When to start the appalachian trail in georgia
Appalachian Trail State Overview: Georgia
what's good everybody Chris here again
Chris goes outdoors and in this video
we're gonna start another Appalachian
Trail series I hope you're not getting
sick of the Appalachian Trail videos I
have a lot I want to talk about about
the 80 I think the videos will help
future through hikers so hope you stay
tuned for this one and in this series of
videos we're gonna do kind of a
state-by-state overview it's actually
been requested by a fair amount of
people too so I'm excited to get into
this these videos have taken a lot of
time to prep for I have got notes got a
lot of notes so and in this set of
videos we're gonna take a look at trail
conditions at the time how I was feeling
throughout the state certain shelters I
stayed at maybe water sources that I
remember gonna take a look at towns I
stopped in places I stayed at resupply
options and stuff in town that I
remember anything that I can really
remember about the state I have it
listed or right here in these notes and
of course we're gonna be heading
northbound because it's how I headed out
on the Appalachian Trail so let's start
off let's talk about Georgia all right
so we're heading down to Georgia I in
particular flew down from Boston
Massachusetts right out of Logan I
landed in Atlanta somewhere I flew
JetBlue I believe the ticket one way was
around 85 to 95 dollars travel costs
that's gonna be completely different
depending where you're coming from but I
don't know if you're coming from Logan
around April 1st maybe that's where she
can look forward to roughly a hundred
bucks and I stayed at the time at the
hiker hostel so the hiker hostel has now
been sold I think it's called bear
foothills hostel and when I stayed there
at the hydrosoul it was around a hundred
dollars
I believe the actual price to stay there
was 85 and I think it was a little extra
if you want to breakfast in the morning
so roughly around 100 bucks it appears
that the bear foothills hostel it's
doubled in price and some people might
say that and be like oh my god that's
ridiculous I'm not gonna lie for a
hundred bucks what they gave you at the
hiker hostel it was a it was a bargain
to say the least so that included a
shuttle from the train once you get to
the Atlanta Airport
I forget the actual train station you
can jump on the train right from the
airport and they tell you to get on the
train and whatever station was that they
asked you to meet up that I'll try to
leave down here
so it's included a shovel from the train
they stopped at Walmart also so you can
get whatever you need last-minute for
the trail maybe didn't have food or
something you know you needed to stock
up get stuff for the trail a stay at the
hostel of course I didn't leave
breakfast in the morning so I think it
may have been included I can't really
remember and then the next morning after
you stay you get a shuttle to either
Amicalola Falls or the top of Springer
Mountain for what you get it was a great
package at 100 it was an incredible
package at $100 in in all honesty I
think 200 is fairly reasonable from
where they even pick you up back to the
hostel it's still a pretty long ride I
feel like it was like 35 minutes maybe
40 minutes so they're dropping a pretty
good ways to get you you know coming
back and forth and I think it's a
reasonable price to pay if it's around
$200 now of course you can look at other
options I've heard some people actually
who bird down there so keep that in mind
there are other possibilities you could
Hoover or maybe even taxi or arrange
something with a shuttle driver so once
you find your way down to the Georgia
area you have the option of course to
head up to either Springer Mountain
there is a parking lot I believe that's
a roughly a mile away from the top of
Springer Mountain or you can head to
Amicalola State Falls and do the
approach drone I did the approach drill
and I do highly recommend that you do it
to the people of the visitor center
there were super cool we got there first
thing in the morning and they were hard
at work already so there's a little gift
shop and stuff there information center
and when we got there so you go through
like a little alleyway and then you pop
up and you see the big archway that you
see in all the videos not note to me
that was uh it was kind of a special
moment as corny as it sounds it was like
oh man we're here it was it was a great
thing to see so I could goosebumps I
don't know if he can see them I remember
like it was yesterday so yeah we uh we
walked out right into the archway and we
took a bunch of pictures so it was four
of us and there was a gentleman on the
left hand side who had a little table
set up and they were checking in through
hikers outside so he had his you know
the check-in list so you can register
your hike there and he'd talk to you you
know whatever information needed he was
full of information they have a scale
there too so you can wet your pack if
that's what you're into and I believe
also have a shelter there so if you do
happen to get in say late the night
before you could in theory get shuttled
or dropped off somewhere at Amicalola
State Park and I guess that there is a
shelter there that you can state the
night before you're through hike so keep
that in mind too if you do the approach
trail you get to get dropped off at
Amicalola Falls you can register your
hike which is good for the ATC it's good
that they can keep track of these
numbers of course registration is
completely voluntary but I do believe
that the numbers help them it's kind of
help them in some way with like funding
and stuff like that so even if you don't
start at the approach trail you can
register your thru-hike on the ATC
website and I would recommend you do so
it's beautiful I mean the waterfalls
there are very very nice and it's just a
great sight to see so we took our time
going up it and it was enjoyable very
enjoyable so and also it's kind of a
nice introduction as to what you're
getting yourself into so the approach
trail it's a I don't know seven hundred
or however many steps it is and it just
kind of goes like straight up it's a
very short glimpse of what you're about
to get yourself into on the Appalachian
Trail so if you go to the approach trail
and you're having outrages difficulty
you may have a bad time on the
Appalachian Trail of course your body
kind of adjusts itself as it keeps going
but you know do the approach trail I
think it's really part of the journey in
my opinion I kind of wish they would
start the trail at the approach trail
instead of on top of Springer but
whatever works my final thought on the
approach trail to people like I'm not
doing the the extra mileage it's eight
more miles
what's eight more miles on top of 2,200
so I don't know that's my thought
especially the beginning you know an
extra eight miles like yeah whatever
whoo at least it was for me so I don't
know my thoughts anyway do the approach
trail it was beautiful people at
Amicalola super friendly I don't know
the archway for me was kind of a cool
deal so it is my recommendation that
should do the approach trail so you do
the approach trail after the initial
climb up the approach trail I don't
remember anything about the actual trail
being too difficult I remember getting
on the actual trail so out of like the
park area and onto the trail like in the
woods and as someone who's hiked in New
Hampshire essentially all his hiking
experience up to that point was New
Hampshire and Maine
I was kind of shocked at how different
the trail was it was much less rocky and
Rudy and it was it was a very different
change of pace for me and I was kind of
like whoa this is this is pretty cool so
the trail I didn't think particularly
was too difficult and eventually you
roll up this prayer amount as far as
Springer Mountain goes it's a little I
don't want to say it underwhelming mm
it's not really there is a little bit of
a view off of there's kind of like a
little clearing where you can see down
to there's also a nice little sign that
you can take a picture at it's like a
plaque put into the rock up there you
see a lot of people initially when they
start the trail have their picture taken
up there I have mine as well of course
and then there is a trail log up there
too if you want to sign in
of course and it's almost it looks like
an oven I like right on the summit it's
on underneath like a big old rock they
usually have a trail log up there when
we went there was also a Ridge Runner up
there who is just suggesting campgrounds
for the night and it turns out a lot of
people had heard that Springer Mountain
campsite is usually packed so most
people were heading to the next campsite
which is actually where we were and that
is um yeah Stover Creek shelter so
apparently everybody skipped Springer
because they always heard it was so
packed and she was like nobody's staying
there keep in mind that if you do want
to stay up at the shelter add Springer
it's possible that it won't be as
crowded as Stover Creek so that first
night of course we did the approach
trail so I was eight miles and then we
headed another 2.8 to the Stover Creek
shelter and I recall tons of camping
space at the shelter and for obvious
reasons it's right at the start of the
trail of course you know they're
probably gonna make it a pretty large
shelter to accommodate that many people
the shelter was huge and had a covered
porch area that's great especially when
it's raining the end the shelters with
the covered porches with a table
underneath were a godsend it was nice to
be able to kind of sit down and cook
away from the rain nice little thing to
have water was super ample and it was
very very close to the shelter after
that we mosey dawn the next day so we
did a was at eight point so we got to my
late point once it was honorable
can I math five five miles that day and
we stayed at the hawk mountain shelter
for what it's worth there is a Hawk
Mountain Campground I believe half a
mile or something before this I actually
went there thinking it was the shelter
and it wasn't so don't make the mistake
I did and the reason we stopped in five
miles it was mom soon raining out that
day I got absolutely soaked
I remember getting to the hawk mountain
shelter and I was drenched like
absolutely drenched my buddy flood my
German friend who I was hiking with was
already there so I got on the shelter
and he was like ah Chris you made it
just rich tauranga go buy clothing and
uh yeah Hawk Mountain shelter was
interesting and this is another a
massive massive shelter there's tons of
camping spots I had mentioned in my 80
start date video and why I would
possibly change it this was one of the
busiest campgrounds I had ever seen in
my life I don't think I had ever seen as
many people stay at a campsite and a lot
of that of course was due to the weather
I think people were just done they were
just like I'm not pushing on on this so
I think that causes kind of a bubble
with people to get stuck like right in
that shelter other than that it was it
was a nice nice spot they did have some
stuff roped off I think they were trying
to like brief agitation in a couple
areas it had extremely easy water access
and it's very easy to get to
so we Mose it on out of there I do
remember around mile 19 REM Rock
Mountain had a pretty epic view around
mile 21.8 preaching Rock also I believe
that the name of it had a very
impressive viewpoint I remember that one
very well so the next night we went to
Lance Creek at this model 24.3 at least
in 2017 and it was a pretty small area
with a lot of people and that bubble
from Hawk Mountain
you know we pushed what was the 16 miles
that day and still a ton of people so
this is a very very small area I
remember I think in the book it says
it's only intended for like a couple
people but there were a ton of people
there and as I recall there's almost
like a access road that goes around it
and there were people all camped on like
the access road the good thing we pushed
16 that day and this was because
impending
they're coming the next day and we were
to go over Blood Mountain the next
morning that was the plan we'll push
real hard that that day we did the
sixteen and then we'll have a fairly
easy day into meal gap out of Lance
Creek we uh very very early that next
morning so I think we left camp at like
4:00 in the morning and we went over the
top of Blood Mountain at Mile 29.3 and
we got on top of Blood Mountain it was
right
like right as maybe a little bit after
the Sun had just risen so I didn't find
the height particularly too difficult a
Blood Mountain a lot of people seem to
have thought it was definitely on the
difficult side I just personally did not
think so I would consider myself at the
time when I started in relatively good
hiking shape again I did a lot of hiking
up on the whites in New Hampshire before
coming outs of the trail and I would
consider myself fairly fit at that time
again some people did think Blood
Mountain was pretty pretty difficult we
got up in over Blood Mountain right in
the morning and then got down into NiO
gap there was an impending snowstorm so
they did they got snow on top of Blood
Mountain that afternoon so we literally
just missed the storm you could
literally see the clouds moving in while
we were on top so glad we pushed the
mileage the day before and I'm glad that
we got down when we did we got down to
kneel gap so that is mild 31.7 we beat
the storm and the outfit of there
mountain crossings that's the spot where
a lot of people end up getting off the
trails they find the trail is not what
they wanted maybe it's too difficult
maybe it's just not what they hoped it
would be
it's a a very iconic I think place on
the Appalachian Trail see you didn't you
know everybody's videos mostly we went
in there I had mailed a resupply box to
myself there just because I know that we
passed right through it and I bought a
coke there as well they do charge you to
pick up your box it's nothing expensive
I think it's like a dollar not a big
deal just worth mentioning so you know
in general the gear here is definitely
on the pricey side you're paying a
convenience fee for sure I'm you know
pretty big gear geek so I went around
was looking at stuff and I was like
prices were for some stuff and I was
pretty steep realize that if you do need
gear there especially some of the bigger
stuff you're probably gonna pay a kind
of a convenience fee if you will it is
worth mentioning that they
do I believe have a hostel attached
directly to that building and there's
also some cabins I guess a little bit
down the road we did not stay there we
had three of us that were still together
from the beginning well two of us me but
and then we picked up nomads and then so
there were three of us and we were like
out let's find a fourth guy you know
we'll split a room we'll head down to
Blairsville Blairsville is the closest
town to that area and we had a trail
angel who shuttled us down to
Blairsville and we spent the night at
the Seasons Inn and again four of us we
picked up some random kid I still don't
even remember his name it was roughly
like twenty bucks a night between us 80
bucks for a room whatever if twenty
bucks a person the rooms are pretty nice
nothing too fancy the people who ran it
were ultra friendly I remember the the
woman in particular I forget her name
but she was like a sweetheart they also
a coin laundry available which of course
is huge got to get your laundry done and
we ate at Copeland's burgers in southern
eats in town there that place was so
good so good the bartender there was
super cool too she offered us a ride to
the trail the next morning if we wanted
it unfortunately we ended up dying from
Noro which maybe I'll get into really
good food cheap beer have the mushroom
and swiss burger excellent cabin coffee
and company is right across the street
there too they had exceptionally fast
internet I uploaded I think two videos
in that in that coffee shop and I think
it took 15 minutes style or both and
then directly across from the parking
lot of the seasons in was a place called
Papa's pizza and they had a pizza buffet
available so needless to say we sampled
all the cuisine of that little little
town center there and we did catch Noro
so it's something that if you're
starting at a very busy part of the
season that you may have to worry about
and everybody in that area not just the
people in that hotel I did talk to the
woman at season's motel and she said
most of the hikers here we're spending
extra days because everybody was sick I
remember talking to people after the
fact the people in the cabins were all
getting sick and they shot the hostel
down back at Neill gap and from what I
was told they put up a sign it said like
closed for renovations or something I'm
pretty sure they were just bleaching the
entire building because everybody who
started the trail at that point got sick
it's hard to avoid
Noro is extremely contagious bring some
soap wash your hands stay away from
other people
don't reach into trail magic that avoid
lookup videos on avoiding Noro on the
trail in Blairsville
I did not resupply personally but there
is a small grocery store that's right
behind the seasons in and they seem to
have had everything that could keep you
going
we also went to a breakfast place in one
of the days called hole-in-the-wall it
was a small breakfast since we were
recovering from Noro but it was pretty
good very reasonably priced there is
also a chick-fil-a within walking
distance to the seasons in maybe five to
ten minute walk there's also an ATM
there I actually went to the ATM that's
why I saw the chick-fil-a yeah
Blairsville a cool town cool people
great little spots you can go to and you
can resupply and enjoy your time there
the night we left Neal gap we ended up
staying at the low Gap shelter that was
my health 43.2 and this area was again
packed with people the shelter looked
really nice I opted to stay in my tent
and it's the first night that I actually
meant spitfyre who became one of my
Trail fan and it was the night Elmer
Fudd actually got his trail name we were
talking to a Spitfire she was sitting in
the shelter me and Dan were on the trail
just you know chatting back and forth
and she was like you have a trail name
yep it was like I do not why it's like
you should be called Elmer Fudd and I
had just remember that hell oh oh thank
you it it's the perfect nickname he's
like I I do not understand
she's like you see Looney Tunes he's
German she didn't know if Looney Tunes
was so I guess yes I'm familiar with it
she goes same rascally rabbit
he's like Westley what oh it was good
there's good stuff so uh yeah that's
where fun get his name from water very
easily to get to it's literally like
spitting distant not spitting distance
it's a bad term I'm just I think the
water stores but you can see the water
source from the shelter so it's a
hundred not even a hundred it's probably
fifty feet from the shelter so water
very close to the shelter and plenty of
camping spots the shelter was pretty big
too so after that night I feel like the
trail was a little bit more difficult
and I think a lot of that had to do with
still recovering from Nora I was just
feeling so weak and if you watch the
videos of that hike you can see it too
like I feel like
really pale in them and I say once we
get to the next site we stayed at that
night that like I just was not feeling
it like I feel like I was still almost
dehydrated from sickness another thing
too I guess if you do get Noro consider
taking an extra day or two off you'll
feel like you want to get out I was
itching to get back out like I feel like
I was getting stir-crazy but I really
could have used another day to like
recover like really like replenish
myself that night we stayed at the
cheese factory site mile 56 we kept
referring to it as the Cheesecake
Factory
unfortunately no delicious Bible sized
menu but got there I need some ramen and
tunicates that's what you do on the
Appalachian Trail and again I felt like
death it was so bad I remember it very
very specifically and the water was a
bit of a walk and I remember that area
was like very very buggy worked out well
for us
to get to the water you actually cross I
think what's a Forest Service a road or
something like that and it's the first
time I'll be enough I met mystery in it
so I was walking down to the water
source and I heard mMmmm I was like who
the hell is driving up here and I turned
and I had never met her before obviously
I was never really on the Appalachian
Trail besides in New Hampshire I turned
I saw the van I've seen pictures of her
van it's a very very easy to easy to
spot van rolling up the mountains then I
was like no way so I stopped like on the
side of the road and wave to her and she
stopped her truck her her van rolled
down her window and I was like that miss
Janet and she's like yeah yeah how you
doing just like you need anything odd no
it's like no I just wanted to say hello
and she's like oh I'm good to see you
good luck up there and she kept driving
off she had some guy in the back I don't
know maybe it's skipping trail so I
don't know what he was doing maybe she
was but she was definitely shoveling in
somewhere I have no idea where that road
goes so if you do maybe you can tell me
where she was bringing him that was my
first interaction with Miss Janet in
after that day you end up climbing up
tree mountain that was mild fifty eight
point one after the cheese factory site
and I believe the viewpoint was a little
bit off trail from what I remember it's
like a little wooden path you go up and
you just go up just a tiny bit but
definitely check it out it was a
beautiful beautiful viewpoint we stayed
at a deep gap on that night so mile 66
and that shelter was huge as well
sure to get water on the walk down to
the shelter so you literally cross the
water source for the shelter on your way
to the shelter so just make sure to get
it on the way I say and this is the
first time that I met the guy tape that
we hiked with and the two wisconsin
brothers they were part of our trail
family for a while tape unfortunately
did end up getting off the trail but he
was a pretty chilly guy too
plenty of camping spots around there I
actually did end up camping the shelter
was 2 floors there was a nice little
porch area there was a little overhang
with like a table attached to the
shelter so that you could you know
cooker something on the side of the
shelter and but the next day we came out
at Dick's Creek Gap and I believe this
is where the top of Georgia hostel is
it's within easy walking distance from
there I think it's like point 2 miles
just down a hill Spitfire actually had a
package sent there so she went to go
pick it up and she came back up and we
were awaiting there was a parking area
there we get some good trail magic guy
was I think he was from Florida think he
mentioned came up with his wife and they
were up some hot dogs and stuff
it was delicious
and we were waiting in the parking area
there because the budget in had a
shuttle that ran at specific times to
pick up hikers and bring them into town
and we ended up taking a shuttle and we
ended up staying at the budget in so I
believe that's the budget in at
Hiawassee the hotel I think has been
sold I know a guy wrong was the one who
ran it I know he used to post a lot in
the Appalachian Trail Facebook groups I
think he sold the hotel so I do not know
the current situation there and a lot of
people had mixed reviews about it I will
say it is a it's a very no-frills kind
of hotel I feel like it had a reputation
on the trail because of this whether or
not you think that was good or bad is up
to you but in all honesty it had
everything you need and I feel like
people were just being very dramatic
about it there was a coin laundry thing
there so they have like it was almost
like a outhouse I was like a building is
that what they call with laundry that
you could do and it was coin coin
laundry Mountain crossings the same
outfitter and neo gap also operates a
very kind of small pop-up shop outfitter
out of a building there so they sell
essentially you know some of the smaller
and larger essentials that you may need
they had knee braces there they had
little bits and pieces like some
trekking poles so
jackets like just random odds and ends
that you may find yourself needing on
the trail and that was kind of cool you
know unexpected to see was it the nicest
motel on the Appalachian Trail no not
really
but did it suffice yep did I live yep
did I have any issue while I say there
absolutely not would have stayed there
again if I were on the trail so I had no
issue with it whatsoever maybe if you're
one of those people or like you couldn't
stay in this place
you might have herself in this room but
I I for one did not mind it at all
nobody in our party seemed to have
actually so I think 13 people that
jumped in that van and say that the
budget in just in that run so that whole
place was filled with hikers that night
everywhere you looked it was hiked Hertz
in the town of self Hiawassee seemed
pretty cool for what it's worth there's
a Dairy Queen and a Taco Bell directly
next to the budget end it was lovely got
to a share mr. Elmer Fudd's first Dairy
Queen experience so that was pretty
funny he thoroughly enjoyed it I didn't
feel like walking to the grocery store
which was a little ways through the town
it would have been a little bit of a
walk and I didn't need a full resupply
anyway from what I was told the grocery
store was stocked you know a legit
grocery store you could have bought
anything that you needed you know food
wise I opted to go next door they had a
Rite Aid pharmacy as I didn't need much
just loaded up with what I did and you
know wasn't too expensive and the food
store was Ingalls by the way so after
that we shifted on back up and on this
day I believe was the day we crossed the
Georgia North Carolina border miles 70
8.5 and this seemed like an eternity
that we made it to the North Carolina
border and it's a very very tiny sign on
one of the trees there so make sure you
don't pass it it's most noticeable as
there's a little piece of pipe gets
stuck in the tree like the treeger
around the pipe so keep an eye out for
that pipe anyway and yeah once you did
it you made it through your first state
so it took us forever I mean between the
Noro and like the initial rain right off
the bat it felt like we would never get
to North Carolina we did finally make it
felt great to make it into North
Carolina should feel good you made it
through your first state so here in
North Carolina
of note of course there is a nice little
seasonal stream it appears that flows
directly after the border this was not
listed I don't think in the guidebook
but we walked maybe 50 feet past the
border and the
nice little seasonal stream that was
flowing so we filled up water there and
there is also possible option to camp
right after there and there were a bunch
of people that were doing it it was a
pretty cool tree up there it had some
name I'll try to I'll put it in the I
think I have a video of the tree
congratulations you made it through
Georgia and you're in North Carolina so
some follow-up thoughts and notes that I
have on Georgia in general so Georgia
besides the Norrell was a very enjoyable
stay for me starting on April 1st or
technically the second the weekend of
the 1st and 2nd when I did was extremely
crowded more crowded than I would have
liked
check out my Appalachian Trail start
date video I'll leave a link up here if
you want to see more about the start
dates not gonna go too much into detail
I was so excited to finally be out on
the trail that like everything just felt
incredible I can't explain going to that
Dairy Queen and talk about when we get
to Hiawassee the the amount of joy that
I felt from eating that Dairy Queen
you'll find very quickly that it's the
little things that carry you along the
Appalachian Trail the lack of leaves on
the trail at this time made for very hot
hiking days so you still have the Sun
beating down on you all day I was also
being stupid and was wearing all black
of course it was very warm
I'm from New England where in April
typically you know it can still be
freezing out you can get snow storms in
April very often and I wasn't quite used
to the southerner heat so I think a
bunch of the days where there's a tease
just be aware maybe worth packing
sunscreen as well but yeah you can
definitely experienced some very toasty
weather and the lack of leaf coverage
will keep you a very hot Georgia also
had some pretty epic views and with the
lack of leaf coverage you could also see
around you like pretty well so like even
areas where there wouldn't normally be a
view you could look around and there
still was a view that might be something
to look forward to I noticed and this
may seem a little strange to some but
living near Boston grocery prices and
stuff like that down south just seemed
so much cheaper and I mean that in the
best way possible it's awesome so like I
just noticed stuff up here that you know
may cost like 20 or 50 more sense where
like you know so much cheaper down there
I was like alright this is pretty sweet
so it was a very welcomed thing
obviously and it's something worth
mentioning
if you're from the Northeast if you live
near a major city even anyway I feel
like grocery prices are typically a
little more expensive than elsewhere so
that was definitely a welcome sight down
south not that they'd say if you're from
the Boston area people here geez people
are miserable hi there's no other way to
put it I think Boston was rated one of
like the most unfriendly cities you can
see that any day if I walk down the
street and like someone's past me and
I'm like hey how you doing how dare you
talk to me it's a very weird thing you
pass someone down south and like okay
how you do case in point the Taco Bell
Elmer Fudd ordered a dr. pepper they
were out of dr. pepper he had been
looking forward to a high school dr.
pepper for like days he'd been talking
about it for days the woman behind the
counter offered to go in next door there
was a another fast-food place I hear Oh
chango's I forget what it was offered to
go next door and get him a dr. pepper
you think you see that in Boston no way
would be like yeah tough luck guy get
out of here so the people super friendly
everywhere I went down south everyone
was awesome for real like every location
we stopped that in Blairsville and
Hiawassee everybody was super friendly
does water I think a lot of people are
worried about water when we started in
Georgia water was everywhere at the
beginning of the trail I was drinking an
absolute ton of water and I think people
thought I was exaggerating this but I
was legit drinking probably eight liters
a day easily there were days that I
would drink even more than that we would
we'd be walking I'd load like two up I
drink one we'd be passing another one in
like two miles and I beg Guilford I got
a stop real quick he'd be like what how
did you drink everything like all my
water would be gone so I noticed myself
drinking much much more right in the
beginning
it definitely weaned off like near the
end of the trail there were days like I
could go like with much shorter water
refilling I guess you'd say and I think
a lot of that had to do with the shape I
was in at that time - I was like a lean
mean walking machine by the end of the
the trail so I definitely drank a ton of
water the terrain of course as I
mentioned much much different than what
I was used to up in New Hampshire it was
much smoother substantially less rocks
and they have these things down soft
called switchbacks
so you don't just go right up a mountain
you kind of zigzag back and forth up
them now
so that was that that was something new
something I hadn't seen before
the first couple days I felt pretty achy
your body's gonna have to adjust to this
so I feel like a lot of people really
try to push right in the beginning and
are like I'm gonna get to kneel gap
tomorrow you could do it awesome
wonderful but a lot of people I think
push themselves too hard they end up by
they're getting like injured or just
there in like copious amounts of pain
for no reason take it a little bit slow
I think adrenaline kind of takes over
and you just want to push really fight
that you know try to pace yourself
pretty well in the beginning and start
getting accustomed to the mileage and
the weight that you're carrying to you
know that's my opinion on it anyway I
did feel some knee joint pain during
that initial beginning period as well
and I was having knee pain before I left
for the trail if you watch my initial
gear videos I had knee braces that I was
a carrying around with me I opted to
pick up east bandages and I just wrapped
ace bandages around my knees super tight
for about three days and then luckily
the soreness went away of course your
results may vary I also kind of changed
how I was walking I found myself leaning
forward a lot more so I made a conscious
effort to kind of lean back a little
while I was hiking that may have helped
as well and yeah after the first week I
mostly felt good you know you get some
general pain here and there but while
your body is getting accustomed to this
constant in a walking and exercise with
weight on you I think most people will
have soreness for sure and your fitness
level is gonna dictate how bad that
actually is but overall I felt pretty
good my feet so many people were
complaining about blisters and their
shoes and if there's one thing I can't
stress enough find Footwear that works
for you do hikes beforehand and test out
footwear if you're getting blisters I'm
gonna say 95% of the time it's probably
because the shoes you were wearing are
not fit properly definitely invest in
good Footwear and test it before you get
to the trail if you're having bad feet
especially right in the beginning it's
gonna make your time so much worse it's
gonna be such a mental thorough off for
you definitely look into getting some
good Footwear and test them out alright
that's going to do it everyone I hope
the video was helpful for you I'm gonna
try to get the North Carolina video
recorded and hopefully out by March
maybe the first week of March
I'd really like Georgia and North
Carolina videos to be available
four hikers starting this year and I
feel like the bulk of them start right
around March into April
so hopefully that video will be out in
time for this year's class to check out
so I hope it helps you either on your
thru-hike section hike
random hike whatever you're doing and if
it does consider dropping the video
alike if you love to consider commenting
and subscribing share some of your trail
experiences in georgia down below you
can follow me on instagram at chris goes
outdoors and until next time everyone
we'll catch you in the next one take
care thanks for tuning in
