Trail Update #3: Hiawassee to Franklin.
This post goes out to my sister, Nicole, who hopes to thru-hike in the next few years! Thanks for always being supportive of my adventures, and for doing things before me so Mom and Dad get used to the ideas.
Day 9: April 7th: Foggy Nights
That morning, Ron, Shay, Thomas, Dylan, and I all decided to take the 11am shuttle back to the trail, but by 9:45 I was already antsy and ready to start hiking.
Bandit wanted OUT of the Budget Inn.
I suppose the timing worked out though because when we arrived back at Dicks Creek Gap, we had trail magic waiting for us! I honestly feel like I have a network of Moms and Dads all looking out for me/making sure I have enough food (trust me, I am carrying more than enough food). Surprisingly, these trail angels had vegan pulled pork sandwiches!
I definitely enjoyed hiking with multiple people - we all shared snacks (pepper jack cheese. yes.) and stories as we hiked the last portion of Georgia and crossed into North Carolina.
The first major accomplishment!
Ahhhh!
Some of my friends camped right after the border, but I pushed on a few more miles until the next shelter where I ran into Rock-boat and Cambo. Though it was too foggy and wet to even start a fire, we spent a few hours gathered around our tents joking around. One of my favorite nights so far.
Shelter: Muskrat Creek Shelter
Miles today: 11.8
Miles from Springer: 81.4
Miles to Katahdin: 2103.9
Day 10: April 8th: A Long and Winding Lonesome Hike.
I woke up the next morning and honestly, I spent three hours just hanging around camp. I lounged in my sleeping bag, made Ramen for breakfast, read my book, etc. I was the last hiker out of the shelter that day and I absolutely loved it.
Not such a bad bedroom-window view.
(Yay for breakfast in bed)
I spent the entire day hiking alone and listening to music. About 5 miles in, I came across a trail angel named Rodney who was handing out pineapple, strawberries, and orange juice (!!!!!!!!!) - I stopped to chat for a while before making my way up the mountain to check out the Standing Indian Shelter, and later took some time to meet Huckleberry and his wife who had stopped for lunch. I blue-blazed a bit to explore the summit of Standing Indian, but the bugs were too bad to stay.
Miscellaneous waterfall/water source
Campsite on top of Standing Indian Mountain.
I made it to Carter Gap Shelter with an excess of daylight and energy, so I pushed on to Betty Creek Gap where it was rumored that many of my friends were staying for the night. I was the last to arrive, but received a warm welcome. After a 16 mile day all alone, I was pretty beat, so I snuggled in my 10 degree sleeping bag and called it a night.
Unnecessary bonus photo from April 8th
Shelter: Camping at Betty Creek Gap
Miles today: 16.2
Miles from Springer: 97.6
Miles to Katadhin: 2087.
Day 11: April 9th: A Tree Falls in the Forest
Again, I was one of the last hikers to leave camp that morning - in fact, part of "the family" who had camped 4 miles back passed me as I was taking down my tent.
I spent the first hour or two hiking with Simple Man and Chocolate - one of the sets of parents of "the family". I enjoyed going at a slower pace and talking with unfamiliar hikers - we climbed Albert Mountain with one another and crossed the 100 mile marker together at the fire tower.
Another major milestone!
Sorry my selfie blocks the whole view!
Flapjack and Nick caught up to me at the fire tower, so we continued together with the intent of camping right near the road crossing that would take us into Franklin, NC the next morning. In our travels, we passed by the Longbranch shelter - possibly the newest shelter on the trail (2012), and we were lucky enough to catch an unexpected show at Rock Gap Shelter - an 88 year old Hemlock being cut down with a chainsaw as we ate lunch.
Apparently I can't upload videos on here.
(Even so, the video didn't do it justice)
Mile 110
Just three of us this night.
Shelter: Camping near Winding Stair Gap
Miles today: 12.5
Miles from Springer: 110.1
Miles to Katadhin: 2075.2
Day 12: April 10th: A Night of Normalcy
I awoke to rain - which allowed me the opportunity to learn how to dismantle my tent while keeping the rainfly up. The 9am shuttle was late - leaving me and a handful of hikers standing in the downpour for an hour on the side of Winding Stair Gap.
Within the next hour, the sun had emerged and I was checked into the Budget Inn Hostel. Despite rumors, the hostel was clean, comfortable and spacious - I basically shared an apartment with 3 other roommates (Mother Nature, Michelle and Emily). Mother Nature and I did our usual town chores and then headed out to Outdoor 76, a well-known outfitter that specializes in shoes. The co-owner Ron spent almost 3 hours thoroughly discussing our foot issues and creating custom insoles for my friend. I ended the visit with Brooks Cascadia trail-runners - apparently a very popular shoe on the AT.
Sweet.
They realize that they need a bigger banner....
The rest of the day consisted of food shopping (fresh mozzarella, pepper jack, cheddar, tortillas, avocadoes, BBQ sauce, skittles, powdered donuts, a honeybun, bagged salad, ranch. Yum.), walking around town, and chatting with other hikers. We decided to check out the live music at Rathskeller - a local coffee house and pub, which I would definitely recommend to future thru-hikers.
Oh! I almost forgot - for some reason, Franklin, NC is home to North Carolinas largest and finest Gem Museum. And what a gem it was. I haven't really looked too much into the 'energy' of stones (nor have I ever really believed in all that....), but I was definitely feeling a pressure headache after being in there. (As Mother Nature pointed out - no one questions the energy of a magnet....). In all seriousness though, this free gem museum was crazy impressive.
Shelter: Hiker's Den Hostel ($15)
Miles today: 0.0
Miles from Springer: 109.8
Miles to Katahdin: 2075.5
Day 13: April 11th: An Unexpected Zero.
I had been toying with the idea of spending a second day in Franklin since the previous evening but was a bit hesitant for a few reasons. Though I hadn't found a best friend yet, I had become friendly with a group whose company I enjoyed. It took me until day 13 to realize that I couldnt sustain the pace/lifestyle I had been attempting to maintain. At this point in my hike, my body isnt used to 16+ mile days, and I was getting bored with waking up at dawn to hike straight until dusk.
In light of that, I decided to finally "hike my own hike" (one of those super corny/cliché thru-hiker phrases). I came out here alone, and I am no longer afraid of being 'left behind'. Everyone is treating this as if it's a frantic race to the finish-line - it's not.
That being said - I took a second zero day because I do what I want! I woke up at 7 (my body won't let me sleep past 7 anymore), and walked to The Sunset Restaurant to get breakfast with Shay and Tom. Being in the south, I figured it would be appropriate to order some biscuits and grits (which were decent) - but my omelette did not even compare to the omelettes of Park City Diner (I miss waitressing and free food - who would've thought!). Afterwards, we stopped by the Farmers Market (where a trail angel gave Tom free fresh bread), did some more shopping and I even took a nap (it was heavenly). The rest of the evening passed by pretty uneventfully until I decided took walk down to the Sapphire Inn to socialize for the night.
I never made it past the Budget Inn because I stopped to say hello to a dog I hadn't met yet. Little did I know that this pup would set me back an entire day. I had previously met Peas, but we had not become friends just yet. When he told me that he had just found the dog roaming town, I offered to help walk her around in an attempt to find the owner. She had her rabies tag, but no phone number to the owner and none of the local vets/humane societies were open on the weekend, so we had very little to go off of at the time.
As luck would have it, the first person we approached was helpful. He didn't recognize the dog, but had a friend around the corner who owned a hiker hostel out of his house (news to us....) and a kennel in his yard. We walked into the residential neighborhood of Franklin and found the dog a place to stay until tomorrow (but not before we got extremely attached and named her - Leila). We left for the night with the intention of potentially doing a work-stay at this hostel so we could save on money (once we realized we needed to stay until Monday in order to call the vet and get Leilas info).
I'm not going to go into details (solely because its a long long story), but this hostel owner gave me a bit of a bad vibe - instincts told me something was off. Before I went to sleep for the night, I had decided that I would just spend the money at the Budget instead of staying at the unknown hostel.
Shelter: Hiker's Den Hostel ($15)I never made it past the Budget Inn because I stopped to say hello to a dog I hadn't met yet. Little did I know that this pup would set me back an entire day. I had previously met Peas, but we had not become friends just yet. When he told me that he had just found the dog roaming town, I offered to help walk her around in an attempt to find the owner. She had her rabies tag, but no phone number to the owner and none of the local vets/humane societies were open on the weekend, so we had very little to go off of at the time.
As luck would have it, the first person we approached was helpful. He didn't recognize the dog, but had a friend around the corner who owned a hiker hostel out of his house (news to us....) and a kennel in his yard. We walked into the residential neighborhood of Franklin and found the dog a place to stay until tomorrow (but not before we got extremely attached and named her - Leila). We left for the night with the intention of potentially doing a work-stay at this hostel so we could save on money (once we realized we needed to stay until Monday in order to call the vet and get Leilas info).
I'm not going to go into details (solely because its a long long story), but this hostel owner gave me a bit of a bad vibe - instincts told me something was off. Before I went to sleep for the night, I had decided that I would just spend the money at the Budget instead of staying at the unknown hostel.
Miles today: 0.0
Miles from Springer: 109.8
Miles to Katahdin: 2075.5
Day 14: April 12th: The Most Adorable and Loving 24 Hour Setback.
Though I reallllly did not want to take a third day off, I knew I couldn't just leave Peas to handle the situation by himself. I told him that I didn't feel comfortable staying at the other hostel, so we shared a room at the Budget since they allow dogs. We went back to retrieve Leila and continued to walk around town in case her owners were looking for her. Here's a fun fact about Franklin, NC: the entire place shuts down on Sundays. Literally 90% of establishments are closed. We exhausted all options - even calling the local dispatch office. The only help they could offer was to put me in contact with Animal Control who would then take her to a kill shelter (Um, no. How could someone think that was an option.)
Notice the billboard for the Gem Museum!
Passing the time...
So we waited out the day - and I found Peacock! We took a sad walk to McDonald's where I tried to convince her not to quit (I haven't heard from her in a few days...). And best of all, my acquaintance from home, War Cry, finally caught up to me! She introduced me to her trail-family (My Best Friend, Auto-draft and Zissou) - it was nice to know not ALL of my friends were days ahead of me.
Peas and I went to sleep that night not knowing if we would find Leilas owners the next morning. What we did know was that we were getting back on the trail, whether she had to come with us or not.
Shelter: Budget Inn ($55 for a room with a dog)
She was so cuddly!
Miles today: 0.0
Miles from Springer: 109.8
Miles to Katahdin: 2075.5
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