Got up before 5, packed the last minute items, said goodbye to Mom, and then Dad drove me to the airport. Luckily, the effects of the sequester on air traffic ended Sunday, and the day of flight went smoothly. I made it into Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta just before 2:00 local time. Made a pit stop at a Qdoba for a trio of tacos en route to the baggage claim. Atlanta definately lived up to its billing as the busiest airport in the U.S. – the Delta terminal was packed even though it’s just a regular travel day. I emerged from the airport train at the baggage claim and my pack was already on the belt. Literally less than 100 yards from the baggage carousel was the Atlanta MARTA (train) station. I got my pass, and boarded an already waiting train for North Springs. THe train ride was about 50 minutes, and an almost straight shot North, out of Atlanta.
At North Springs I met Josh from The Hiker Hostel, we drove about another hour North toward the start of the AT. On the way up, his suburban rolled over the 200,000 mile mark. We stopped at Little Caesar’s where I picked up one last pre-trail pizza. Of course, everything along the way was completely GREEN! Coming to the east coast and seeing the endless trees is always amazing after living in the Arizona desert. It was a completely overcast and damp day, and it looks like the start of the trail is going to be very wet. Josh reports they are forecasting multiple inches of rain tomorrow night. Perfect way to start the trail!
I have a bunk here at the Hiker Hostel for the night, looks like theres a couple other people staying here, but they aren’t thru-hikers. Apparently I may even be the last thru-hiker of the season starting out from here. I saw several others on whiteblaze that are starting this week though, so there should be a few other people dreaming of Katahdin out on the trail.