Month: March 2018
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Day 31: Erwin, TN
Woke up early today to quickly bang out 6 miles before 10am and meet the shuttle Chickapea reserved. Last night was cold, so I didn’t sleep too well, but I was on the trail by 7:30 and feet were walking. Timing was perfect however, as we got to Spivey Gap… Read More
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Day 30: Bald Mountain
Day 30. After 3 days of beautiful weather, today was absolutely brutal. I mentioned yesterday that it started raining late last night, and it hasn’t stopped yet. It converted to snow and hail at times, but never relented the whole day. And you know what else that means … mud.… Read More
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Day 29: Flint Mountain
Day 29. I thought I’d catch up to Leap Frog today, given she was a half day ahead of me and I did a 15 miler yesterday followed by today’s 19, but no dice. When I finally stopped at the Flint Mountain Shelter, I noticed she scribed in the registry… Read More
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Day 28: Allen Gap
Day 28. Not sure if I’ve written about this yet, so apologies if it’s a repeat, but it is significantly more difficult hiking out from a town. There are the mental reasons, of course, like the comfort of a warm bed, the connection to the real world, good food, flowing… Read More
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Day 27: Hot Springs Zero Day
Day 27. Camping by the river was nice, though very rocky and windy. I felt bad for the others in tents as I swayed blissfully off to sleep in my hammock. In the morning, I woke around 8am ready to see what else the town of Hot Springs has to… Read More
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Day 26: Hot Springs
Day 26. Well, I lied. I didn’t mean to hike this far but damnit if that KT Tape isn’t miraculous. I did a double round of stretches this morning and then Fun Facts worked her expertise on the tape … and wow. It may be a false sense of security,… Read More
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Day 25: Roaring Fork
Day 25. A friend asked yesterday how I was holding up mentally, since it appears I am doing well physically. As it relates to the former, I’m doing great. A couple cruddy days in snow/cold, but nothing I wasn’t expecting (though did hope to avoid). I listen to music or… Read More
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Day 24: Standing Bear Farm
Day 24. And with that, I’m done. The first-they-were-beautiful-then-they-were-deadly-then-they-were-beautiful-again Smoky Mountains are officially behind me. After yesterday’s rough day, we all agreed that we had to make the 18 mile hike to Standing Bear Farm Hostel today, or die trying. No matter what. Well, I’m happy to report that the… Read More
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Day 23: Tri-Corner Knob
Day 23. Last night was damn cold, today was damn cold and damn wet. The water pipe at Icewater Spring Shelter was doing it’s best impression of its name and froze over, as did my water bottles last night, so there was very little water consumption today. We hit a… Read More
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Day 22: Icewater Spring
Day 22. Well, it certainly heated up fast in the valley. After two days of the snowy frigid conditions in Gatlinburg, today it was 45 degrees and felt like summer in the city. The road up to the mountains opened around noon, so we collected our stuff and shuttled back… Read More
