The day started with great enthusiasm, as my brother Pat and I departed the hotel at about 11:30. After a pretty good night's rest Pat and I had planned our approach to Springer Mountain.

We changed the original plans regarding the approach. Instead of approaching via Amicalola Falls, we opted to drive up to the Springer Mountain parking area, which put us within a mile of the Springer Mountain Shelter, and a little over a mile from the southern terminus of the AT.

Pat was hoping to spend a night on the trail, and the Amicalola approach wasn't suitable for the gear he had or the time that he had available.

The weather wasn't very pleasant, as temperatures were dropping and it was raining pretty hard as we checked out of the hotel at about 11:30. We'd needed a few more supplies so we stopped at an REI and a grocery store on our way out. We hadn't had breakfast yet, so we decided we'd just have lunch at Joe's Crab Shack. (I didn't want to let one more opportunity to eat well slip away.)

We drove for about 2.5 hours before arriving at the Springer Mountain parking area at about 4:00 PM. The rain had turned to snow as our Pathfinder climbed into the mountains, and as we got out of the truck, to my delight the snow was coming down pretty hard. It's not often a Louisiana boy gets to see it snow like this. The wind was whipping it around and two kids from Lafayette were ready to make snowmen. Instead, we checked our gear one last time, made adjustments to our packs, ensuring we had the three pounds of cracklins and Cajun beef jerky on board!

The trail marker at the parking area pointed us to the Springer Mountain shelter one mile out on the trail. As we headed up the mountain, the snow turned to sleet and then to rain. We were optimistic this was just a temporary condition and as night fell it would return to snow; at least that's what we were hoping.

On our way to the shelter we met another thru-hiker, Chris, heading in the opposite direction. I thought it was rather late to still be on the trail, especially since the next shelter was the Stover Creek Shelter, 2.5 miles up the trial. We talked to him for a few minutes and he told us he was headed to the next shelter or campsite. There had been bear warnings posted at the Springer Mountain Shelter. The warnings encouraged hikers to hike on to the next shelter.

Chris wasn't taking any chances and headed off and up the trail. As he headed out, I asked if he had a trail name. He didn't, and with only about 1000 feet under foot, I didn't feel like I was qualified to give him one. Anyway, I think it's best to give yourself a trail name.

About an hour after starting, and a surprisingly steep hike, we arrived at the Springer Mountain Shelter, only to find the shelter was full. Considering it had stopped raining, and there were two dogs and about a dozen mice also sleeping in the shelter that night, we thought tenting wouldn't be such a bad idea. Anyway, I think Pat was looking forward to pitching a tent and building a fire for his short stay with me.

We found a tent site that overlooked to the South just as night fell. Occasionally, as the Atlanta city lights would appear through the clouds. Otherwise the view presented a steeply included wooded mountainside where the trees disappeared into the foggy depths.

We hurried to get our tents up as soon as we arrived at the campsite. There was very little light left, and it was starting to rain. I'd given Pat my large tent to use since my tent had only enough room for me and my equipment. Pitching a tent in the rain is a challenge, but we made quick work of it, and got most of our equipment in without too much water getting inside. Considering Pat hadn't ever pitched this tent, he did a great job getting it up and his stuff inside. (Hmm, maybe Pat should be going on this trip?)

At this point, we're getting pretty cold. Aside from the rain, the wind was really picking up and gusting. It was in the mid 30's already. The temperatures were dropping and it was just about dark.

We started up a fire. If you ever need to get a fire going, Pat is your man. It was raining about the time we tried to get the fire started. Despite wet leaves, branches and twigs, Pat got a very nice fire going that kept us warm until we decided to turn in.

Just before we turned in, Pat looked out over the horizon and we had a pretty good view of the Atlanta City lights. Pat was convinced the weather was clearing, and it would be nice for the night and next couple days. The eternal optimist, I was convinced too. Thirty minutes later, as I lay in my tent trying to fall asleep, the wind started whipping again, and as my tent bounced back and forth, drops fell onto my tent. Only, these didn't sound like rain drops. I was warm in my sleeping bag and wasn't about to get out into the cold to find out, but it sounded like sleet and hail to me. As a lawn service pro, Pat is a weather expert. I thought to myself, Pat is probably beating himself up over his forecast earlier. He'd been tracking the front that was moving through the area for several days. In the morning we both had a good laugh about it, because we were both thinking that same thing when it started raining (hailing) again.