Trail Photos, etc.

Hey guys,

 Since I'm stuck here in Helen, GA, resting and icing my ankle, I figured I would put some pictures up on my blog. There's a real nice iMac here in the lobby, so I've wasted some time sitting here at the desk.

These two plaques were at the summit of Springer Mtn, the southern terminus of the AT:

 From the summit of Springer:

 Camp the first night at Hawk Mtn Shelter:

 The second day of hiking, we stopped for water here at Justus Creek; the picture isn't nearly as pretty as it was on Friday:

This is a view from one of the outlooks during the second day of hiking. A nice view that was followed by several days of being completely socked in by fog:

After getting completely drenched hiking on Saturday, we stopped at Neel's Gap and stayed at the Blood Mountain Cabins, where we hung all of our stuff out to dry:

 This is our camp the first night out of Neel's Gap. We stayed just above the shelter at Low Gap. Notice the copious fog!

Here are some pictures of my tourist activities here in Helen:

It's a very pretty fake-Bavarian town, with about 300 year-round residents and accommodations for up to 30,000 people. Very tourist-trappy, so I've tried my best not to get trapped by anything in town. Also, sort of like Freeport, there are not really "industrial" buildings. All the buildings have to be of a certain style, regardless of the businesses they contain. I guess it works for them though!

Alright, well, I'm hogging the computer here so I'm going to sign off. Enjoy the pictures and let me know what you think!

Neel's Gap

Hey all,
Just spent the night here in Neel's Gap, GA, after hiking about 11 miles in the pouring rain yesterday. Got a sweet cabin with the crew of Mike, Mark, Martin, and Phil. We're a motley group but we make it work together, and we're all pretty much in the same shape as far as experience and pace. I've learned a couple things in the first few days: I don't like hiking in the pouring rain. I'm not really a conversational hiker. And I really like working with gravity rather than against it. We took a zero day here today just to allow our stuff to dry out and spend some time here at the outfitter's getting some needed supplies and working on cutting out some unnecessary weight. Overall I'm feeling pretty good, other than being tired in all the possible ways. Thanks for following me, and I'll keep updating when I get a chance. We're planning to stop in Hiawassee in 3-4 days so I'll probably update again when we're there.

GMB

Leaving for the woods!!

Hey guys,

Just a last-second post as Drew and I are about to walk out the door. I turned my phone off and mailed it back to my parents earlier today, and am ready to get into the woods and start living! I apologize that I've been slacking on my blog, but that's because I didn't feel like I had that much interesting to share. So, the next update will have lots of cool information about where I've been, what I've done, things I've seen and people I've met. Or, at least some info about each. Thanks for following me, and thanks for all the words of encouragement. Happy trails!!!!!

Max

Welcome!

Hey everyone,

Welcome to my AT blog, and thanks for reading! I'll be updating this several times throughout my trip. Mostly I'll be using this to tell you about places I've been, people I've met, and cool things I've experienced along the way. If you have anything specific you want to know more about, please comment or shoot me an email!

I want to take this opportunity to explain why I've decided to take this trip. The first time I heard of the AT was in eighth grade social studies. My teacher had done it in his early 20s when he didn't really know what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. I'm sort of in the same boat: I worked for a few years at a couple different jobs, both related and unrelated to my degree, and wasn't really satisfied with the direction my life was taking. I had also always been intrigued by the Appalachian Trail and love being outdoors, so I started making plans to actually take the trip that had been an idea for quite a while. I'm planning to do a lot of reflection while I'm on the trail, and I'm also looking forward to the opportunity to get away from the technology that seems to rule our lives these days. God has really opened doors in my life to make this trip a possibility and reality, and I truly pray that I will use this time in my life with purpose, not simply as a reason to escape from "real life". I'm looking forward to the people I will meet and the relationships I will form, as well as the physical, emotional, and spiritual challenges I will face on the trail. I will be tested in all these ways, so I'm excited to see how I will change during the course of this journey; while I'm looking forward to the sheer physical accomplishment of hiking 2181 miles from Springer Mtn, GA, to Katahdin, ME, I know that the real achievement will be the discoveries made throughout the entire trip.

I'll be posting several more times before I go; I'm planning to post a gear list and several photos of the training hikes I've done in the past few months. So, be looking forward to those!