Dying by miles

Hey, I'm staying in a town called Helen in Georgia right now. I hadn't planned to stop here but it started raining yesterday and I got wet. Things sure are crazy in the south.

Actually I'm in town for a number of reasons. I hiked fifty-one miles in the past week and my feet and legs have gotten beat up to the point where just standing is painful. On Saturday night I stayed in a shelter that was overcrowded. Every time the people next to me rolled over I would get body slammed. When I woke up it was pouring rain that didn't stop all day. The person who I've been hiking with most(a woman named Rice & Beans) told me that she was going home for a while because of a foot injury. Then during the middle of the day I found out that I had dropped one of my water bottles somewhere, which was the straw that broke the overweight camel's back. I limped to the next road crossing and found a married couple who were willing to give me a ride into town. Twenty minutes later I was laying in a king size bed at a Super 8 motel. This motel has hiker rates of 35 dollars a night AND a soda machine. Helen is a tourist town that has an old German village sort of theme. It's pretty strange, I'll try to post some pictures sometime.

My first week out has been pretty busy. The hiking seems to be either straight up or straight down all day. These mountains seem unforgiving to one so out of shape. I've been staying at shelters with pretty much the same people every night. After a week of seeing nobody else we've gotten to be fair friends. So my life has been hike all day then sit around a campfire laughing until the sun goes down. We've all been so tired that nobody stays up after dark. I sleep for about ten hours a night, but I feel like I need it. On the fourth day the trail crossed through a hiker hostel called the Walasi-Yi Inn. This was a marvelous place which was designed entirely for thru-hikers. Upstairs is a well stocked hiking outfitter. Downstairs is a two room hostel for hikers. It cost me fifteen dollars for a bunk in a crowded room and two family style meals. We got there early in the day so we all sat around on our beds goofing on each other, comparing gear, and playing Yahtzee. The woman who runs the hostel is a former thru-hiker named Miss Janet. She cooked us a huge pasta dinner and forced us to eat until we couldn't move, then made us eat apple cobbler for dessert. It all seems like some wonderful dream. Now that I'm in town it seems weird that the whole thru-hiker community is still humming along up in the mountains, disconnected from everything else.

I also have a trail name now. One day I was supposed to meet Rice & Beans 8 miles down the trail. When I showed up at the creek where we agreed to meet she wasn't there. I continued on to the shelter and acted angry at her when I arrived. I made her cook my dinner and replied snidely to most of the things that she said. One of the other girls there told me, "we should call you Grumpasaurus!" Rice & Beans decided to shorten it to just Grumps. So that's what they've been calling me.


Additional memories:

There was a big furry cat at the hostel who sat on my lap all night. We called it Baby Grumps.

I've seen two snakes!

I came up with the idea to make a Grumps Trail. It runs parallel to the Appalachian Trail but it goes around all the mountains instead of over them. It also goes past a lot of candy stores.


And I'll finish off with some words of wisdom from my fellow hikers:

"Anything said confidently...is true!" -Yahtzee

"Y'know Nick...some stairs...are crueler...than other stairs." -Rice & Beans

Nick Made it to Neels Gap

Mom just got a text message from Nick; he made it to Neels Gap in Georgia and was eating a hamburger! Must be nice after the first 30 miles of hard hiking.

Amicalola Falls

I'm down at the Amicalola Falls Lodge right now, getting ready for bed. Mom and David came drove me here over the past two days, which was awful nice of them. They'll be vacationing up the east coast for the next week. The lodge is pretty nice. We got a room with a loft, which means I have to climb a ladder to get up to where my bed is. A LADDER. Can you believe it?! Things sure are crazy in the south.

I quit working at Domino's exactly three weeks ago. I told my boss that I had to start training for the trail. In reality I just couldn't stand working there anymore. In my three weeks off I've hiked about five miles and renewed my drivers license, so, yeah, been pretty productive.

The lodge sits on top of Amicalola Falls. Today was cloudy and the top of the falls was shrouded in fog. I hiked down out of the mist to the visitor center. Tomorrow I'll do the approach trail, which is an 8 mile trail from the lodge to the top of Springer Mountain and the beginning of the Appalachian Trail. Mom and David will meet me there to take pictures. The plan is to drive back and spend one more night at the lodge before leaving for good on Tuesday, though I may just keep going tomorrow after I meet mom and David (if I'm feeling saucy).

Just Left

Nick just left for Georgia. He is planning to start the hike on Monday!