First Day

After a great day of hiking we reached the Great Hawk shelter about 10 miles from springer mountain. Not without a couple hitches though. We got lost twice but found the trail three times. The first was google map's fault. On the way to way to the trail head we took several detours, but made it to the trail head by one o'clock. The woods were beautiful; mountain laurels were in bloom, and we walked through stands of massive hemlocks.

We met a few interesting characters along the way too. Juice and Mooki
hiked all day with us carrying twice as much weight with an iPod and full boom box. On a side trip to a beautiful waterfall we met a shirtless, bearded, old man. He was particularly proud of his minimalist nature and pointed us in the direction of the waterfall. He was also kind enough to give us incorrect directions back to the trail. We spent the next hour eating cobwebs and bush wacking.

Tonight it is storming, but we made some ramen and are safe in the tent!