The Halligan Hiker: Hike 1 - Springer Mountain to Neel's Gap

The good news is that I survived my first hike! Brian and Michael even tagged along with me. They both drove up to Gainesville and on Wednesday morning we made some last minute preparations before our drive. At about noon, we grabbed lunch and made the 7 hour drive up to Georgia.

Packing with a little help from Paige

Having some fun along the way!

Wednesday night we arrived in Helen, GA where we checked into a hotel for the night. If you haven't been to Helen, this place is really cool. The whole town has a German theme and is centered around tourism. All the buildings look alike and I kind of felt like I was in a theme park. We grabbed dinner, walked around a little bit, and then went back to the room for a good night sleep before we hit the trail.

Checking out the local fire station

Thursday morning, we got up early and drove to the end of our hike. We dropped off our car and had a trail shuttle drive us to the start of our hike next to Springer Mountain. After a short hike, we were at the official start of the Appalachian Trail. For those of you that don't know much about it, the Appalachian Trail is about 2200 miles and passes through 14 states. It starts in Georgia at Springer Mountain and ends in Maine at Mount Katahdin. My plan is to hike from south to north.

Official start of the A.T.

The first day we had a bit of a late start and only hiked about 9.1 miles. We got to take our time and enjoy some of the scenery. We stopped at a waterfall as well as a cemetery that were both right off of the trail. The cemetery was a little difficult to find, but when we found it we were happy we hadn't just skipped it. Tucked way up in the mountains was a little contraption that was a whole lot of fun!

We arrived at the Hawk Mountain Shelter where we stayed the night, just before it started to rain. We were glad we made it to the shelter before the rain because it made cooking dinner that much easier.

Dinner in the rain

The next day we had a long hike planned. After a few miles, my brother wasn't feeling well. He didn't think it would be a good idea to commit to the long hike, so we called a shuttle and he headed to a hotel for the night. Michael and I pushed on for a 20 mile day (by far the most I have hiked in a day). The long day meant more hiking and less breaks. Luckily this was the Summer Solstice so we had the daylight working with us. This day we didn't get lucky with the rain. The last hour and a half of the day was spent hiking through a downpour. We were glad when we made it to the Woods Hole shelter. The next morning we hiked Blood Mountain, which is the highest point on the Appalachian Trail in Georgia. Michael and I enjoyed some time at the top and then headed down to meet my brother at Neel's Gap, where we finished our hike.

At Neel's Gap, there is an awesome backpacking store called Mountain Crossings. The Trail actually passes through the store. I think it is the only point on the trail that passes through a man-made structure. The building has been there since 1937 which is when the trail was completed. The store has all sorts of backpacking gear and is known for evaluating people's gear and pointing them in the right direction. They have a cool tradition where you sling your old boots onto a tree outside the store once you buy new ones there.