On Top of Springer Mountain

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On Saturday, after I had left my husband and oldest son at the base of Springer Mountain I drove the long way around to a parking lot located just less than a mile from the summit of Springer Mountain and the official southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail. When I arrived in the parking lot, I knew I could have as much as three hours to sit waiting. OverAchiever and my husband had 8.5 miles to hike from the base of the mountain to the summit and then an additional 9/10 of a mile on down the trail to get to the parking lot. I don’t really like sitting in the car for extended periods of time and I knew we were going to have a six-hour drive to get home so I decided to see how far I could get up the trail before my current mobility issues forced me to turn back. Many of you know that a trip to the zoo only eight days prior had landed me back on the couch with my feet up for a number of days. I was determined to be a little wiser about this adventure. I also knew that going up was going to be somewhat easier than coming back down. My husband had conveniently left his trekking poles in the car (I want a pair but haven’t yet gotten around to investing in my own) and I figured borrowing them would probably be a good idea. I made good time going up the trail. I used the trekking poles to keep as much pressure as possible off of my injured leg and was actually able to get to the summit in just over 30 minutes. I enjoyed a lovely panoramic view of the interior of a cloud. Getting back to the car was a little more challenging and took me almost a full hour. In the annals of hiking history, my up-and-back trek on the first .9 miles of the Appalachian Trail isn’t particularly spectacular but it was gratifying to be able to do it!