106.1 miles in - I am alive and well in Franklin, NC

Hello - this Great Adventure is becoming more real each day. It's hard to believe I have already hiked through one state - GA and I am now in North Carolina. Briefly, the first days were hectic - I was in a group of guys - Frank, about 10 years younger, then several - Ben, Garrett, etc. were younger and the pace was getting pretty fast. We left Amicalola State Park on April 2, Sat. - walked 11.6 miles and camped at the Stover Creek Shelter. We were up the next day by 7:00 a.m. and onto the trail, walking another 11+ miles and finally understanding why the "mountains" in Georgia are called PUDS -pointless ups and downs - you walk up a steep, rocky 1000' foot hill, go down the other side and do it all over again!  But we had wonderful weather - in the 50s and 60s. Until Tuesday, April 5 - the group, also known as a trail family, decided to get close enough to take a "zero" day at Hiawassee, GA the following day. So we walked 14.8 miles that day - I was panting - my group was about an hour ahead and I decided I was going into Hiawassee for my first "zero" day - trail talk for going into a trail town, do errands, get a room, do laundry, get resupplies, etc. Tuesday night, a big thunderstorm blew in - and the Shelters are usually sitting on top of these mountains. The Blue Mountain Shelter sits at 3880 feet, lightening flashing all around, etc. Wed., it was a pretty wet packing up camp, and most of us walked down the 2.4 miles to Unicoi Gap to hitchhike a ride into town. I was lucky - 2 husbands were dropping off their wives to section hike at the Gap and one told her husband to take me into town. I got a room at the Budget Inn ($40 thruhiker special) and then the errands began - my sister sent an 8 lb box of food to the PO - so I sent one half of that box up the road to Fontana Dam area - the start of the Smokies National Park. My pack weight has been a problem - but I had to pack for the next five nights on the trail to my next zero in Franklin. So it was trips to the store, to Radio Shack to purchase a refurbished Samsung Galaxy 3 phone, since my camera was acting up on Blue Mt., to Verizon to connect it, etc. Whew.

On April 8, I was back on the trail - hiking solo during the day - meeting a variety of hikers - meeting my variety of friends at various points on the trail - at lunch, at night at camp, etc. Weather remained good until Mon., April 11 - we had just entered NC at Bly Gap the previous day, and, of course, there was another 1000 ft mountain going straight up in .2 of mile - yes, I was crawling up the steps. And we were all wondering when the rains were going to straight - the smartphones were all out, checking the various weather channels. I decided to keep going on April 11 down to Betty Creek Gap at 4300 feet after spending the previous evening at Standing Indian Shelter at 4742 feet. And there were about 15 tents parked under the mountain laurel branches - sure enough the rain came at 7:30 p.m. and did not stop until 7:00 a.m. My gear and myself stayed dry - the tent was wet, but I was able to pack up and get started up the Albert Mountain Fire Tower Trail at 9:30 - the day cleared and became very humid! The trail again gained over 1300 feet up to 5440 ft in .3 miles - straight up the rocks! I walked down and camped at Rock Gap last night - the wet tent dried out at camp that evening before bed.

Next blog, I will figure out how to post pictures from my phone. Shortly my brother will post pictures from the first part of the Great Adventure. Have a good night.