of bad weather. Yeah, it wasn't particularly pleasant here in town,
but I wasn't sure at first if it was worth postponing. But so as to
not waste a full day, we headed up to Springer Mountain to get in our
first mile. We drove up a snowy, winding dirt road, and the higher up
we got, the more nervous I became about the 2,180 mile journey ahead.
"Why are we doing this? I can't believe we're doing this. I cannot
believe we're doing this..." And so on. We eventually arrived at a
parking lot I was sure would be empty. It was not. There were about
five other cars in the lot and at least as many people. "These people
are nuts. We're nuts." But we were only there to complete the first
mile today.
The road and parking lot separated the first mile of the trail from
the rest. In order to hike that first mile, we would have to hike to
the top of Springer Mountain—the beginning of the Trail—and back down
to the parking lot where we started. It's too bad we have to backtrack
just to get started.
I thought it might be a little cooler than down in the town, but it
was much colder, maybe by 15 degrees. And it was snowy, windy, and
icy. As we headed up Springer, I began feeling much more comfortable.
Yes, it was still cold and miserable, but I was able to remember why I
decided to do this: I like it! Still, today's day hike was one thing;
spending the night in that weather will be another. I'm glad we
decided to do that mile. It loosened my nerves and got us started on a
great adventure.
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