There is no photographic evidence of my first day/night on the trail. Having absolutely no idea how far or fast I could move, I headed out with no goal in mind. I knew that I wanted to spend the night at a shelter. On the AT, there are shelters every 6-8 miles. Shelters are 3 sided structures built to allow hikers to gather and take cover while on the trail. Coincidentally, they do the same thing for mice.
They tend to be the informal hubs along the trail and many hikers even hike without a tent, planning to sleep only in the shelters along the way. While modest in their offerings (a wooden platform with a "roof"), I found them to be glorious places and as soon as I left one…I was already aiming for the next. On day one, there were 2 options for me. The first was the shelter at Hawk Mountain…a mere 8 miles into the trail. I passed it by early afternoon, still feeling the (positive) effects of full meals the day before and a night spent sleeping in a comfy bed. I was confidant that I could cover the 8 miles to the next shelter, Gooch Mountain, by dinnertime.
That confidence slowly eroded along with my blood sugar as I crawled over the top of Sassafras Mountain and lost the trail for a mile just after Justus Mountain. At that point, I had 3 miles to go. I had no appetite and I was getting more and more nervous by the minute. I hadn't seen a sole since my exchange with the old man about my pack weight 6 hours ago and he was heading the other way. I was coming to terms with spending the night alone. Maybe I was the only one out here? Was that possible? I supposed it was, with the thru hikers long gone…maybe the trail was only being used for day hikes with your family at this point (and to allow murderers to travel unimpeded by highway patrols…my mind was off to the races). I would most certainly be killed tonight. It was so obvious. I dragged myself onward and somewhere on the wind, I heard them…VOICES! I stopped, quieting myself to be sure. Yes! Voices!! I nearly ran (which means I crawled) around the next bend and there she was, Gooch Mountain Shelter. And there were her residents. Oh, it was going to be quite a night.
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