Day 1 springer mountain to gooch shelter 17 miles

The morning on the way to springer mountain, we all rammed into the van with great expectations. The 60 something woman sitting next to me was telling which brand of sleeping bag she uses to keep warm but whispered that she sleeps with the bag open because of hot flashes. The guy behind us who ended up leaving the trail piped up that he wished he had hot flashes.

After we piled out of the van it became apparent that most were not used to hiking fast.

I ended up doing a 17 mile hike to gooch gap. There were over 50 people at the first site. It snowed overnight and I woke up to frozen water.