The First Days on Trail

Day 1

The first day was mostly a travel day with a bit of hiking later on. I took a 6 a.m. flight from Boston and met another thru-hiker named Bad Mash. He has already done a Triple Crown and is doing the AT again with Topo to finish his triple. Got on trail in the way afternoon thanks to a ride from Cal’s uncle. I got hiker tag number 573, then started the Approach Trail up to Springer. The weather was perfect as Will and I summited Springer to officially start the trail. We ended up camping only three more miles down the trail.

Day 2

Spent the day walking in the rain. Got some great trail magic in one of the gaps consisting of lots of Pop-Tarts and other sweet snacks. Had some more trail magic in a cooler with Snickers and coffee at Woody Gap. I camped for the night just north of there.

Day 3

Woke in the morning to realize that I had set up my rainfly inside out, so everything was drenched. Did a quick 11 miles to Mountain Crossings at Neel Gap, and decided to stay the night to allow all of my gear to dry out. I had to buy a new headlamp since mine had decided to stop working. During the afternoon, I ate a couple of pizzas from the store and got to spend some time hanging out with IB TAT.

Day 4

I woke up before sunrise, and started making miles. Later in the day I met up with Rain Dance, who is about my age and also from Maine. We were going good and ended up doing 28 miles. A couple of miles before where we were sheltering for the night we were greeted by some amazing trail magic of sausages, fresh fruit, and drinks.

Day 5

Was walking before sunrise again today so that we could get into Hiawassee at a reasonable time to resupply. At Dicks Creek Gap there was trail magic waiting, and as he was running out of food, we were offered a ride into town. I am currently writing this from just outside of the Ingles in Hiawassee, Georgia.

Feature image courtesy Colleen Goldhurn.

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Mar 5th : Ben

Author Page

Ben's Bio

Avid thru-hiker, runner, climber, skiier, and all around outdoor enthusiast. Planning to finish the triple crown on the northern half of the CDT in the summer of '24

Comments 2

Cheryl Damon : Mar 8th

Way to go, Ben!! You are off to a great start! I am looking forward to reading your blog as you get more miles under your belt!! Wish I lived closer so I could join you for a few miles! Happy Trails! Aunt Cher

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Cena : Apr 29th

The first day is the trail for you to test it. Test the grabmyessay reviews at the given time and make sure it will help for you or not. So wake up with the first day of the trail challenge.

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