Hot Springs, NC - Erwin, TN (68 miles)

The trail has been a whole different animal in this heat.

Last 5 days have involved waking up early, hiking until around 1, taking a siesta at a shelter to beat the heat, and moving on from 4-7.

On the 25th Blink and I came to a road crossing in time for some "trail magic" from former thru-hikers Fal and Hercules. They invited all of us into their home and made belgian waffles, stew, and had a menu of deserts and drinks. Played frisbee in the yard, had a nice hammock nap and moved on back up the mountain. That night at the shelter the black flies were so bad Dustin Blessed and I decided to keep walking and made it to Big Butt (yes) Mountain - on the way we ran into an enormous bob cat. Caught a full rainbow that ended in the valley just next to us, a hot pink sunset, and settled in to sleep on the Big Butt (pftt).

The following day I managed to tear my heels open again and have been moving pretty slow ever since. As a result I had to park it that night after 23 miles on the side of a bald. My first night ever camping alone. Every sound was a crazed hill billy or tree falling on top of me. Needless to say I didn't get much sleep. Today I learned that some other hikers had even seen a black bear near that sight several hours before so I'm glad I hung my food up and got rid of all those salmon and berries I had been carting around.

Next morning I packed up as quick as I could and about to put my pack on when I got a killer NOSE BLEED. Middle school style. Great. So trudging up Big Bald Mt. limping on my heels with a tissue stuffed up my nose. Generally just lookin' real good.

Today we made it into Erwin, TN and immediated jumped in the river for "shower and laundry." The gang I've started traveling with is wonderful and I hope to get some pictures up today or next week...

The mountains are green and gorgeous, lots of purple lilies and dogwoods blooming everywhere. Though apparently we have at least 10 days of on and off rains to look forward to. I hope that my feel can hold out until new shoes in Damascus (120 miles).

Miss you all! Thanks for reading - Let me know how you're doing! xxoo

*Just tried and computer won't let me post pictures. I'll try from Kincora in a few days.

Where you'll find me now

Wednesday it is! Weather in Hot Springs, NC looks beautiful... 

Wait for it...

Somehow 1 -2 weeks has become almost 3 and I'm antsier than ever - even having finally accepted that I will NEVER be able to catch up with Mr. Green Tea, Pheonix, or any of the gang I was traveling with, this is frustrating...

Let me loose! Wednesday or Thursday have been slated for potential lift-off. 

Fontana Dam, NC - Hot Springs, NC (107 miles)

From the beginning we aimed to plow through Smoky Mt National Park - a gorgeous place, but infamous for crazy weather. The night before heading out we stayed at the "Hiker Hilton," a shelter built for 34 hikers with hot running water overlooking the lake and dam. We had a solid 17 mile day getting up onto the ridge and a fun clear night... and then it rained. 

Ankle-deep mud, constant rain and fog, cold winds on the ridge, rocky trail. Tough going for everyone. After experiencing a minor (but humorous) meltdown on an especially long uphill where the trail more closely resembled a stream, I made it to a shelter at 12 miles and decided to park it. The next day brought freezing rain and snow. We only made it 6 and stopped to hibernate - but many of the folks we had passed made it to the same shelter that night and we enjoyed being soaked, cramped, and exhausted together. 

Someone has pictures on Clingman's Dome - which could be nearly anywhere because all you could see is white fog. Charlie's bunion was thankfully clear and as beautiful as I remember it being from a trip along this same stretch of the AT 2 years ago. The second to last morning the trees were still completely coated in ice and I had to cover my head as it melted and fell in the early afternoon. Beautiful weather on the way out and down to Davenport Gap.

On Mr.Green Tea's birthday we decided to stop at a place just past the Smokies called Standing Bear Farm to buy some food and ended up staying due to beat up feet, familiar faces, and the promise of BBQ. Standing Bear looked essentially like a summer camp with bunk houses, fire pits, a stream and kitchen - so we got to shower, recover, and enjoy some BBQ and beer. 

The remaining days into Hot Springs were long 18-21 miles, but with reasonably pleasant weather. Passing over Max Patch (a cool bald in NC) we hit some of the craziest wind I have ever experienced - it was a blast, I couldn't walk straight and couldn't stop laughing.  

In Hot Springs I got a smoothie with Pheonix and MGT before having to say some sad goodbyes when friends from Asheville came to pick me up. The first leg of this journey has been incredible and I'll be counting the days until I'm back in Hot Springs headed NORTH. 

Smokies

WIND on Max Patch... so much for trying to camp there.

Friends on Max Patch.

Trail Names - Wampus Cat

With names like Spokes, Pheonix, Thin Mint, Ziggy Stardust, and Mr. Green Tea you might start to think I've only made imaginary friends so far. But along the trail most through-hikers adopt "trail names" that reference where they are from, a characteristic, or a story about them. 

I decided to "let one happen," and was officially dubbed Wampus Cat: 

In Franklin our neighbor at the motel asked if we were hiking and warned us, through a great deal of crew and a toothless grin, to watch out for "wampus cats." He went on to explain that a wampus cat is half cougar half wild cat. But while cougars and wild cats generally scare easily and leave you alone, the wampus cat is ruthless. Our Franklin friend knew this on account of having fought one that tried to steal a sausage he was cooking on a fire once...

The following day he grabbed my hand when I was passing by and tried to give me a small bag of what appeared to be drugs. But we stood corrected later when he came up to us again with the bag explaining it was merely full of green tea to sprinkle around our tents and burn in our fires at night to keep the wampus cats away (of COURSE!). As I was hiking with Mr. Green Tea at the time I became Wampus. 

Bonus!: Sounds kinda like caddywampus and I am generally considered to be a mess.