I woke up at Amicalola Lodge after a very long night of packing my bag (for the first time ever) and talking with Drew. I was feeling really nervous and unsure of myself. I’d only set up my tent a few times and never used any of my other gear. I’d never even hiked more than 4 miles or done an overnight. I was reassured that all of those feelings would disappear and I knew in my heart that they would, but was still unable to shake them. As expected, I didn’t get out of my room until about noon because I’m a procrastinator and I wanted to take things at my own pace. There was no need to rush and it felt good.

On my way down the stairs I discovered I couldn’t even walk straight with my pack because it was so heavy. Lovely. I had lunch and managed to get a ride from the very nice lady at the front desk from the lodge down to the Visitors Center. Bruce helped me with my first and much needed shakedown and my pack went from 40 lbs to 31 lbs. What a relief that was. He showed me to the shelter just a few feet from the Visitors Center and I stayed there for the night rather than hiking, it was already 4:00. I immediately put a rip in my quilt but luckily I had repair tape, no biggie! I made my first dinner and talked with Jeff who was attempting a thru-hike as well. He talked a lot but I enjoyed the company.