The Sacred journal part I- Preparing to hike the Appalachian Trail Georgia section

On a cold February in 2005 my wife and I set out to hike a portion of the Appalachian Trail, it would be the first time we have tried this in our lives. It would also be the trip of a lifetime and one that would change our lives forever. I kept a live journal of every day on the trail and called it The Sacred journal and now I will be sharing the entire revised version here for all the Appalachian Trail fans to read.

It will be an ongoing project that I will keep in order and always posted here in this same category for easy finding for everyone. Please feel free to post comments and questions, I will respond to all questions. Please subscribe so that you do not miss a single submission of the journey ahead.

This will be a great read for anyone that has never hiked this trail but has always wanted to and may be planning. I have continuously made remarks as to what to do and not to do as a novice AT hiker according to actual firsthand experience.

DAY ONE 2/13/05

Well, so far we have had an entire day of travel. It has been hectic these last five days with three days of travel on a Greyhound bus from Tucson, AZ. to Atlanta, GA. then while awaiting our ride from my dad we shacked up in a motel in downtown these last two days. We were picked up just five hours ago by my dad and sister.

After a two hour drive to Dahlonega, GA. -the last large enough town to have a Wal-Mart- we spent around $300.00 to get our AT gear we would be using and then on to Amicalola Falls state park. This is where we spent the night in our new tent in the campground of the park. We arrived here at about 1 am and after saying our goodbyes to our daughter, my father, and sister, we quickly went to work setting up camp.

So far, we have no problems; the lodge was nice to rent us a tent spot so late with no questions. Setting up camp in the dark was no problem, I gathered wood and started a fire to keep us warm seeing as though it feels damp and the temperature is probably in the low 40's, but that did not last long. I guess the wood was a little wet. This state park seems big and the AT access trail starts here at the base of Springer Mountain.

So all we are doing is trying to stay warm in the tent and get our packs packed for the long haul ahead of us, also snacking on a little food. It is good to eat when you have not slept any. I wish it would just stop raining for a few days so we could get a good start.