1 week down!

From now on, Colton will be referred to as Aquaman (the first night we had a discussion about professions..colton scuba dives so why not named him aquaman.)  and I will be referred to as Tricks. (I broke out my hula hoop one night and showed everyone what I can do :) )Things have been going so great! We have met so many amazing people on our journey so far! We have been hiking with a pretty large group, though some of them have broken away from us already.  Piper was our first hiker, Megan and Awesome Possum, Snackasaurus Rex, Sassafrass, Sex Panther, Jiffy Pop, That Guy, Hot Wheels, Honey Bunny, Duckie, Why Not, Froggie Pete, Crooked Sticks, and High Gear.  I'm sure I have missed a few! Colton already had to buy a new pair of shoes, his first pair blew out on him going up Rocky Mountain the other day! Tater, a former thru hiker gave us a ride into town. Luckily when we got into Hiawassee, a former thru hiker named Tick Tock gave us a ride to a wal mart so he could get a new pair!  Colton has only had a little knee pain and a tiny blister, so far I'm doing amazing...just a tad sore.  When we leave today, we should be crossing into North Carolina, so we get to cross one state off of our list! :) We have had a lot of trail magic so far, I hope we arent getting spoiled! On our climb down into Unicoi Gap, Solo, a former thru hiker, was waiting in the parking lot with beers, drinks, and snacks! Before we climbed Tray Mountain, the B Team was waiting at the road crossing with pancakes, sausage, fruit, and coffee! :) People out here are so nice. We have not seen any bears or deer yet, just a bird and a squirrel. Had a lot of amazing views with so many more to come! No rain yet, but i here that might end today..had to happen sometime!   Well, until next time! :) We love and miss you all!  If you want to send us a package,  Send to:

Colton and Ashley Akers
C/O Bluff Mountain Outfitters
PO Box 114
Hot Springs, NC  28743

Hold For AT Hiker
ETA April 31-May 2

Mail out at least a week before our ETA. We like candy, snacks, and easy dinners.  Anything that won't crush too bad in our packs! Ask our parents if you don't know what to send :)

Left to Right:  Sassafrass, Snackasaurus Rex, Honey Bunny, Duckie, Tricks, Aquaman, Hot Wheels

Top of Blood Mountain

View from Rocky Mountain

Gooch Mountain Shelter

Coltons repaired shoe

Approach Trail Stairs

We officially started our hike today. We only hiked the first 1.5 miles of the approach trail, but we did it with our families. The 1.5 mile hike is very decieving...604 steps! We did carry our fully loaded packs though. Tomorrow we will leave off where we finished today. Here's a few pics of what we experienced today.

Amicalola Falls are the highest east of the Mississippi River.

We will be heading out in the morning. Look forward to hearing from us soon. It could be up to a week and a half. Either way we'll be walking in the woods. See ya soon!

And we're off!!

We are sitting in the hotel room in Tennessee right now! We leave in the morning to drive to Georgia and start the trail on Monday! :) We will miss all of you very much.  Keep watching...the fun is only about the begin!    As Marc would say....Poof...we're gone :)

3 Weeks! / Mail Coorespondance

Well it's getting very close to the start of our hike. We leave 3 weeks from today to head down to Georgia! We're getting very excited and anxious, and a bit nervous. If you haven't signed up for email notifications, please do so. It will make things easier for you so you aren't always checking to see if we've made a post, it will just send you an email when we do. There's been a few people asking about sending care packages. We would love to be surprised by treats from home! Since we will rarely be in the same place two nights in a row, it does make it a little challenging. We will do our best to help you out though. Every once in a while when we are making a post, we will let everyone know where we will be in about 2 weeks. We will let you know a place to send those packages in that certain town. Here is how you should address any packages you wish to send:

Packages sent to a post office:
Colton and/or Ashley Akers
C/O General Delivery
Town/City, State  Zip Code
Please hold for AT hiker
ETA  MM/DD/YYYY

Packages sent to a business:
Colton and/or Ashley Akers
C/O Name of Business
Street Address
Town/City, State  Zip Code
Please hold for AT hiker
ETA  MM/DD/YYYY

Here are some guidelines to follow:
1) Use our real names and not our trail names
2)Including an ETA is important
3)Only send "general delivery" to a post office
4)Send little chocolate during the warmer months(we'll enjoy it before we hit the trail again though!)
5)Mail packages AT LEAST one week before the ETA we give you

Before you know it we will be walking in the woods! See ya on the trail!

Thru Hike Preperations

Hello!  We have been very busy with our preperations for the trail! We are almost ready to go, only 1 1/2 months left! We have picked a date..April 9, 2012. We will be starting the approach trail to Springer Mountain, Georgia, the official start of the Appalachian Trail. From there, we will walk northbound, all the way to Mount Katahdin, Maine. Be sure to keep up with our adventure by checking our blog! To make it easier, there is an option to submit your e-mail so when we make a post, you will be notified of that post. We hope our blog will help to keep you informed :) See you on the trail!