Our day started with a buffet breakfast at Unicoi lodge before we hit the road to our end point. There we met up with Ron (Ribeye) the shuttle driver. Good guy with a lot of knowledge of area. Took an hour on forest service roads to get to Springer. We did our negative mile to the summit Took some pictures at the top, signed the trail register and off we went. Temperature at start was 32 but we warmed up as soon as we started moving. Not as many people out as last year but still a good flow of both section and thru hikers. More thru hikers than section. Met a few thru hikers. Aaron, Buck, and Momma Squirel. Buck reminded Tater Tot and I of Crunchy. Even looked like him. He’s a cpl campspots down from us so may see them some more. Today was tough. Did 8.8 miles and hit our goal of Hawk Mountain. Liv did great. She was speeding up the trail ahead of Tater and I. Tater on the other hand struggled quite a bit. Feet are hurting but she made it. It’s 6:41 right now and girls are both in bed calling it a night. Supposed to be cold overnight so hope we fare well. We’re all in one tent so body warmth will help. The plan is to only 5 miles tomorrow then 5 on tues and 3 on Wednesday back to the car. Big climb tomorrow up Sassafras! Overall good first day.