am. I needed the rest and very much enjoyed it. Once we got up and moving we packed up and hiked through light rain for about an hour. Soon the rain dissipated into fog. A foggy day makes the woods feel eerie and quiet.  We summited Ramrock Mountain shortly after the skies cleared. We walked on ridges for most of th...

Writing from my tent at the end of a long but incredible day.   Didn’t sleep too well last night. Between the strong wind, getting used to sleeping outside again, and the animal that stomped past us at 2 AM it was tough to stay asleep. However, after getting in my tent around 8pm last night and only getting out around 6am, I still probably got 5 to 7 hours of sleep.  We woke up feeling pretty good, none of us slept great but we also weren’t sore from the day before. We were on trail before 8, all wanting water since our campsite hadn’t had any. It did have an incredible sunrise though. I always love watching how a sunrise or sunset evolves. We pretty quickly covered a mile and stopped for water at the first stream. After eating a little and drinking plenty of water we began the ascent of Springer Mountain, the start of the AT. The ascent went smoothly and we summited the first mountain of the trip. Many more to come.  We actually got to see the view this time and wer...