New Batch of Lemonade, Post 25-20

While Utopia is in Charleston waiting for her instrumentation and air conditioner installation projects to be completed, I have snuck away on a couple of trips. The first was to attend a water resource conference in West Palm Beach, Florida. The second trip is a return to the Appalachian Trail.

Trail Horse Not Available to Hike

Jimmy needed to stay with Utopia for while the boat projects were taking place, so Lemonade will be doing this trip without her beloved Trail Horse. All our prior backpacking trips have been together, so this will be my first time ever backpacking solo.

Thankfully, last year’s hike provided me with some extra confidence for this trip. Much of my hiking during the day was spent alone. Jimmy would hang back with me for the first hour of the day then sprint on ahead at his desired pace and wait for me at a pre-agreed to lunch spot. If I was rested enough after eating my lunch, we would hike together for about an hour, otherwise he would start hiking while I rested some more at the lunch spot. Then we would meet up again at a designated spot to pitch our tent for the night.

During our hike last year, we met many women hiking alone. The Application Trail is a very safe spot for all hikers. In fact most people feel safer on the trail than in a town.

In addition, I believe that I take safety fairly seriously and have various means and methods to remain safe, have ways to communicate with Jimmy without cell service, and I hike slowly and carefully when the terrain is a bit technical (which is way too slow for Trail Horse).

With all of these, both Jimmy and I are comfortable with this solo hike. Admittedly we are still both a little nervous. But heck, that is also how we feel before each overnight passage on Utopia.

Trailhorse’s take: The safety question comes up a lot to the point where people are surprised that I am ok with Lemonade doing this trip solo.  I tell them, I understand their concerns but the fact we hiked 1700 miles on this trail last year and saw so many solo females on the trail, I can say I feel Lemonade is safer out on the trail than driving (and walking) through downtown Atlanta.  Also, Lemonade will invariably make friends and hiking chums on the trail.  Now back to Lemonade…

Gear Changes

Since Jimmy was not available to hike with me, or to support me with a traveling van which he really wished he could do this year, I had to rebuild my hiking kit. An overview of our gear from the 2024 hike is outlined in these blog posts:

1. The Big Three (tent, sleep system & packs)

2. Equipment for Food & Water

3. Basic Gear, Emergency & Medical Aids

4. Personal Items

5. Clothing

A lot of the gear was heavy, but since we shared a lot of equipment, it was tolerable. I wanted to get my base weight down to help make this trip a little easier for me. Major changes were made to the big three: shelter, sleep system, and pack reducing 4.6 pounds. Then additional changes were made with the smaller items and it appears that I have got my base weight down to around 17 pounds. Once fuel, food and water are added, I should still be below 30, although this is only a few pounds less than last year, it is a significant improvement considering that Jimmy had shared gear and he carried even more weight than me. Here is a link to my gear list for this hike:

2025 Solo Hike Gear List

I haven’t been able to do a shakedown of the new kit, but I did at least practice pitching the tent three times. We used as standalone tent last year, and this year I am using a tent held up by by trekking poles, which takes a little more skill to pitch. I found a grassy spot between a parking lot and the sawgrass marshes at the marina. Each time I put up the tent it was breezy, making it a little challenging. Perhaps this gives me a leg up if I have to put up the tent in poor conditions my first couple of nights.

New tent and backpack from Durston Gear

Georgia Section

Last year we hiked 1,673 miles of the Appalachian Trail, about 75% of it. We are missing 524 miles spread throughout Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, New Hampshire and Maine. This year I thought I’d tackle the 79-mile section in Georgia.

Lemonade Ready to Hike!

After a very short visit to Tallahassee for a doctor’s visit, we drove up to Georgia where Jimmy pretty much dropped me off at the bottom of a mountain and drove off after telling me to call him me when I’m ready to be picked up. And now here I am, somewhere in Georgia, hiking along the Appalachian Trail.

Approach to Springer Mountain

The butterflies really hit when we left Utopia a few days before the hike, wondering if I had everything needed. Once we were on our way to the park my thoughts bounced between excitement about the hike, sad that Jimmy was not going, happy to be back on the trail, nervous about the rain, excitement for doing the Georgia section, nervous and wondering if I have all that I need, and so on. 

Lemonade at the Arch in Amicalola SP

Once we left Tallahassee, we drove to a motel that took cats just outside of Amicalola State Park (start of the approach trail to the AT) so we could get up early the next day and hit the trail fairly early.

Once at the Visitor’s Center I signed the register and Jimmy took photos of me under the arch. Then it was time for Jimmy to return to the boat, so we said our goodbyes and I passed under the arch to begin my hike up the Approach Trail. 

The first mile of the trail includes 600 steps up staircases adjacent to Amicalola Falls which warmed me well. Since I was staying at the Len Foote Hike Inn https://hike-inn.com/

I eventually left the Approach Trail to hike to the Inn. Along the way it rained several times, sometimes pouring. At least there was very little thunder heard.  I got to the Hike Inn and checked into my bunk and laid out items to dry for the next day. 

The first day from the parking lot to the Hike inn was 6 miles and was a good start to the journey. There was a pack scale at the Hike Inn, and it appears that my wet pack with a full food supply, a liter of water weighed just a hair under 30 lbs. I am pleased with this.  The Hike inn provided a good dinner, and I turned in for the evening.

At the South Terminus of the AT

The great thing about the Hike inn is that they provide a dinner and a breakfast and will even pack you a lunch for the trail.  In the morning (Wednesday) I waited for a shower to stop, and I began my trek up to Springer (the actual start of the AT).  I met a hiker (Mary) that was staying at the Hike Inn, and we hiked up to Springer together.  This helped sooth any possible butterflies with my hike.   Reaching Springer was special after seeing so many photos over the years.  I ate lunch at Springer with Mary and proceeded alone since Mary was proceeding back down to the Hike Inn.   Next week will be the trek from Springer north.  Hopefully I will finish Georgia during my time on the trail. 

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Link to the rest of this hike is located in the "Related Posts" section below.