The van dropped us off in the parking lot below the Great Wall of China. The guide asked if we wanted to take the cable car up or walk. We wanted to walk. But it wasn’t like walking up a mountain trail, it was stairs. This was tiring.

Once at the top, the guide said “see ya at the bottom” and left. We would walk along the Wall for a few hours then take the toboggan down. This section of the wall was well-renovated. What surprised us immediately was a man selling beer. In fact, there were evenly spaced beer carts all along the wall.

We walked for about 2 hours before we got to the final walkable section. It was straight up, probably a few hundred feet.

Then at the end of this, there was a very steep stairway (almost a ladder) to a flat area. Here a guard slept in front of the path where renovations were still underway. We rested up there and took photos for about 20 minutes before heading back.

By this time we were extremely exhausted, hot, sunburned, and sweaty. We walked down the long descent, then up and down the Wall, which follows the contour of the mountain ridge. Russian Mike was about 20 feet in front of me and Billy was about 20 feet behind. There was not much talking because we were so tired.

Then, after walking 30 minutes or so, Russian Mike turns around and asks “Are you sure we’re going the right way?” Stunned, I said yes, I’m sure. Then I turned to Billy and said, “He just asked me if we’re going the right way.” The wall is a line and we just came down from a really steep section. Should we have gotten a map?

We couldn’t stop laughing. I nearly fainted. Water came out my nose. Billy almost had a stroke. He turned on the video camera.

The first five miles north of Springer was very easy, like walking through Prospect Park. The trail got a little steeper just before the Hawk Mountain shelter, 7.8 miles in. Walking in a light rain is not so bad at all. There were no bugs and it wasn’t hot.

There was a side trail that Bird had heard of. We saw it and walked about 100 yards off the trail to see a small waterfall (we left our packs). It’s actually not a bad size for this area as far as I know. Well worth the side trail.

We thought we’d stay at the Hawk Mountain shelter, but when we got there, it was full (as a few people coming the other way mentioned). We would have stayed in tents nearby, but the mood in the area was rotten; the people in the shelter were quite ornery. So after I checked my feet for blisters (nothing bad yet) we headed on.

I woke up naturally around 7am. Josh and Lee, the owners of the Hostel, told me that breakfast would be at 8:30 then they’d take the Canadian couple and me to our respective starting points. Breakfast was over-the-top. Waffles, oatmeal, eggs, juice, some other stuff. (I didn’t eat the eggs of course, the Canadian guy took mine.) Woody Gap, where the couple started, was about 30 minutes’ drive from the hostel. From there, it was another hour to my starting point, Springer Mountain. It’s only about 10 miles, but the road is curvy and dirt. On the way, we talked a little politics (he’s libertarian), economics, and personal finance, agreeing that too much debt is a bad thing. We passed a few wild turkeys and Josh commented that they seem to know that hunting season ended yesterday. He stopped the car next to a truck where a wildlife manager sat. They chatted a bit. Due to budget cuts, they’ve lost one of their wildlife managers, who managed something like 40,000 acres.

We got to the parking lot for Springer Mountain, I got my pack out of the back of the Suburban, put the rain cover on, and Josh pointed me to the trailhead. I would have to hike 0.9 miles to the top of Springer where the beginning of the AT is, turn around and walk back. Psychologically it sucks to backtrack, but better than walking the 8.5 mile approach trail if you want to save a day. At the top, he said, I’d probably run into the guy who stays up at the trailhead. I put on my pack and started up the trail. After 100 feet or so, I said out loud “I didn’t know that was going to hurt” regarding the pain in my hip muscles.

I was alone at the top for about five minutes when two other people arrived. Roger is the man who stays on top of the mountain for ten days at a time, taking four days off in between stints. Roger has a long gray beard and we chatted. He told me about his trip to Alaska, where he was voted “Best Beard in Gnome.” I had shaven cleanly for the start of the hike, so I felt inadequate. I asked if I could take his picture, which he was happy to give, and he told me about when he was in Alaska and a foreign man asked if he could take his picture. The man took his picture and said, “I can’t wait to show the people back home what a real Alaskan looks like.” Roger is from North Carolina.

The other guy who showed up on top was Bird with his self-made hiking poles. He had hiked up the approach trail and camped the previous night on the other side of the peak. We both signed the book that sits in a cutout in the rock with the Springer Mountain AT plaque. He took some photos, put the cover on his pack, and headed down the way I’d come up. I put on my rain jacket, said so-long to Roger, and headed down too.

At the parking lot where I was dropped off, Bird was checking out the postings about bears. We decided to hike together. The rain was light and steady.

I arrived at the hostel a little after 8, two hours sooner than expected. It’s quite nice. I have a room to myself with a bathroom and everything. The room sleeps four, but the only other people here are an Australian cycling team in the basement room and a Canadian couple across the hall. I talked to the couple a bit. They had hiked four days already and were up to Woody Gap (no relation). Woody Gap is where I want to be after day two so that was not encouraging. But it turns out that they started their hike at Amacalola Falls, which adds an extra day, so it was more like they got to Woody Gap after three days, which is less discouraging. They were taking a break here and trying to reduce the weight of their packs, which were around 50 pounds. Mine is under 40 fully loaded so that’s good. I actually have about 2 pounds more than I need because I like to record things. Plus I have the solar panel, which I will ditch if it doesn’t work.

Breakfast is at 8:30 then Josh (hostel owner) will take me to Springer Mt.

I’m ahead of schedule. There has been no traffic yet. I’ve stopped at a Waffle House for lunch about 350 miles to go. At this pace I’ll be at the Hiker Hostel by 8.

The waitress took my order of a ‘Texas bacon cheesesteak.’ mmmm. I got an iced tea too which was sweetened with way too much sugar. When she brought the sandwich she said ‘ain’t that pertty? Ain’t it nice lookin’? I made it all nice. Ain’t it nice?’ she stood there and I was certain she was waiting for me to say ‘sure is.’ So I did.

The sandwich was pretty much what you’d expect. A steak’um with melted American cheese, bacon and diced onions on white toast. It was delicious.

While I ate she grabbed a broom and chatted with the old man sitting at the counter smoking while she swept. ‘I hate this place. Soon I’m gonna get out of here and go to the beach.’