I wanted to get out and do a little hiking this weekend. With so many wonderful options in Georgia, the question was, where? Something has been drawing me back to the Appalachian Trail. Especially after recent events where a hiker passed away shortly after starting his thru-hike this year. I just feel like I need to be out there, keeping an eye on things, and looking out for others.

So I ventured back to the start of the AT and hiked from Three Forks to Springer Mountain. I’ve got to admit it was pretty exciting being back out there and seeing all of the new thru-hikers of the class of 2020. I stopped and spoke to just about all of them. I was amazed at how many of them already had trail names (on Day 1). For some, this was their time attempt, while others had tried it several times already. I kept thinking in the back of my head… you’ve got a long way to go! Of course, I didn’t share this thought with them:)

I was happy to see another member of the class of 2019 out there doing trail magic. It’s amazing he started about a week before I did last year, yet we never saw or met each other the whole ~6 months we were out there.

Once I finished Three Forks to Springer (8.6 miles) I hiked the 2 miles in and back to Long Creek Falls. It was pretty packed with thru-hikers. Who wouldn’t want to camp out next to a beautiful waterfall, right? I actually found another part of Long Creek Falls just south of the main waterfall I’d never seen before. It was flowing amazingly well also.

It’s cold and wet and icy out there. I slipped twice. Definitely be careful if you’re hiking in this area. Its well shaded so there’s still a lot of snow and ice on the ground (and footbridges).