Amicolola Falls to Len Foote Hike Inn

It was an amazing hike today at Amicolola Falls.  Amanda and Pepper joined me this morning in checking out one of the starting points for the Appalachian Trail.  I know I probably won’t be able to do any serious multi-day hikes on the AT until next spring, but getting familiar with the area was very helpful for me today.  We started out fairly early and got to the entrance around 8:30 this morning and bypassed the rigorous hike of the staircase of the falls because… well… it’s a lot of stairs and we drove to the top of the falls to begin our hike.  From here we were able to see the beginning of the falls from the overlook section.  After taking a few shameless pics (I love taking pictures), we were on our way.  

All in, we hiked 4.74 miles and Pepper did great!  The path was well-marked, the trail was in good condition, and the conversation that Amanda and I had was fantastic.  We get so busy during the week running our business and with her new job that we don’t get a lot of quiet time away from the phones and distractions of day-to-day life.  

Hiking with your partner is different than a solo hike because, during a solo hike, you’ve got time with your thoughts whereas when hiking with your partner you get lots of good “trail talk” opportunities.  

After we were done with our hike, we stopped by the visitor’s center and I was able to talk to the park service woman who gave me some insight as to the AT and the various ways to get started.  Some of the things I’ve read about the AT talk about starting here OR starting at the Springer Mountain trailhead.  Now that I have hiked part of the approach trail, I will bypass this next time and start directly from Springer Mountain which is technically an alternative starting point of the AT.  

All in all, it was a fantastic hike for Amanda, Pepper, and me and I am grateful that she is joining me on some of these journeys.