Well, maybe not physically. My first day has been a long one. No surprise there.
On 3 hours sleep I woke up at 7:30 and got some breakfast in town. We didn't actually make it to the trailhead until around 1pm. Thank you AT Conservancy book for being vague and seemingly wrong; but after a butt-numbing ride and incorrect directions from all the locals, we arrived.
We hiked to the top of Springer Mountain and back to the advanced section of the trail that we parked at and had a quick lunch.
The trail is already doing a good job of kicking my ass, but at least we made 7 miles of progress on day 1 (8 if you include the backtracking).
Along the way we made a friend, Re, and his dog. They both hiked with us, and decided to make camp at the same spot.
After foregoing cooking, because I was just too trail-weary, I ate a small dinner, hung my bear bag, and set up my tent where I now reside.
Hopefully tomorrow will find me more rested (about to PTFO), and not as sore as I fear.
Also I had no signal the entire trail.. until we made camp. So here's counting on more lucky breaks like that.
Now that the sun has set I'm going to enjoy my first night of exhausted sleep. Until next time.