03-30-13 Together in Franklin, North Carolina

Woke up early to hike just shy of 4 miles to Winding Stair Gap to make the shuttle into Franklin, North Carolina.

The hike along the ridge was beautiful in the morning, with the fog rolling off the mountains. I felt like I was on top of the world.

Caught the shuttle hosted by Ron Haven--boy, that guy is a character.

Checked into the Budget Inn. Stepped into our room, and stepped back a decade.

Our stay coincided with the April Fools Trail Days in the day, and Hiker Bash in the evening.

Had a chicken tender basket for lunch and some frozen foods for dinner--including ice cream. The snow plus mud combo of the trail has reminded me of cookies and cream for days, so I felt it time to satisfy my appetite.

03-29-13 Together on Albert Mountain

I was woken up in the middle of the night by a snout. Running around the campsite was an animal, and it had taken a liking to us. Sniffing around, it had stuck its nose under our rainfly. I woke B up; he told me to be quiet and still. We could hear the jingling of a tag, so our fears ceased. We would find out later that day that some hikers had lost their dog in that area the day before.

The sun greeted us early and we had a fun hike to Albert Mountain. On top of Albert Mountain is a fire tower, and to get to the fire tower you first have a gnarly climb. After climbing straight up, and then rock scrambling, we were welcomed with an amazing 360 degree view--our best view yet!

From the top of the tower we could see clouds rolling in. On the descent it starting misting, then sleeting. We made it to Rock Gap Shelter before the downpour.

.1 of a mile down the trail we were greeted by a man with beer. I would learn later that he had just lost his brother. Instead of sitting at home grieving he had packed up the contents of his fridge and headed to the trail for fellowship.

Also there (unrelated) was a church group cooking chili dogs and muffins. Thank you and God bless.

We opted to sleep in the shelter so we wouldn't have to breakdown a wet tent. That was entertaining--in the middle of the night one of the hikers starting snoring. Not only was he "sawing logs" but I think he was sawing puppies. And aliens. He might have been dying at one point. It was so ridiculously loud and inhuman sounding that B and I started laughing. He did keep the bears away though.

03-28-13 Can the snow go somewhere else?

Another day started in sub-par temps. The snow beneath our tent had not melted and the water in our water bottles froze (which we purposefully kept in the tent). Even our shoes and shoelaces froze! On the plus side, the cold makes us get out of camp quickly though, and we were out of there in record time--one hour after wake up--sounds slow, but try packing all your belongings, dressing, and taking your house down in that time.

Initially, the trail was not kind. The soupy parts of the trail had re-frozen and the snow was packed solid. We did a lot of slipping and sliding on all the primarily north facing slopes. Made it over Standing Indian Mountain (elev 5,498) in time for lunch.

By the time we hit the Carter Gap Shelter, we logged our biggest mileage day, 12.5 mi. The tent site was deluxe in comparison to the previous day, and some fellow hikers got a campfire started.

03-27-13 Leaving Georgia Together

Today we said good-bye to Georgia and crossed into North Carolina. We finished our stay at the Blueberry Patch Hostel with a breakfast feast complete with fresh biscuits, juice, and blueberry syrup. The hostel is run as a Christian ministry funded entirely from donations. Hiawassee is a cool town and if you visit, stop by the Blueberry Patch.

The hike out was rough with our bellies full and the food bags overrun. To make matters worse, the trudge from town is almost always uphill. We were in good spirits though--today was the first day we've seen the sun in five days.

Our goal of the day was crossing into a new state. The trail was snowy and we were afraid that we might miss the sign. Fortunately a fellow hiker was sitting by the sign as we approached. We had envisioned tobacco fields and sad basketball fans (UNC fans). What we got was more of the same GA trails plus added elevation and even more snow.

03-26-13 Together at the Blueberry Patch

Survived the night, but was ready for a hot meal and shower.

The alarm went off at 6:30am. I was the first in the shelter to start moving. I found my change of socks in the dark. I tried to be as quiet as possible, but every time I would move I would hear someone else stir.

Now my sleeping bag was packed up--and I was cold-- being quiet was no longer my priority. I stepped over a girl. B started handing my items to set outside.

Finally loaded and on our way, we trudged along the snow covered trail. The first ones out, we were blazing through the snow drifts. A true winter wonderland. Only 3.6 miles away from a shuttle to take us to warmth.

Slip. Slide. Plop. I fell to my knees. A sloppy mess in the snow to show other hikers that someone wiped out here.

The noise of a car driving by. The glimpse of the road. We've made it to Dicks Creek Gap. An angel shuttles us to the Blueberry Patch Hostel operated by Gary and Lennie.

Safe in the warmth of the hostile, we shower and have our clothes laundered. Gary takes us in to town.

One basket of chips. A second. A third. We enjoy our Mexican lunch. Then we resupply at Dollar General and Ingles. Overall a relaxing day before we hit the trail again tomorrow.

03-25-13 Together in the snow

Overnight, the rain turned to snow. Breaking down the tent added new challenges--the collapsible poles had froze together.

Once on the trail it proved to be cold and windy. The uphill warmed us up, but the conditions never got better.

At one point I said "this isn't fun anymore" and pushed forward toward Deep Gap Shelter.

We got there early afternoon, but the ideal spots in the shelter were taken already. I broke down a little--cold, hungry, with strangers and no privacy. Brandon reassured me we would be warmer here than in our tent.

Everyone nested up in their sleeping bags and ate dinner. We had warm soup, tortillas, cheese and peanut butter. The strangers turned out to be really funny, and for the current conditions, I had fun.

We joked about how we were like old people--in bed and fed by 4:30, complaining about aches and pains, concerned about the weather.

It was a coooold night. I had every piece of clothing on me. Eager for morning to come.

03-24-13 Together in the rain

It rained overnight, so we had the job of breaking down a wet tent. Fortunately, we didn't do such a bad job.

All day it was rainy, foggy and muddy. We stopped for lunch at the Blue Mountain Shelter--and we also hit the 50 mile mark!

Keith, a trail angel, was waiting at Unicoi Gap with soda and water. It was a nice break. We continued up Rocky Mountain--unfortunately, no view--thanks a lot fog. We found a pretty spring and refilled our water bottles.

Took a "snack-thirty"--snickers with peanut butter--yum, my new favorite. B really likes snickers with almonds.

We set up camp at Indian Grave Gap. Our first time to camp alone.