Get comfortable. No, seriously, go to the bathroom now, get a drink, and get comfortable. This will be a good, long read 🙂

I’m sitting in a coffee shop in Franklin, NC. I hadn’t planning on arriving here until this morning (4/8) but after hiking 16 miles yesterday while snowing, I thought I’d reward myself with an actual full day off and 2 nights in a normal bed…

Last Sunday (4/5) was the toughest day on the trail so far. I wasn’t ready for the heat. That morning I even made time to attend a nice, little country church and set off around 12:30pm on the trail. I had only planned on going 13 miles, not too far. I only made it 10. At about 9.9 I reached my first state line, the GA/NC border. What should have been a fun celebration was a mere landmark. There were people there celebrating, which lifted my spirits a bit, but I just didn’t feel good. It was hot, the bugs were out in full force, it was mostly uphill for those 10 miles, I was worried about the weather report, and I had bad Mexican food the night before. Not a good combination.

I enjoy staying at shelters as opposed to just campsites because shelters offer an outhouse and a table for cooking meals. Instead I had to pitch my tent at a campsite with neither. While there were 6 or 7 other tents around (you’re never lonely in the evenings), I was miserable.  I was worried I had some sort of stomach bug, or I just hadn’t had enought to eat or drink. I fetched water while being eaten alive by the bugs, cooked my dinner, spilled half of it on the ground, and got in my tent around 7pm in order to fall asleep as quickly as possible, forget about the day, and start new the following day. My mind was racing about how uncomfortable I was. I only had one goal when waking the following day: hike 3 miles to the next shelter and use the outhouse.

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Today was my first car ride in a week. Boy, are cars fast. At one point we were going 1 mile-per-minute!! (That’s 60mph if you don’t want to do the math.) I’ve been averaging 2-3 mph. My hiking gears are similar to the speed of trucks on a highway. Steep uphill = super slow. Easy uphill = decent pace. Level ground = normal to fast pace. Slight downhill = fast as possible without falling. Steep downhill = slooooow.

Tonight is my second hostel night, this time in ridiculously beautiful Hiawassee, GA.  It’s so rewarding to emerge from the woods after a quick 11 miles, have free lunch as trail magic, get to a great place like the Blueberry Patch hostel where they do your laundry, feed you breakfast as their ‘ministry’ (donations accepted), and get a warm shower. Hiking is rewarding in and of itself. But I’m learning half the joy comes from setting a goal for a town 3-4 days away and relaxing there.

Anyway, thanks again for your encouraging messages. I’m planning on taking a full day off in Franklin, NC, where I plan to catch up and respond to all of them! That is if I survive the rain/thunderstorms tomorrow and Monday, and the freezing cold and snow we’re expecting on Tuesday. Oh how ironic that just a few hours ago I was sunning in the backyard, skin slightly burned in the 75 degree April sun.

Too tired to type my Trail Report. My thumbs are about to give up. (Update typed on cellphone.)

See you in Franklin, NC. I’ll post some pictures on the site when I’m there. Goodnight!

Oh man. Talk about all forms of highs and lows during the first 3.5 days. This is day 4 and I had only planned to walk 4 miles to arrive where I am now, Mountain Crossings Outfitter at Neel’s Gap, GA. The rains came down HARD last night for the first time. On top of Blood Mountain it was so foggy that I didn’t know if it was raining or if I was walking through the clouds as the drops were being formed.

Here’s how the days have been:
Pass or get passed by a few people while walking from 10-12 miles a day. Then at the end of the day all the familiar faces arrive again at a shelter. We cook, we chat, we go to bed as soon as the sun goes down (some before). Then, when the sun comes up, eat breakfast, tear down your tent, walk another 10-12 miles, lunch on the go, arrive at the next shelter 4-5pm, and repeat.

My morale was pretty low yesterday evening. Around 3 it got cold and rainy. I had it in my mind that I wanted to go another 5 miles and get to Neel’s Gap, but thankfully I stopped at the first shelter I came to. Everyone else I’d seen for the past few days had the same idea and trickled in after me. That’s why this morning I was able to make great time with only 4 miles, get to Neel’s Gap, and rent a bunk for the night. There’s probably room for 16 of us in here, again, mostly common faces. When I arrived around 11:15am there was a church cooking hamburgers for hikers. My first instance of what’s called “trail magic.” I had 3!

It was great to take a shower, do laundry, and talk to the store owner about how to make my pack lighter. Starting tomorrow, sending a few things on up the trail and reevaluating whether or not I need them in 8-10 days.

I was very encouraged by your messages and notes on Facebook and the website. I’m sorry I don’t have time to respond to them all individually. Until then, thanks for being on this journey with me, invite your friends! I’ll leave you with what I’m going to call the Trail Report. It’ll have my miles, any notable site or achievement, weather, animals, mood, and pain.

Trail Report
3/29 – 11.6 miles, went from 1700 ft to 3782 ft by the end of the day, chilly all day, really cold on Springer Mountain, happy, excited, positive, pain in hips and knees, thankful, tired, ice formed on small part of my rainfly overnight

3/30 – 12.3 miles, cold start, warm finish, tired, worried about pain, salamander, squirrel, chipmunk, more pain in knee

3/31 – 12.3, cold to mild, rainy finish, happy and tired, chipmunk, worried about knee, rained all night

4/1 – 4 miles, easy and fast, happy to be at Neel’s Gap and the Mountain Crossing outfitter, lots of familiar faces, had my pack and its contents evaluated to reduce weight, excited about tomorrow.