Hiking the Good Hike

Day 9
Standing Indian Shelter to Long Branch Shelter - 16.2 miles

Today was a much better day than yesterday. Yesterday I was bummed about the rain and also that we only hiked five miles. We made up for it today. The weather was perfect and the hiking was great. The first several miles were easy walking. We stopped at Carter Gap Shelter(s) (apparently there are two, we only saw one) for lunch and then kept moving. We had some sweet views today including a fire tower on Albert Mountain. Just before Albert Mountain we crossed the 100 mile mark.

We ended our day at Long Branch Shelter which is very new. We tented at one of only two tent sites. There are a few familiar faces in the shelter tonight including Rooster, Chickadee, TrailMovin, all who we have spent several nights with and Tom and Jack from Colorado who we recently met. We had some fun hanging out at the shelter before bed but were ready for bed as the darkness approached. They (hikers) call it "hiker midnight" when it gets dark because that's when we all go to bed. We plan to wake up early and hit Franklin, NC in the morning.


Day 10
Long Branch Shelter to Winding Stair Gap- 7.3 miles

We woke up at 7:00 to get an early start and catch the 11:00 shuttle into town. Nearly everyone in the shelter was up shortly thereafter. It seemed everyone was ready to go to town. We were on the trail by 8:00 but had to move quick to cover over 7 miles in just 3 hours. We never looked back and made it to Winding Stair Gap at 10:20. The thought of having pizza for lunch really had us moving.

When we arrived at the gap we were greeted by some former thru hikers offering beer as trail magic. We talked with them as we waited for our shuttle which arrived closer to 11:30. Our shuttle was provided by the owner of the hotel in which we would stay. He told us all about Franklin and what restaurants/businesses we should visit. He drove us to the hotel where we would spend our night in Franklin. Not the nicest place but nice to have a warm bed and shower. For lunch we ate at Corbin's Country Buffet, great food and very hiker friendly. After lunch we wandered into an really nice outfitter to replace a spork and Cassandra got a 45 minute foot analysis at the mention of having blisters on her toes. We chose to resupply at Dollar General rather than taking the shuttle to a real grocer. After the resupply we went to Vitto's Pizza for dinner with Rooster and Chickadee. Great pizza at reasonable prices and they even drove us to and from the restaurant at no cost. The rest of evening we just relaxed and made some phone calls to catch up with our parents.


Day 11 Winding Stair Gap to Wayah Bald Shelter - 11 miles

We chose to take the 11:00 shuttle back to the trail. There were about 20 hikers on the bus and no faces I recognized. It was overwhelming. We did meet Robbie who had seen our blog and had actually lived in Portsmouth temporarily. Our shuttle driver drove us to the trail head once again telling us where we should resupply and stay in the days to come.

The bus stopped and the hikers dispersed making their way up the mountain. Cassandra, Rooster, and I were the last on the trail and Chickadee stayed behind to meet with her dad who would hike with her a few days. We passed many hikers as we made out way up the trail. Several miles into the day's hike we encountered tail magic. A section hiker known as Fresh Ground was set up serving soup, salad, hot dogs, hot chocolate, and coffee. Such a great surprise. I don't really understand why people spend their time and money to help us so much but it's awesome.

After hanging with Fresh Ground for a while we continued to Wayah Bald. Wayah Bald is the location of the photo (taken last year) at top of our blog. We spent quite some time gazing at the mountains we had crossed and the ones we would soon be crossing. We stated to get cold from sitting too long so we moved on the Wayah Bald Shelter where we would camp.

It was a fun evening at the shelter. Someone had started a fire an we spent some time hanging out around the fire getting to know both old and new trail friends. As the temperature dropped everyone slowly began making their way to the tents/shelters. It was really a great day but most have been so far.



Thanks for reading,
Chris

Life on the trail is fairly simple. Food, water, shelter, and safety become your top priorities. You no longer live by the clock, but rather, the sun. After so many years of working night shift, rising with the sun has been a challenge and a pleasure. It feels natural to rise with the sun and likewise to go to bed with its setting. Fun fact:  hiker midnight is 8 pm, or whenever the sun happens to go down--that's practically when my 12 hour shift was just beginning.

Going to bed early is awesome except that my body doesn't know how to handle that much sleep; after a couple of hours I just wake up hoping for the sun to rise. It's nice, though, not having to worry about an alarm clock or a deadline. My life now revolves around hiking, eating, sleeping, and the weather. And of course, if it gets dark, I have a headlamp.

Now I know that trail life does not appeal to everyone. To some, I'm reverting back to cave-man days--not electricity, no sink, no civilized bathroom, no TV, limited to nonexistent cell phone reception/internet service i.e. no Facebook, no Pinterest. So basically, I'm being voluntarily forcerd/given the chance to live life with fewer distractions. I actually have time to think, to grow closer to God, to talk to my husband, and to notice the first flowers of spring, just to name a few. I can actually smile and say hi and ask every person I meet how their day is going because I'm not driving past them at 65 mph. It is truly a wonderful feeling; I feel as if I am finally living rather than just existing. In Chris' words, when you first wake up, crawl out of your nice, cozy sleeping bag, and step into the cold, morning air, "it's refreshing; it makes you feel alive".

Cassandra

"Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated."
Confucius

Have I mentioned how much fun thru hiking is? This trip has now surpassed all of our previous trips in both days and mileage. For those not familiar with AT culture I apologize if I've used unknown terms. In future posts I will try to define trail jargon as I go. On that note, the unusual names mentioned in our posts are trail names. Trail names are basically nick names for hikers and are a long standing trail tradition. Cassandra and I are yet to acquire trail names. Continue reading below for updates on days six, seven, and eight.

Day 6
Cheese factory site to Dicks Creek Gap - 13 miles

It was another beautiful morning. We decided to try to make it to Dicks Creek Gap hoping to stay at the famous Blueberry Patch. The Blueberry Patch is a small hostel outside of Hiawassee, GA run by a former thru hiker and his wife, but more on that later. Just after leaving camp we were surprised to find trail magic (a good deed given to a hiker usually in the form of food or drink) again. A local Boy Scout troop had set up and were cooking breakfast. We had pancakes, sausage, and the best eggs I've ever eaten. What a pleasant surprise! We were finally on the move at 9:15.

Our hike was basically uneventful otherwise. We hiked pretty hard with Roosta and Molly to get to the hostel before it filled. We really need to take an easier day soon. The Blueberry Patch is awesome. The owners are so nice and very helpful. Upon arrival they offer cold drinks, showers, and offer to do your laundry. I can't beleive how welcoming and hospitable they are. Gary, the owner, is a former thru hiker and they opened this hostel as a Christian ministry following his hike. The service these people provide to hikers is amazing. It felt great to be clean and have clean clothes.

After getting settled in, a handful of us hikers went into town for dinner and a resupply. We are at a local buffet, the food wasn't great, but it was nice to have some real food for a change. After resupplying we returned to the hostel where we sorted and repackaged our food for the next four days. I had good enough cell phone reception to talk to my sister for a few minutes, it was nice to talk to family. Tomorrow we'll have breakfast here before getting back on the trail. Gary has invited all who are staying to go to church in the morning. We kind of lost track of the days but that sounds nice and we'll likely take them up on that.

Day 7
Dicks Creek Gap to Muskrat Creek Shelter - 11.8 miles

We slept great last night. A warm bed is nice. Waking up was difficult, I'll blame in on the time change. Not long after waking up the breakfast bell rang and we went inside to a cozy little dining room with a table for ten. Gary and Lennie began passing around the food they had prepared. Homemade biscuits, hashbrowns, sausage, eggs, and pancakes. We had blueberry syrup for the pancakes that was so good I can still taste it. We had orange juice and real coffee and we all sat and ate like a big family though we only have known each other for a week. It was really a great time. I will always have fond memories of that meal and our stay at the Blueberry Patch. Any potential thru hikers out there should definitely put that on your must do list.

After breakfast Gary shuttled some of the hikers back to the trail while some of us stayed to go to church. It was really nice to have the opportunity to attend church, I didn't think we would for quite a while. Everyone at church was very nice and welcoming, it seems they're used to having hikers visit.

Following church, Gary shuttled us back to the trail. It was after 1:00 before we got on the trail. We hiked with Chickadee most of the afternoon but she chose to hike ahead as she had planned to cover a few more miles than us. We crossed into North Carolina; it was nice entering our second of fourteen states. We got to Bly Gap where we had planned to camp but it was very windy and the tenting options were subpar. We chose to move on the Muskrat Creek Shelter hoping for better wind cover. We arrived at the shelter to find there were many hikers already there and many we knew including Roosta, Chickadee, Blue Moon, and Trail Movin. Not much in the way of tent sites but we made due. We prepared for rain as it was forecasted with certainty.

Day 8
Muskrat Creek Shelter to Standing Indian Shelter - 5 miles

I was told by a two time thru hiker there would be no more than ten days like this on the trail. This makes three. Today started and ended with cold rain and strong wind. The good news was we slept until after 8, we needed a good sleep. The rain began sometime during the night, we stayed warm and dry. We knew the rain was forecasted to last all day and we were unsure what conditions would be on Standing Indian Mountain so we chose to only hike to the next shelter 5 miles away. Lame, but better than a zero I guess.

The hiking wasn't very difficult. We arrived at the next shelter in just over two hours. When we arrived, Roosta and Chickadee were already bundled up in the shelter along with some spring breakers and two German brothers. The spring breakers and the brothers chose not stay but the shelter filled to capacity quickly. I'm not really very fond of the full shelter, I hope this is our last night in one for a while. I suppose it's better than pitching our already wet tent in the pouring rain. It was really boring just sitting in an overcrowded shelter watching the rain, but the weather the last few days had been amazing so we had it coming. I just was kind of bummed to only hike five miles and shelters are not the best place to spend a day.

Tomorrow is forecasted to be nice. We're hoping to make up some miles and be able to maybe get into Franklin, NC the following day. Maybe 16-18 miles tomorrow.

The weather sucked today but this is still an amazing experience. I hope for better weather in days to come but we'll make due with what we are given. We are blessed to be here regardless of what the weather is.


Thanks for reading,
Chris

Well, life is good. As Chris has said, we've been busy hiking, eating, and sleeping; plus internet reception hasn't been the greatest, so thank you again for being patient. I'll let Chris keep you up to date on the specifics of the trail from day to day but figured I could chime in with some more generalized details.

Overall, I have no regrets and no real complaints. I mean, I could complain about our bad weather days. For example, on day 3 we did 14.5 miles up and over Blood Mountain in below zero temperatures, if you include wind chill, which was 60 mph. For me, that was my worst day thus far. 1. I hate being cold 2. I hate being too cold to eat-I love, and need, my food and 3. I'm not the fastest uphill/mountain climber; I'm more of a downhill, flat, ridge walker...if only that existed on the AT.

All kidding aside, we really are having an adventure of a life time. We've met so many strangers that have quickly become friends, we've encountered several acts of kindness exhibited through trail magic, and we've been blessed with life, health, and beautiful surroundings each and every day. God is so good and He amazes me more and more each day. Thank you so much for reading and being a part of our story-stay tuned!

Cassandra

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." Henry David Thoreau

Sorry we're so behind. Thru-hiking is busy, we haven't had much free time lately. We basically walk, eat, and sleep. It's great though. We're still having so much fun. The weather has been nice for the most part (except for one day
as you'll soon read), the people are amazing, and the scenery is beautiful. Here's an update on days three through five:

Day 3
Gooch Gap to Neel Gap - 14.5 miles

We didn't sleep well again. The wind blew like crazy all night. The tent held up well but it is a bit drafty with heavy winds. We woke up to about an inch of snow and temperatures in the low twenties. We packed up camp and went back to the fire to warm up before taking off. We had plans to hike fourteenish miles over Blood Mountain to Neel Gap. After collecting some water and fighting our quickly freezing drinking tubes we were on our way. It was extremely windy and very cold, but the snow was beautiful. When we arrived at Woody Gap, it appeared the weather was worsening. Irish and Monkey chose to catch a ride to Neel Gap with plans to slackpack that stretch the following day. (Slackpack is a term meaning you hike with food and water for that day while the rest of your gear is held at or driven to you destination.) They invited us to join them but we chose to move on and Monkey said she would try to secure us a spot at the Neel Gap hostel
for the night. We hiked the remaining 10 miles without even stopping for lunch because we wanted to be off of Blood Mountain before dark and we got cold quickly when not moving. It was a tough hike, the temps were only in the twenties all day and we've been told the wind gusts were sixty mph.

When we got to Neel Gap they immediately directed us toward a cabin. Irish Charm and Monkey had secured a four person cabin for the same price as the hostel stay. Awesome. More space, our own bathroom, and a warm bed. We went back to the hostel for a baked spaghetti dinner provided by a church group. We met more thrus and hung out. We plan to hang out here until lunch time and resupply at the gear store before getting back on the trail.

Day 4
Neels Gap to Low Gap Shelter - 11.2 miles

Sleeping in a bed in a warm cabin was really nice. We decided since we had a long difficult day yesterday we would sleep in and stay until check out at 11. Monkey and Irish were up early to catch their ride back to Woody Gap for their slackpack. They were planning to try and hike to Whitley Gap shelter where we also planned to stay. We left the cabin at around 11 and headed for the store for our resupply.

We finally got on the trail again at noon. We took our time checking out the views and taking some photos, we were in no hurry because we only were hiking 6.4 miles. We arrived at Whitley Gap where we found the sign indicating we would have to hike 1.2 miles further to stay at that shelter. Because we didn't want to hike that far out of our way we decided to move on the the next shelter 4.8 miles away. It was already 3:30, we would have to make good time to get there before dark. Cassandra led us there in less than two hours. Many of the hikers we had seen at the Neel Gap hostel are here. The shelter is full and many are tenting. We set up, ate, hung our food, and socialized a bit. It's cool tonight, but not bad. We now worry when we will see Monkey and Irish again as they are at least a day behind us. We have really enjoyed hanging with them these last few days. They are extremely knowledgable about the trail and have been a tremendous help. We're not sure how far to go tomorrow. We'll see how we feel. Today ended up being longer than planned.

Day 5
Low Gap shelter to "cheese factory site" - 13.4 miles

Last night we had the best sleep so far. We were up, packed, breakfasted, socialized and on the trail by 8:20. The first part of today was fairly easy. We made it to Blue Mountain Shelter for lunch in about 3 hours.

We stopped for a short rest at Unicoi with Rooster and Molly and then hit the trail again to try and make it to camp before dark. We hiked at a good pace and had some great views. Made it to "cheese factory site" at about 4, our earliest stop yet. Rooster and Molly were planning to press on but chose to camp with us after seeing our nice site in the rhododendrons. We ate and talked with them a bit before bed. We schemed for tomorrow. We can't decide whether to go 13 miles and catch a ride to Hiawassee or shorter and have a nero (near zero miles) the next day. We'll see what happens.


Thanks for reading,

Chris

     We're having a blast so far. Just wanted to give a quick update about our last couple of days. Thanks to all for the well wishes, words of encouragement, and prayers.

Day 1
Springer Mountain to Hawk Mountain Shelter - 8.1 miles

     Last night we stayed at Amicalola lodge with Mom and Dad. Woke up around 7 and took long hot showers before hitting the trail. Mom and Dad drove us to Big Stamp Gap where we would back track to Springer. Mom and Dad chose to hike the .9 miles up to Springer with us. Once on Springer Mountain, we met several thru hikers including Monkey and Irish Charm who are here for their third consecutive thru hike. We also met a few section hikers on spring break.
     After saying our goodbyes we were finally off at about noon. All of the nervousness was all of the sudden gone and I felt great. After about an hour we met back up with Monkey and Irish (and Bella the dog) and hiked with them most of the day. A couple of day hikers pointed us in the direction on a nice waterfall. Later in the afternoon we took off on our own.
We arrived at the shelter at about 4:30. There were already about 20 hikers here. We set up camp, ate, socialized for a while and by 6:30 we were in our tent. I believe rain is forecasted for tomorrow and/or tonight. I hope we stay relatively dry. Today was awesome, I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.

Day 2 Hawk Mountain Shelter to Gooch Gap - 9.1 miles

     Today was rainy from the start. We didn't sleep well, but we never do our first night out. It rained on and off all day starting just before we got out of bed. We took our time leaving camp, we were the second to last ones out leaving at 9:00. We hiked by ourselves the first 2 hours passing a few hikers and eventually met up with Monkey and Irish. We ate lunch with several thrus.
We we unsure how far to go today. Our original plan had us stopping here after only 9.1 but we wanted to hike further. As we sat trying to decide whether to continue on for what would be either 4 or 6 miles possibly getting there at dark our decision was made for us when it began pouring rain. We quickly set up our tents and took cover. It rained for nearly 2 hours and the wind felt like it would blow our tent away.
     When the rain stopped we went over to a large fire started by a camper nearby. We were able to dry all of our wet clothing and had great conversation with the other hikers. What started as a crappy evening turned awesome by a trail magic fire. Right now it's very windy, more rain and possible snow is predicted for tonight. We're hoping to make it at least to Neels Gap tomorrow. Well see.

Thanks for reading.

Chris

     Well I guess it's actually happening. It's hard to believe after years of dreaming and months of planning that we'll finally be hitting the trail. Apologies for our lack of updates, we've had a very busy few weeks. In the time since my last update we've traveled to Alabama for a wedding, to Hocking Hills for a weekend with friends, and to Virginia for our nephews birthday. We've worked our last days at our jobs (for now) complete with going away parties for each of us. We've moved out of our apartment becoming semi-homeless. We've had get-togethers with our families and friends. It has been a busy, but awesome time.
    I am extremely excited for our journey but I had somehow forgotten that life will continue without us here. We'll be having a once in a lifetime experience but will miss our amazing families, friends, coworkers, neighbors, etc. I have felt such an unusual combination of anxiety, fear, excitement, sadness, and happiness the last few days.  Thanks so much to everyone who made an effort to see us or talk to us before our trip. We look forward to sharing our journey with you all.
     To Katahdin we'll go, I truly hope we have the right mix of determination, stubbornness, and luck to make it. Thanks for reading.

Chris