Day 2 Thursday
Our fellow campers were reasonably subdued by fog this morning. We were still figuring out our morning routine but wanted to get going. At first this didn’t happen quick enough, but we eventually set off by 10am. Some way up the summit we meet a fellow hiker from New York who walks with feet-like shoes and is attempting to improve his previous time on the Appalachian. He walks at an impressive pace. By 10:45 we were on top of Springer Mountain (3782 feet): the beginning of the Appalachian Trail and of our first official section of about 50 km. The plaque describes the route as a footpath for “those who seek fellowship with the wilderness”. We chose some tentative trail names to accompany our entries into the trail register: Kobus felt an affinity for “Silver” and as his trail buddy I became “Gold”. (Maybe all those flecks of Mica on the trail?😄) A brief but important interlude: I eventually came to the conclusion that it was a good idea since it reminded me of the old song “Silver and Gold” based on what Peter said in the Book of Acts 3: 6 when He commanded a lame beggar to walk in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth: “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” The man who was lame from birth was healed by Jesus and his ankles and feet became strong. He went with Peter and John into the temple courts “walking and jumping, and praising God”. It is our prayer that even now on this journey we may have the privilege of being vehicles of the love of God Who “forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s” (Psalm 103: 3-5) Back to the trail: The descent from Springer leads to a parking lot with some important information on hiker safety. Some distance from the trail the vegetation became lush and green with several streams and wooden bridges. We were surprised to meet a fellow South African, Jurgen, from Bloemfontein, who plans to through hike. During lunch time at Stover Creek Shelter we meet more hikers: a couple with a proper bear canister as well as “Little Foot” and her mother “Little Bit”, who seem to be well prepared and informed about the route. After lunch we took a break at the beautiful Three Forks Creek and filled up our Camelbaks and took a photo with Jurgen at Long Creek Falls. After a rather steep ascent where we passed a few hikers we met earlier, we eventually camp out at the new Hawk Mountain Camping on the advice of Gus, a ridge runner sitting at a trail intersection. It’s situated about 20 minutes walk from Hawk Mountain Shelter but also has a privy and access to water. The camp site we chose is quite small, but some others closer to the stream are bigger with firepits. It started raining soon after we began our supper preparation and we have a hasty supper before zipping our sleeping bags together in an effort to get warm.