Well hello everyone! I am at a little town in northern Georgia called Hiawasee. I arrived in Atlanta on Wed 2nd without too much fuss. Got through customs quickly and without hitch, phoned "Survivor Dave", my shuttle guy, bought a ticket to North Springs, Atlanta on the MARTA train service and got out of the terminal and on to the platform. The first thing I noticed was how HOT it was! I mean it was hot and humid, like Durban after a hot summer's day! "Oh oh!" And then I realsied that it would be a lot cooler up in the mountains, and it has been.

"Survivor Dave" (SD) picked me up at North Springs and took me to my hotel: the la Quinta Inn. Not bad actually. I got to make my own breakfast including waffles which I poured and cooked myself. I was still frazzled and jangly after the previous few days, but slept ok. Those last three or four days in London were very stressful, what with packing up my life of the last fourteen years and moving out of my home for the last twelve. It was a crazy, flat-out time, sorting and packing at a frenetic pace. Very stressful without being obviously so, primarily because I was too busy to pay any attention to it - probably a good thing. On Tuesday, the day before I left I put a meal of chicken and chips into the oven to cook and after remembering to turn the oven off when they were cooked, completely neglected to eat them. No time! It was a major shake up and together with a lack of sleep (sleep patterns totally shot) and some very stressful and upsetting events on a personal level, it meant that by the time I arrived in Atlanta I was in a kind of free-fall of dislocation and frazzledness. Still, the excitement and novelty of a new city and country did a lot to make up for this.
The next day SD offered to take me to do some shopping as he was free. Despite feeling rotten with flu he drove me around to but a new phone, food and a rain cover. Very helpful and generous man. Oh yes, those of you who know how I have held on to my old phone will laugh: I now have a (semi) modern phone with blue-tooth capability etc AND a kindle. It took the AT to get me into the 21st century....

Final packing on the 3rd May after the shopping and discovered Waffle House. Great diner-style waffle shop who do great deals in all kinds of food , not just waffles. I had a really good omlette for lunch and treated myself to the (3)pork chops with hash brown and salad for supper. Slept better.

4 May, Star Wars Day, I was picked up at 6:30am and we drove out to Springer Mountain. SD dropped me off at the car park, after which I hiked 1 mile up to the summit and the start of the trail. Signed the register, took pics etc and then started the trail - back 1 mile down the way I had come, in the rain. It dried up during the day and I met plenty of really great, friendly folks. I walked some 16.5 miles that day to Gooch Mountain shelter. A long stretch, but I'm glad I did as it is a lovely shelter and I met some of the good people I have spent the last few days with. The weather dried up and the next night was a spent at Lance Creek after a shorter, "relaxing" day, only about 8 miles or so. This may not sound like much, but the AT is punishing and I was carrying at least 50 pounds, which is heavy! On the 6th I made it to Neels Gap where I stayed at the hostel and had my bg given a "shakedown". Some heavy stuff I don't need I left for whoever wants it in the hiker bin in the hostel and some stuff I will probably need or do not want to throw away, I posted to my friend Guy, in Leesburg VA. When I get there I'll decide what to do with it.

With a much lighter pack it has been much easier going, though with food it's still somewhere around 40 pounds. Still it's lighter and I'm getting stronger. I have had some short days and yesterday pushed 15 miles to Tray Mountain shelter. We've had rain and sunshine and the top of Tray is very pretty with amazing views. So is Blood Mountain which I topped just before descending to Neels Gap.

Today I was going to stop at the Deep Gap shelter but me at chap from Tennassee (sp?) who was moving fast (although he was and is limping now) and planning on getting to Dicks Creek gap where one can hitch or arrange a shuttle via phone, into Hiawasee. I was inspired and besides it was wet and misty and I felt like sleeping in a dry bed. I had planned to head into Hiawasee tomorrow, but am here today instead! Just had a  great cheeseburger and fries, and am doing laundry. Tomorrow I'll re-supply with food, buy another and better self-inflating mattress (the other had it's outer skin tear away from the inner cushioning so now the foot end balloons up while the rest doesn't have enough air to make a good cushion. Cheap and nasty.) and other bits and pieces and the back onto the trail. Sharing a room with my new chum - we went halves, so not too pricey $ 22.50 each.

Weather has cleared -loving the sunshine! - so it's all good.