We have officially begun our southbound thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail!

Shawn and I have been talking about hiking the Trail for a long time. Back at Christmas, I put “Books about the Appalachian Trail?” on my wishlist. In February, when friends asked me what my next adventure was I sheepishly whispered “We’re thinking about hiking the AT this summer.” However, the idea really started to gain momentum when Shawn accepted a position with the Army JAG back in March. We knew Shawn had to be in Albany for law school until July and that JAG training would probably start in January. My busy season at work is January-May, and somehow I was fortunate enough to be granted a six month leave starting in July. Plus, both of our leases were up on our apartments this summer. Everything fell into place better than we could have ever imagined and the timing was perfect, so we (literally and figuratively) decided to hit the trail!

Hours & days & weeks of research all fit in to two 70 liter bags

Only 20% of people attempting to thru-hike the AT each year start in the north. The majority of hikers begin their journey on the other end of the trail between February and April each year. Obviously, we knew this timeline didn’t work for either of us; plus the idea of being with lesser crowds appealed to us. Additionally, finding an initial way to get to Katahdin seemed easier than finding a ride down to Georgia.

A sendoff “Cheers” at a family bbq a few days before we headed to Maine

Fast forward a few months, and my very wonderful parents drove us up to Maine yesterday. We stayed last night and tonight at the Appalachian Trail Lodge in Millinocket, where the owners and staff are the nicest, most accommodating humans I have ever met.

Because we didn’t know which trail we wanted to take up to the summit of Katahdin, we didn’t reserve a parking pass for Baxter State Park ahead of time. This worked out fine though, as we ended up deciding last minute to drive in to Roaring Brook Falls parking area and to take the Helon Taylor trail up to the Knife Edge, and then from there to the summit. You can see why we chose this trail up from the pics below?

The forecast called for thunderstorms starting in the afternoon, but luckily they held off the whole time. The summit just looked this way because we were above the cloud level.

Once at the summit, we started our official first steps on the Hunt Trail. Such an exciting feeling!!

Our first white blaze!

Overall, it was a 7 hour and nine mile hike (in 80 degree weather). But we are officially 5.2 miles into the AT!!

Tomorrow morning, Mom & Dad are going to drop us back off at the Katadhin Stream Campground parking area and we will continue on our way from there. We will enter the 100 Mile Wilderness in the afternoon, which is the longest period on the Trail that we will be away from a town/civilization. Luckily, the AT Lodge offers a food drop half way through, so we filled our bucket tonight and they’ll bring it to us in three days.

We’ll report back once we’re through the next 100 miles!