smsinnh

Sean drove up to Atlanta on Sunday and was picked up by the hostel hosts. Met another thru hiker from Seattle on the train. Bunked Sunday night in a beautiful hostel about 1 hr from trailhead. Monday AM, hostel served breakfast and dropped the group at the trailhead. Sean hiked about 1 mile to the summit of Springer Mtn, the official start of the AT! Cold, snow and ice covered trail but he was totally psyched for the adventure. Hiked about 10 miles the first day to the Hawk Mtn Shelter. Said there were about 25 hikers there, not all thru hikers, everyone sharing best practices, tips, nerves etc. He texted me this am saying it was a long, cold night on the trail and a cold rain was already falling but he had survived the first night of hopefully many nights, hoping to make it to Gooch Gap today at the 16 mile mark. Weather for the area is rain all day today then clearing and starting to warm close to 60 during day and 30's at night. (if you are on Facebook, I am posting there on Sean's page)