We set out of Hiawassee Tuesday morning. Austin (a guy we met at church) took us out to eat and then dropped us off at the trail. It was pouring rain. We walked 4 miles to the first shelter and stopped for lunch. I had pretty much already decided that I wasn’t going to hike any more that day, because it was miserable. During lunch we met Pongo, he carry’s his uke with him and he pulled it out to play some! It was so so good to hear music!! It’s probably one of the things I miss most being on the trail. Listening to music on your phone is not at all the same as hearing live music or making music yourself! Anyway, he ended up neroing with us and joining our tramily. We knew he would fit right in after he commented “don’t tell me that if you had a samari sword and a cows to chase, you wouldn’t slaughter them and make pork chops!” 😂
The next day (Day 11) I officially crossed the state border from Georgia into North Carolina!! One state down!!
Day 12 we crossed another milestone as we hit 100 miles! They didn’t make the last mile easy though, as it just went straight up a mountain! It was pretty much rock climbing/scrambling to the top. Oh yah, and it was raining! It was hard, but still a lot of fun!!!
Day 14 I received my trail name! My tramily was telling this guy how I dance when I eat. The guys started telling this story of how Silverbacks hum or make up songs when they eat..something like that. So Silverback it is!:) And it’s very true...I get really excited about food!!
Day 16 we neroed into the NOC. We were just going to print our permits for the Smokey Mountains, get some things, and head out. Once there, we decided to go white water rafting in inflatable kayaks! It was a ton of fun!! It felt good to be in the water, using different muscles, and it was really relaxing! We spent most of the day there and then just hiked out far enough to set up camp.
Uncle Rumple, Charzard, Pongo, me, and Hound Dog
Uncle Rumple and Charzard
Uncle Rumple, Hound Dog, Buff-light year, Charzard, Hunter, me, and Pongo
Day 17 turned out to be my biggest day at that point. We had planned to do around 15-16 miles, however I was still feeling really good (even after a lot of steep climbs), so I ended up going another 6 miles to the next shelter, making it a 22 mile day!! It felt really good! Plus then I just had to do 5 1/2 miles to get into Fontana Dam the next day, where I was doing my restock.
“It looks like it’s just a little bit of a lot of miles uphill and then there’s some downhill.” - Hound Dog
Day 19 we hiked into the Smokies!! It was a lot of uphill and it was really hotl
Day 21 we reached Clingman’s Dome!! That was really cool, because it was on a vacation there 5 years ago that I met a couple section hikers who told me about thru hiking the AT. I had never heard of it before and it was where my dream was born!! Then right after Clingman’s, we passed the 200 mile mark!! We then hiked to New Found Gap where we hitched a ride into Pigeon Forge. I spent the night with 8 others in a cabin there which was so nice! A couple of us walked around that evening got some frozen yogurt, watched a bit of an Elvis Imitator, and played a game of laser tag!!:). We neroed out the next day.
Lunch with an amazing view!!:)
Day 24 was a MASSIVE day!!! Nameless and I had planned to do a 20 mile day. However by 12:45, we had already knocked out 15 miles. While eating lunch we were talking (and running high on endorphins) and decided why not try for 17 more miles?!?! So....that’s what we did! We hiked a 32 mile day and made it to Max Patch Bald!!! We hiked part of the day with an ex-military guy who is trying to do it in 90 days. He told us that we were two of the strongest hikers he’s met! AND he said we would make great soldiers!! Those were the best two compliments we received and it pretty much boosted our egos quite a bit....😬😁 lol
Day 25 (yesterday) we ended up doing a 20 mile day so that we could get into Hot Springs! A burger was the biggest motivating factor for the last 10-13 miles... The burger and fries was scrumptious by the way:) We also ended up getting put up for the night by a trail angel! So we didnt have to camp. It was AMAZING!! I got to shower with Shampoo AND CONDITIONER!! And slept in an air conditioned place!! Oh the little things in life....how treasured they become.....:)
Overall, it is going really well!! Everyday I can't believe that I am able to have such an amazing opportunity to be doing this for 6 months!!
Overall, it is going really well!! Everyday I can't believe that I am able to have such an amazing opportunity to be doing this for 6 months!!
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