Sign In Day & Hike the Falls

A lot of fun today hiking 1 mile downhill to the Approach Trail visitor center from the Lodge to check in, get my official AT bag tag, and then hike back up the famous Amicalola Falls trail and steps. The falls here are the highest east of the Mississippi and absolutely breathtaking.
Started the walk from the makeshift visitor center (attached are pics of the new one being built… ready late summer), and through the iconic arch that begins all thru hikers’ journeys (pic attached). I’ve seen over 100 YouTube vlogs with others’ emotional send offs from here, and it was surreal that it was now me walking “down the yellow brick road”.
About 3,000 thru hikers start from here each year, with only 23% successfully reaching their final goal of summiting Mt. Katahdin in Maine. I didn’t pull a hammy walking up the 600+ steps straight up the side of the waterfall, so I’m considering that a good omen. For now. 😃🙏
The whole approach trail is 8.8 miles long (from the arch to the official start of the AT at the top of Springer Mtn). The 1.3 miles back up to the Lodge was beautiful, steep, exciting and thought provoking. What is in store for me over the next 6 months? The journey starts tomorrow at 9:00 am.Read more