17 miles today. Alleycat and I left the Fontana “Hilton” Shelter about a half hour apart, she at 8:30 and me about 9, after a wonderfull breakfast of scrambled eggs sandwich style. A guy named Tim and his wife Hikernut showed up last night followed by Crumbsnatcher and his girlfriend Bipolar Stroller then El-Train,...
Day 12 March 3 – Fontana Dam Shelter – 35.43364, -83.82284 –
7 miles today. It was a really easy morning hinking into Fontana. We took it slow and enjoyed it. We caught up with Hawk at the gas station, picked up some lunch snack to fill the space from the lost ones in our packs. We’re at the outfitter here at the village. Alleycat’s picking...
Day 11 March 2 – Cable Gap Shelter – 35.41490, -83.77306 –
16 miles today. A late start today, 9:00. We got up late and had a hot breakfast of oatmeal, one of the few I’ll have on the trail, packed up, and set off. The weather couldn’t have been better today, a cool 45-50ish with loads of sun and completely clear skies. We took it...
Day 10 March 1 – Sasafrass Gap Shelter – 35.33097, -83.66683 –
7 miles today. Talk about a soppingly good day, no literaly. Alleycat got it into her head to make it to Sasafras Gap today, a 3000 foot climb, despite the fact that it was really raining outside. Since Salamander and Juniper were out of commision and Otto, Backyard Boogie, and Hawk were all being...
Day 9 Feb 28 – Nantahala Outdoor Center – 35.33416, -83.59212 –
11 miles today. It was an excelent day for hiking; sunny, clear, and an unseasonable 70 degrees. I LOVED it. The hike itself was pretty interesting. 6 miles of the standard PUDs started it off, but it was the last 5 miles that were tricky. They were 5 miles of trail along a ridge...
Day 8 Feb 27 – Cold Spring Shelter – 35.23119, -83.5608 –
19 miles today. I got a “late” start today. Crutches took us to breakfast at 7 to a little hole-in-the-wall diner. The food was pretty darn good. After that we all headed back to the hotel and I finished packing and made my call home to check in. El-Train decided to take another day...
Day 7 Feb 26 – Franklin, NC – 35.18234, -83.377 –
15 miles today. We got on the trail at abou 7:45, El-Train and I, and hiked the 15 miles to Wallace Gap by 1:30. El-Train called the shuttle in Franklin and he picked us up. Turns out he owns two of the motels in town and by staying in one the ride was free,...
Day 6 Feb 25 – Carter Gap Shelter – 34.99896, -83.494 –
It started raining last night at about 1 and hasn’t stopped since. It’s like the cats and dogs decided to start falling and the whole zoo elected to come with them. We waited until 10:30 and headed on to Carter Gap Shelter as the rain let up. Alleycat and I made it at 2:45...
Day 5 Feb 24 – Standing Indian Shelter – 35.04206, -83.54800 –
13 miles today. I took it easy today and moved pretty slowly. I ended up on the trail at abou 8:30 instead of 10:00. Ah well, it gave me more time to plod along. The weather started out great today. It was sunny and warmed right up, but towards 1:00 it got cloudy, windy/blustery,...
Day 4 Feb 23 – Plumborchard Gap Shelter – 34.94583, -83.58839 –
30 miles today, DAMN IT HURTS. A total of about 5500ft gained and about 4000ft lost. My feet will never be the same again. All in all, though, I came out a lot better than I thought I would. I only have 1 blister that has been developing for two days and it’s tiny...