Therese Marie

Welcome to Springer Mountain in Georgia.

Where everything is covered in SNOW.

Ok, not a ton, but c’mon! It’s March 16! It’s south! Where’s the warmth baby?! Funny joke. Apparently that’s not how climates work. Instead I’m walking out of the car elated that I stuck gloves (albeit fingerless) in my pack at the last minute.

I guess last night the temps dropped down to sub-20 degrees and that did a lot of people in. Whenever I stop to chat with other hikers, they talk about all the people they saw leave the trail.

Me? I’m totally alive and loving living inside every layer of clothing I have here. Plus when you start hiking, it doesn’t actually feel that cold. We made it through today.

That’s right – WE!

I have a friend who’s name is Jake and he is amazingly cool.

In an actual shocking turn of events we were both visiting extended family in Virginia before taking the same train to Gainesville last night. He (and his driver) was super kind enough to offer me a seat in his ride up to Springer Mt. Parking Lot.

Yeah, I had planned to go to Amicalola Falls and do the approach trail (but now I am so glad I didn’t). Just goes to show you how swiftly plans can change!

We had a hilarious time with that driver.

Richard was his name. What a beautiful character! Right from the start he was yelling at us to get moving with such cheerful gusto. His back car window was patched up with a Budweiser box (until he had time to put some real cardboard in there, once business calmed down). God, it was just such a hilarious car ride with such a boisterous, happy man.

Anyway, this is Jake, he’s mad cool.

And so we trek on, spending our first night on a quaint little camp site with some cool views. We kept walking past the first shelter because it was too early and cold. So now we got this place! Even though now I’m way tired. Thank god for trees right? They’ll almost always support you.

Time to put all our outdoorsy know how to work!

And by “our” I mean “his” because I have no fucking clue what I’m doing.

It’s so surreal. This is IT. THIS is it! I feel enclosed in the trail, comfy and happy despite the weighty pain of my pack. This is truly a beautiful life.

For now, goodnight until the next time!
XoTM