Hike The Approach Trail....
My buddy and I hiked the approach trail back in mid September.. We were doing a short hike up to Neals Gap to shake down some:sun new gear and had left our car at the Visitor Center at Amicalola. We had thought about bypassing the approach trail, but decided that if we were worried about hiking that easy 8 miles, then we didn't need to be out there at all.
It certainly wasn't any harder than any of the other parts of the trail we walked on and it poured rain on us from the minute we stepped under the arch at Amicalola until we got to Black Gap Shelter. We spent the next three days enjoying really nice hiking weather.
Just think, if we hadn't taken the approach trail, we'd have missed all that fun of walking in the cold rain that first day. I say take the approach trail...it's just an afternoon stroll through the woods and gets you pumped up for a great start on Springer!