The AT Kickoff

We'd planned to start our hike the first day of spring, March 21. Then I was invited as a speaker to talk about the Florida Trail at the event, which is held outdoors in the middle of town. That gave us an excuse to come up earlier and meet fellow hikers before we started our hike.

Before we turned in our one-way rental car, we went out of our way to the nearest REI to Florida, in Sandy Springs outside Atlanta, to upgrade some of our gear.
The weather was dreary and it rained a great bit. However, we were under cover and ever so fortunate to share table space with Gene Espy.

Gene was the second person to ever complete an Appalachian Trail thru-hike. He did it in 1951. Since I'd met Earl Shaffer - the first person to thru-hike the trail - back when I first started planning my own thru-hike in the late 90s, it made for an auspicious sendoff!

What a delight to listen to Gene's stories and enjoy his company.

We caught a ride to Amicalola Falls, where we'd booked a room at the state park lodge within a short stroll of the start of the approach trail to Springer Mountain.

But before we headed to our room, we signed the register at the little Appalachian Trail museum at the park, where Gene's gear from his 1951 hike is on display.