Day 1 and 2

Warning: stream of conscious incoming

Day 1:

The big day arrived. Time to hit the trail. We woke up and had some time to kill before our ride to Amicolala Falls state park. I decided to call our ride to make sure the guy was still going to pick us up. As it turns out, he never received my confirmation email that 11:30am was going to work for us to be picked up at the airport. So we were SOL. The guy had no more room, so we got an Uber ride to the start of the trail. Which turned out to be interesting because, Eric, our driver, is originally from Sioux Falls. We ended up chatting for the duration of the ride, which ended up being over an hour. He was one of the most genuine people I have had the privilege to talk with. 

Once we were dropped off, we checked in with the ATC (Appalalchian Trail Conservancy) and weighed our packs. With food, my weighed in at 35lbs and Louisa's was 30lbs. We were shooting for less than that, but the lady who weighed her pack before us made us feel better. Her pack was 50lbs and that was after shedding 25lbs of gear she decided wasn't worth the effort of carrying. 

After filling up with water, we hit the approach trail. We had 8 miles to cover and about 6 hours until the sun set. We made it to Springer Mountain right as the sun was setting over the horizon. We got our tent up, made dinner, cleaned up, and were asleep by 9:45 EST. 

Day 2:

Woke up very rested. Rehydrated some scrambled eggs, filtered more water and officially started the Appalchain trail. We ended up following a small creek for a while through a very green section of the trail, which definitely put me in a good mood for the rest of the day. 

We hiked about 7.5 miles and made camp. I called my dad to wish him a happy birthday then listened to music and read the remainder of the night. So far, Louisa is the only one with blisters, but fortunately we have some special tape to cover them so they don't get worse. I put some tape between my toes as a preventative measure. No aches or pains to report, so I think we are off to a good start. There is supposed to be a thunderstorm tonight so hopefully we get some rest tonight. 

Edit: wrote this before I went to bed last night. The thunderstorm never hit but it did rain a good amount. We're both feeling good this morning!