The Appalachian Trail: Day One - Fatso Meets Reality

In the morning, I made sure everything was packed as well as can be, made frequent use of the motel's breakfast. Not much there, cereal, donuts, bagels, coffee, orange juice, apple juice and milk. I drank liberal amounts of everything, not wanting to be dehydrated, waited until the last minute to check out, my water bag filled with tap water. I hefted the backpack and headed toward where the Trail headed north. I was filled with hope and confidence. The goal was to make it to the first shelter, approximately 6 miles ahead.
There was a sign in the road that warned of hikers, and a path leading up. The path paralleled I-81 for some time, but at first only led up.
I cannot accurately describe the feelings of a man who is 100 lbs overweight, climbing a steep path with a 30-35 lb backpack on. Each step was excruciating. I was gasping for air from the first step. After just a few steps I had to bend over to catch my breath. And when bending over wasn't enough, I literally fell on my side, gasping, my heart racing.
The amount I rested varied, but generally was about 15 minutes, for each 5 minutes or less of actual hiking. There were times I'd feel rested, try to get up, and fall back, my energy levels not enough to even attempt to get up. I'm quite certain I spent only 10% of my time hiking, the rest spent on my side, recovering.
An unfortunate turn occurred in the first hour. I went to my water bag, filled at the motel, and found it virtually empty. During one of my breaks I must have fallen on it, releasing the contents. Worse yet, I had no backup. My first mistake.
I then made my second mistake by not going back to where I started to pick up more water.  I had heard there were places on the way to the shelter to get water. So I pushed forward, finally hitting a long downhill section where I recall saying I was glad I wasn't going southbound. And though that was easier than going uphill, I still had to take breaks.
But even that soon ended and the path went up again, and did not go down for a long time. Finally, dead tired and thirsty, I broke into a highway area. I wasn't sure what highway it was, but there were steps leading down from the Trail to it. As I frantically looked for signs of a store where I could buy water, I was also looking for signs of where the Trail picked up again. I could see I-81 to the right, but I did not think the Trail would cross it that soon.
Well, as luck would have it (and sorry to be so graphic here), I felt my first bowel movement in the wild come on. This was still while I was on the road, and I felt it was in bad taste, not to mention not private at all, to go on the side of the road. So I was forced to backtrack up the path a ways, do my thing, clean it up and then work my way back to the point where I was before.
This time I went under the overpass, and was tempted to throw a sleeping bag there and spend the night. I saw a house nearby with a couple of men and approached them for directions, and to see if I could use their tap water.
I must have looked a sight to them, but there was no offer of tap water. One did offer me a bottle of warm water, which I did offer to pay for, but he refused. My first experience with Trail kindness. I returned the favor my collapsing on the edge of his property.
After I recovered, I followed his instructions on how to get back on the Trail, and just as the trees started to surround me, I crossed a bridge over a small brook and saw a clearing. It was technically still visible from the road, and it's a no-no to to camp within sight of the road, but I was exhausted, and it seemed like a good spot to me.
So I made camp. Let me tell you, putting up a 3-man tent when you're by yourself and exhausted is more than a chore.I spread the tent out and literally fell on it. I might have even taken a nap. Once I recovered from that I put up the tent poles, didn't bother to stake them down and plopped on the floor, exhausted once again. I felt like every little thing I did made me gasp for air and collapse, waiting for the energy to return. After a few minutes rest I dragged everything else into the tent and sealed it up.
It was still fairly early, around 4-5pm by this time. I had eaten some orange slices earlier, and now tried to eat some of the food I had brought. Nothing went down easy. I tried M&M's, sunflower seeds and Trail Mix, I could not swallow. In desperation I cracked open a package of tuna (stored in water) and managed to slowly eat a portion of that, taking in the water at the same time. But I could not figure out how a man who loves to eat as much I do could not force food down his throat now.
As far as the tent that night, it would have been nice to find one spot where sticks didn't dig into my spine, and where the ground was level enough to keep me steady while I tried to sleep. But such is nature. My one consolation was that it wasn't too cold, and the sleeping bag, though not made for someone of my girth, worked well enough that first night.
The high point of the night was when a light rain passed by, dripping softly against the tent. It didn't last long, but since part of the tent is open the the air, it did force me to move the sleeping bag to avoid getting wet. The tent, by the way, has a mesh on that side, and you can put an extra 'flycatcher' over the tent that seals up the hole. I, however, was far too tired to do that.
So ended the first day, my confidence and hope shattered a bit, but no gone completely, and after all, tomorrow was another day.