This morning I opened my first resupply box shipped by Jessica. She placed a personal note inside on the back of this quote from Joseph Campbell, “The big question is whether you are going to be able to say a hearty yes to your adventure.”

Yes, yes, one hundred times yes!

I am having so much fun out here. My favorite days are my days alone inside my own head, listening to podcasts, not thinking twice to stop and take photos or adjust my pack, speed up or slow down, tune into my thoughts or into my podcasts.

My other favorite days are my days hiking with new friends. Crooning Michael McDonald impressions while trudging through 6” of snow an extra 5 miles at night with headlamps on in the freezing cold in hopes the next shelter will have better amenities than the last one.

I am not building nearly enough “free” time into my weekly schedule. After shipping home my Zpacks Arc Haul 70L backpack — not up to the challenge of my 42 lb load and now replaced by a Gregory Stout 70 rated to 50 lbs — I easily filled today’s remaining 6 hours of downtime in Franklin, NC paying bills and planning out the logistics of my coming week. And this evening, did I edit videos, or help a hostel owner get their printer working? Try to picture it…

So, yet again, in lieu of any video from me, I direct you to this video released today courtesy of Metro, featuring yours truly in a supporting role. And though my own videos are (hopefully/eventually/belatedly) forthcoming, at least Rambling Roots Hostel now has a US Letter size test print of Joseph Cambell’s quote taped to its wall.

Hell yes.

This is another quick post before I head out for another beautiful day on the trail. It’s been a week, and I haven’t found an inner reserve of energy to write, edit videos, or even scroll news, social media, or other hikers’ videos. I might get there if I take a day off soon and can relax at a coffee shop or somewhere away from people.

Yes, people. I can’t believe how many people are out here even in mid-January. Thru-hikers, section hikers, lots of under-dressed college kids, and groups up from Florida, down from Ohio, and local to the area who just like sleeping outside in the cold and snow. The nerve!

On my first glorious sunny warm day I last posted, last Friday, I did what everyone told me not to: I pushed too hard. 19 miles. And then the rain came, and the cold came, and it slowed me down a bit. And seeing single digit temps arriving last Sunday night, my 3rd day of hiking was a mad dash over Blood Mountain and down into Neel Gap.

My knees haven’t been the same, feeling a bit like bursitis maybe? I spent this week at the Green Dragon Hostel, “slack-packing” a more reasonable distance each day, 10 +/-. The hostel shuttles us to and from trail heads and we don’t need to pack overnight gear or all our food. Thanks to winter closures of mountain roads, which change daily, we’ve been filling in 5e sections of Georgia out of order and sometimes hiking southbound.

”We?” you say. I was the only one at Green Dragon when I arrived Monday, but steadily the place has filled up with a cast of characters, most of them YouTube celebrities. “Metro” has been my daily hiking buddy, with appearances by “Atypical Hiker” and now “Alpha Gal” has joined us. Did I mention service dog Willow? I love all their company, but this introvert is in desperate need of a recharge!

One more segment of Georgia to complete today and tomorrow, then it’s off this hostel gravy train for a minute and back into the wild. I’ll be testing my knees with full pack again today, and hoping for the best. Ifn the meantime if you want to see video of me, best check out YouTube channel @MetroOnTheMove. I bet I’m in the background of a lot of his upcoming videos. I’ll get there myself eventually. 😅

I drove a rental car to Dawsonville, GA yesterday. I took a shuttle the last half hour to Amicalola Falls Lodge. I had my last pre-AT shower and bed. Amicalola is the start of the 8+ mile “approach trail” to the AT, where mile 0 is the summit of Springer Mountain.

I didn’t realize the lodge was at the top of the falls, and I’d have to hike down a mile to the visitor center first so I could check in and be assigned my hiker number. I’m #18 northbound (NOBO) thru-hiker for 2025 out of what should be ~3000 for the year.

In the first 5 minutes of my hike down, I had two competing thoughts occupying my brain. #1: “Should I put my spikes on now or wait until I really really need them?” The trail is covered in snow and ice in a lot of places. #2: “Should I ditch the rest of my cold brew?” It’s hard to hike while holding my trekking poles in one hand and the last 25% of yesterday’s giant 32oz coffee in the other.

They say the trail teaches you what you need to know. At least one of my Woods Hoke Weekend mentors, Clay “Pony” Bonnyman Evans, said that. I only have one bar of signal, so I’m not going to research it right now, but I think he may have even written a book on the subject?! [Thanks to WHW mentor RTK for adding a comment with the link!]

As I’m having these two thoughts and reaching no decision, my foot slipped from beneath me, and the giant cold brew went flying and splashed all across the snow and ice. I laughed out loud. 30 seconds down the trail I realized I had picked up the empty cup but the lid was of course missing. Like a forensic detective searching for bullet casings, I went back to the scene of the crime and recovered the lid. Leave No Trace, baby!

I don’t know how often I’ll be posting, whether they’ll include videos, or what my hiking pace will be. My mentors advise me for personal security reasons to lag my posts some number of days or weeks. But know that I’m out here, and so far I’m being an attentive student of the trail!