Week One is Done

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A week ago, today, my oldest son started his northward trek on the Appalachian Trail. We’ve heard from him a few times during the week and he’s been making good progress. The yellow pin on the map shows his starting point and the green pins show his progress until Thursday. On Thursday afternoon he left the trail to go into Hiawassee to sleep in a real bed, eat hot food prepared by someone else and resupply for the days ahead. He was planning a short day yesterday, which would have taken him to Plumorchard Gap, but since I haven’t actually heard from him I haven’t yet marked that point on the map. If he stays on schedule, he should be crossing his first state line today, moving from Georgia into North Carolina. So far the trail has presented a number of unpleasant challenges that weren’t entirely unexpected. A couple of days of heavy rain meant hiking with wet feet, which resulted in blisters. The relentless up-and-down of the trail has also put significant pressure on one of his knees but he’s learning to adjust his pace and to alternate which foot he leads with, giving him some relief. Plumorchard Gap (his planned stopping place at the end of week one) puts him 72 miles (about 116 km) down a 2192 mile (3526 km) trail. Miles to go before he’s done!