And So It Begins. - Archived

We ended up pitching our tents as soon as we got to the shelter. And lo! No sooner had we taken our tents out of their stuff sacks than it started pouring. I ended up getting my pants and shirt pretty soaked. We met so many awesome people and had the whole afternoon to get to know our fellow hikers.

Today we hiked thirteen miles past Gooch Shelter (you read that correctly) to Woody Gap. Today’s terrain was definitely more strenuous, but I feel absolutely great physically. All day I was astounded at how energetic I felt. I’ve basically been eating constantly.

These first two days have been pretty humbling, but very encouraging. Of course I’ve made a few rookie mistakes I knew better than to let happen. But that’s just the nature of jumping in to something like this head first. There’s definitely an adjustment period, but I’m learning quickly and every one is very supportive of one another.

This is so much more beautiful than I ever could have imagined.

And again, I’m in pajama pants eating lasagna on the world’s softest rug. There’s a pretty serious storm coming and with half of our gear pretty soaked we decided it was a good idea to reset rather than risk the oncoming storm in sub-par condition. Avery’s sister lives a couple miles away from Woody Gap and so here we are! Tomorrow we’ll do ten miles to Neal’s Gap, the first opportunity for re-supply along the trail. Unfortunately, I packed WAAAAAAY too much food (I knew it was more like seven days than three days of food, but still). In fact, my food might actually weigh more than the rest of my gear put together.

Anyway, I gotta go get my clothes out of the dryer. Thank you all so much, I’ve received a little over $200 so far and I’ve already started writing some of your letters! Enjoy being warm and dry!