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[at-l] Day 1
"The launching of the 'Long Cruise' was totally lacking in ceremony. I
looked at the battered sign [atop Oglethorpe] for the last time while the
shrill wind seemed to be saying, 'Get moving, Ridgerunner, the Trail is
calling and Katahdin is far away.'" Thus, Earl Shaffer recounted the start
of his thru-hike on April 4th, 1948, adding, "My plan was to move north
with the spring, with the seasonal change, with no definite day-by-day
goals but never tarrying long, as weather and terrain permitted. The early
start from the south would allow a maximum of at least six months to reach
and cross the timberline of New England. I hoped to maintain an average
daily distance of close to twenty miles but would settle for fifteen.
Another advantage of the early start was the absence of snakes and bugs.
Also, in April--true first month of the year--the woods are at their
finest, with the budding and leafing of trees, the blooming of flowers, the
full flowing streams and waterfalls, and the rainswept blue of the sky."
Earlier, Earl had cooked breakfast over a fire pit, getting water from a
nearby spring, and then headed north. As he hiked northward, he commented
on the wildflowers he saw, the leafless brown of the trees, the red and
green of an occasional holly, and the soreness of his shoulders. His pack
was a Mountain Troop rucksack with a steel frame and canvas bag, modified
for the long haul, along with an Air Corps survival tent, a Marine Corp
poncho, a rainhat, a "paper mill" blanket, matchsafe, compass, sheath
kinife, handaxe, sewing kit, snake-bite kit, cook kit, and food for about a
week. Clothing consisted of T-shirts, a Navy turtleneck, Mountain Cloth
pants, wool-cotton socks, and Birdshooter boots. The weather started sunny
but changed to a buttermilk sky as the day progressed. He passed a foursome
of young girls (one of which whispered to the others as Earl passed, "hubba
hubba", a forties slang expression indicating what today would be called a
"hunk") and he also met and talked with a family of three out for the day.
By late afternoon, he passed Amicalola Falls, and by early evening he had
made it to Frosty Mountain, where a ranger helped him locate the poorly
blazed Trail. Several miles north of Frosty, as deep dark descended, he
finally made camp for the night just off the Trail, sleeping under a giant
fallen chestnut held off the ground by its limbs. His last entry of the day
says, "I crawled under, wrapped in blanket and poncho, and fell into
exhausted sleep ..." Thus ended Day 1 of the first thru-hike.--Wingfoot
(excerpts from "Walking with Spring")
Today is the fiftieth anniversary of the start of what today is called
"thru-hiking". Happy anniversary, Earl!
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