Appalachian Trail to Nuclear Lake

Throughout college I dreamed of hiking the Appalachian Trail. I often thought that the ideal honeymoon would consist of spending a summer hiking the AT from Georgia to Maine. But, until today, I had not even hiked one foot of the AT. The AT is actually very close to home. Today I discovered that I only have to drive about thirty minutes to reach an AT trailhead.

My first trek on the AT (with Nate, Luke and Tsheko) was quite favorable. After parking at a small trailhead and walking into the woods I felt as though I quickly left typical civilization behind. The woods were remote. After hiking for a couple miles on the AT we reached our destination: Nuclear Lake. It seemed to be a very quiet and pleasant place despite its name that relates the history of the former nearby plutonium plant. I was very excited that we came across some "real ATers" on our return trip. They were setting up camp and said that they were loving the hike three days into their journey. I definitely left inspired to hike more of the AT. But maybe not for a honeymoon.