https://tinyurl.com/MyFDresults
A vigorous five-mile walk will do more good for an unhappy but otherwise healthy adult than all the medicine and psychology in the world. ~Paul Dudley White
If you decide not to do the approach trail, do go back to the falls sometime when you can really enjoy them, they are magnificent.
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The nice ranger lady told me the A.T. begins at the arch in front of the visitors center, So I'm pretty sure that makes it official. Who am I to question the ranger there in charge?
the ranger obviously doesn't know much about the AT
By the same logic, most shelters and campsites aren't either. Ie. most of them are on blue blazes and none of them need to be visited in order earn 2000-miler status. Even a purist will end up walking many dozens of miles of blue blazes, bushwhacks and road walks. It's inevitable.
Always gets the natives riled up, chatting about it. It's just not a big deal either way. HYOH and all that.
If you don't start from Mt. Oglethorpe, then you're not really doing the whole trail.
Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.
Make the choice that you will regret the least. If you're gonna count every mile then the trail becomes more of a chore than an experience, most people won't care about the certificate that you get when you finish, its about the memories you're gonna take with you. By choosing to skip it you you're opting out of potential memory. my two cents.
Sorry for dredging this thread up, but I had something to say.
The Appalachian Trail starts on Springer, not at Amicalola Falls Park. Pretty simple.
I'm thru hiking now (currently enjoying a zero). After day 1, nobody has ever asked if you've hiked the approach trail or not. There seems to be this idea that you have to hike it to be legit. Nobody cares on the trail as there's other things to worry about like avoiding Norovirus and hitching into town. However, if you genuinely want to see the falls and experience the build-up to Springer Mountain, then have a blast doing it.