AT Approach Trail
Ranking: Moderate to Difficult
As mentioned in the Amicalola Post, this hiking trip was an utter disaster. It started out as a mess, was a mess, we were a mess. Unlike us, listen to the signs. We should have seen the first bad sign when the front desk guy asked if we were hiking for a month judging from our packs. We should have realized that his eyes grew large when we said we only planned on being out there for a week. We should have noticed the signs…. The signs that we were in over our heads.
** Here’s a quick backstory- we researched about the AT (aka the Appalachian Trail) and wanted to give it a shot. Our original plan was to hike the approach section of the trail which is around 15.5 miles round trip from Amicalola Falls to Springer Mountain. Well, we changed our minds. We packed what we thought we needed, we planned to complete a week out on the trail instead to see how far we could get. We should have researched more…. We looked up parking areas, safety measures, and what items to bring. Items to bring haha… doomed.**
Now let's talk about this disastrous trip. And no I am not exaggerating when I say that this hiking trip was a disaster because it was. My boyfriend and I decided that we wanted to attempt the AT for our anniversary and were so pumped to do so. If you are interested in taking a crack at the AT in any way shape or form, please heed my warning. We made some rookie mistakes and I am going to tell it as honest as I can to be as forthcoming for those of you interested. Like any hiking trail, you should prepare. Such as packing snacks, grabbing maps, and bringing any equipment needed.
The AT might not be a big deal to some, but to me the AT is different. To me the AT seems like a whole new beast all on its own. Due to its size and how many people try and tackle it on a yearly basis I was a bit nervous to attempt any part of it. But nonetheless we wanted to give it a go, and go we sure did. I would not consider myself or my boyfriend to be professional hikers. Yes we love to hike, yes we love to be outdoors, and yes we love to challenge ourselves. Well folks this here is a challenge if you’ve never attempted something so long. I will be the first to say that I did not properly condition my body for this journey. I should have incorporated the stair stepper machine and squats a lot more than I did. Also I should have done a better job at figuring out what to bring and what not to bring. Looking back there are a lot of things I would have done differently however this is how it went.
To start, as you all know now we began at the base of Amicalola Falls. We parked our car, grabbed our gear, and went to the visitor center to sign in. (You have to do this if you are planning on parking there for a long time, you will get towed otherwise). Our first sign that we were in over our heads was from the super nice park employee who was checking us in. He thought we were planning on hiking for a month judging from our bulging packs. When we told him nope just a week and told him briefly of our plans, he smiled politely while his eyes widened. If the guy who works at the park says something like that to you… you might have packed dude. Take a step back and unpack some of that crap you have in there and leave it in the trunk of your car.
Next we went to the base of the Falls and then proceeded to climb all those stairs to the tippy top. Now entering sign number two. By this point my body was so tired and rejecting my pack already. I’ll put it this way, I needed help putting on my pack from my boyfriend. When it gets to that level- that’s too much stuff. We should have turned around at that point and tried again later. That was sign number 3. After we completed our stair master workout we proceeded onward to Springer Mountain.
Our goal was to make it to Springer Mountain by nightfall. Considering it was already past noon at this point we weren’t going to make it. Sign number 4. We hiked and hiked and hiked, so much gear let me tell you. I was dying about 1 mile in at this point. Although we were struggling, we did enjoy ourselves. We found a stream along the way and had a delightful snack break and water refilling time. Now thinking back on it, other than my body trying to die on me, the trail itself is incredible. Out there on the AT you really get the feeling of being utterly alone. At one point we came up on a high mountainous area where we took a small water break. Only then did we realize that we hadn’t seen a person in like 2 hours. I don't really know how else to describe it out there other than beautifully eerie.
As the sun was setting, the wind started picking up with the smell of rain coming. At this point, we started to pick up our pace so we wouldn't get caught up in the storm. Although we were rushing along, the rain was inevitable. We started to feel raindrops about 30 mins later, so we decided to go ahead and set up camp for the night. When I say we made it by the skin of our teeth before the rain hit I am literally not joking. We had just enough time to set up our tent and make dinner when the flood gates opened. It poured all night long and we soon found out that our tent, that we had “waterproofed,” was not.
** A side note here folks**- I didn’t bring a sleeping pad but Jonathan did. We had purchased some stupid cheap ones from Walmart that were very bulky and obnoxious. I didn’t want to pack mine due to its size, while Jonathan didn’t really mind. He stayed somewhat dry through the night while I was soaked from the knees down.
When we woke up the next morning, we were debating about what to do. It started to drizzle as we took our tent down and made breakfast. Rain isn’t so bad folks. We had rain jackets and luckily had packed rain covers for our gear so we were prepared for the elements. However, while we were discussing the trail options, Jonathan noticed a problem. My legs. My unprepared legs. My legs were shaking with tremors just standing there with no pack from exhaustion, so he called it for us. I was super bummed that because of me we had to turn back but honestly I was more thrilled with the idea of it being over.
With that, we headed from once we came and ended up finding a seedy motel in a nearby town. Despite the peeling wallpaper and the faint smell of cigarettes that was the best shower of my life. And later the best Wendy’s I think I’ve ever had in my entire life. The rest of the trip was fantastic! We spent time in Helen, walked around, had great food- so much fun.
Looking back, we really did have a great time. Even being miserable and wet and exhausted, we learned so much from it all. My main takeaways from the Approach Trail would be to downsize on gear and condition your body!
**There will be an update on the Approach Trail later this year and of me actually conquering it this time! To be fair this was my first serious hike to which I didn’t prepare properly. It has been two years since then so now I feel like I can do it :) **