Into the hills

total miles through April 29: 21

I was the first one to break camp at hawk mountain shelter Tuesday morning around 8. I didn't feel like doing breakfast.

Went about a mile when it started to rain. Stopped to put on my rain gear and pack cover. While putting on my gear, Daniel, from Sweden, and Tobias, from Germany, caught up with me.

Tobias, 25, just finished his masters in electrical engineering, and Daniel, 20, was working at a hospital.

They didn't know each other before the hike, but flew on the same flight from Frankfurt To Atlanta and stayed at the same hostel before setting out.

I hiked alone most of the morning, with David and Tobias catching me when I'd stop for a rest.

Around lunchtime, another David and his dog, Stitch, caught me. They were also at the shelter the night before. I'd soon learn how quickly the pair move on the trail.

We stopped at Gooch Shelter for lunch. Some hikers who'd stayed there the previous night were still there. They said, "We're going as far as we can."

I took off, but David stayed behind, concerned about a possible limp Stitch had.

I made it to Woody Gap at about 5:30 p.m. It's a highway crossing with picnic tables and a bathroom. Sat down to check the weather since I had a cell signal. After a few minutes Daniel and Tobias showed up, and we walked a little ways before picking a campsite just off the trail.

In anticipation of bad weather, we started to set up our tents. After just a few minutes, David and Stitch came strolling up. Stitch seemed to be fine. We were later joined by a married couple from Michigan.

Tents up and dinner ready, David hiked a little ways up the trail to check a view from a popular lookout point, Preachers Rock. He came back and said it was awesome, so we all went up to see. It was a spectacular view.

Back at camp, we made a fire and sat around for a while before heading to bed. The rain eventually arrived, but it wasn't bad and I slept through it.

view from preachers rock

S

Stitch

First day

Distance: 8.2 miles

Hit the road from Barnwell to my starting point in northern Georgia at about 8 a.m., Monday. My friend, Nick, came through huge and gave me a ride on his day off. It's a five-hour trip and there was a 10-mile climb up a dirt, mountain road to Big Stamp Gap.

From the gap, I had to hike "south" to get to the starting point at the top of Springer Mountain and then turn around and retrace my steps to start my trip.

I started shortly after 3 p.m., after meeting Teacher and Snackpack at the top of Springer. The grandma, Teacher, and her grandson, Snackpack, are from Rhode Island and are traveling along the trail, meeting hikers and hearing their stories as part of a home-school project for Snackpack. 

Those are their trail names btw. Hikers usually start with a trail name they choose or get labeled with one by other hikers.

Mine is Hova for now. If you know me, you know why.

Headed down springer and the hiking was easy going at first. The trail was smooth, flat and wide. I rolled into Hawk Mountain Shelter a little after 7 p.m. About a dozen hikers, and one dog, were there.

We all had to cram into the shelter - which has two levels and the lower level has two tiers - because bad weather was on the way. Since I was the last one to arrive for the night and everyone else had their spots picked out, I had to sleep on the lower tier of the first level next to the shelter opening.

When the storm hit around 10:30, it was loud and windy. Every few minutes a gust of wind would blow up the tarp stretched across the shelter opening and a blast of cold air and some rain would sweep through the shelter. It wasn't too bad though, and i got some decent sleep.

Good first day, on to the next one.

By the fire at hawk mountain shelter

Final countdown

It's late on Saturday, April 26, 2014. It'll be Sunday by the time I post this. I'm sitting on the floor in a nearly empty living room in my townhouse in Barnwell, South Carolina. The room is mostly empty, like the rest of the house, because in less than 48 hours I won't be living here anymore -- I'll be somewhere in northern Georgia hiking north on the 2,100 mile Appalachian Trail.

Exactly why I'm setting out on this trek from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Katahdin Mt. in Maine is hard to explain. The simplest explanations are: 1. because I want to - 2. because I can. All other reasons are more excuses than anything else.

How I got the idea to attempt the hike -- one which 80 percent of people who start fail to finish -- is much easier to describe. I got into hiking a little over a year ago thanks to my buddy, Josh. He took me on my first multi-day hike, and I was hooked immediately. And after reading a book, "AWOL on the Appalachian Trail," about a man who completed a "thru-hike" in 2003, the idea to give it a shot was planted in my head. And it grew. It grew to the point where I found myself constantly thinking about it.

So I decided the only way to satisfy my thirst was to do it. And after about eight months of preparation I'm down to the last day before my trip begins. Excited, nervous, anxious -- they all work.

I'm leaving a good job -- and great people -- as a journalist for the The People-Sentinel newspaper in Barnwell. I've thoroughly enjoyed my time here, and I'm sad to leave. But I made the decision that if I've going to attempt a thru-hike it's better to try now then wait and potentially miss the opportunity altogether.

Now, the AT isn't some iron-man-survivalist challenge. It's an endurance test -- both mental and physical. The trail bends, climbs, drops and curves its way along the Appalachian Mountains, crossing highways and even running through towns. There are shelters for hikers to sleep in at night, and communities that cater to hikers are dotted along the trail.

I'll have an extremely detailed guidebook with me on my hike, and apparently cell reception is pretty good. I'll never be too far away from civilization -- hence the title of this blog.

All my gear, around 35 pounds total, will be in a hiking backpack.Water, food, cooking items, etc. ... you have to carry everything you need on your back.

I plan to update this blog as often as possible while on the trail and post to Facebook and Twitter (@purtelld) -- so follow along if you like!

If you want to learn about the trail, start here. There is plenty of information on the Web if you're interested.