The Start

Ward departed from the southern terminus of the AT on February 3, 2011 at 10:06 am.  Beth and I traveled to Georgia with him the day before his departure, spending the night at the Amicalola Lodge.  The lodge was almost empty, as it is currently off-season, but it worked out very well for us. 

There are three primary access points to the trail.  We checked in at the registration desk, and found that Ward is the 11th hiker to register at Amicalola this year - some register elsewhere or not at all.  After that we drove 20-25 minutes to a Forest Service access road.  The access road crosses the AT after 6.5 miles, where there is also a parking area.  We then hiked 0.9 miles to the end of the trail, where we took lots of pictures.  The scenery is beautiful, and I'm sure just a precursor to many more wonderful views that Ward will have an opportunity to enjoy along the way. 

As we began our descent, backtracking to our parked car, we ran across another hiker who was beginning his AT trek.  What a relief for us and for the other hiker (Matt)!   I took pictures of Matt using his camera, and then hiked down the trail with him.  He seems like a very nice person and a good companion for Ward.  Matt is from Philadelphia and recently left active duty from the Air Force.  He will be in the reserves until next fall, at which time he will begin a different active duty position.  Another added benefit - Matt attended Le Cordon Blue culinary school when he was younger (he is now age 30), so he may be able to teach Ward a few things about food (or, at least food hygiene) during the trip.  Before we left, Matt asked that I call his mother to let her know of his safe departure.  His mom was as pleased to make contact with us as we were of her, and very much appreciated the call.  We agreed to keep one another posted as necessary.  A good sign!

It was very tough saying good-bye to Ward.  We're very proud of him for setting personal goals and for pursuing dreams at the young age of 20, but we will remain nervous and concerned parents throughout his journey.  The good news is that Ward is a good planner who does not take unnecessary risks.  He also carries a Spot 2 GPS device that beams his coordinates and allows him to send "OK" messages to us (or an "SOS" to a call center).  We were relieved and comforted to receive our first OK message from him at 1:53 pm on the day of his departure, indicating his arrival at his first shelter destination.  We're also glad to hear he has shelter, as rain was expected that night.

End