Great Two Weeks

The best part of the past two weeks has been visiting with family!!  

Our son, Matthew, and his girlfriend and her daughter came to Daleville, VA last Sunday to spend the afternoon with us !!  Then Michele and Joe (our sister and brother-in-law) picked us up off the trail a little further north a week later.  We spend a day and a half with them and went back to the trail for another 25 miles.  They picked us up again after that and we headed back to their rental.  While we were with them, Rachel (their daughter/our niece) passed through the same town we were in, so we were able to see her for about an hour.  

Our daughter, Lindsay, drove to spend the day with us today and we all went to meet Mike and Janis (our uncle and aunt) for the afternoon!  

It has been such a wonderful time with family!!!!  

Add this to Billy and Phyllis’s visit in Erwin…and Sam and Martha’s visit in Fontana…and our surprise meeting with the Benefield’s early on at Neel’s Gap…and Jamama hiking the first mile with us to begin with…and we’ve been blessed with seeing sixteen familiar faces along the way!!!  Great feeling to reconnect before continuing north!

Currently at mile 832.  Will enter Shenandoah National Park this Sunday if all goes as planned.

Hopefully to Harper’s Ferry (the unofficial half way point!) by July 2nd.

1/3 of the Way There!

It has been a while since we last posted.  We’ll blame it on Intermittent cell coverage (and a little forgetfulness!). 

The trail continues to amaze us…and at the same time, challenge us.  It has recently taken us through some incredibly diverse terrain….open meadows with waist high grass, lush tunnels of green, dry sandy pine forests, muddy fern valleys, wet stream crossings, and rocky ridge sections. We love those moments of diversity.  

The two days prior to getting here (Daleville, VA at mile 728 taking a rest day!) gave us some of the toughest rock scrambles to date and the most spectacular views!  McAfee’s Knob and Tinker Cliffs are our new favorite spots so far!  Can’t put into words how spectacular the views were.  And the climbs….Wow!…the rock slabs were near vertical at some points and we were forced to walk on the narrow edges on the sides of those slabs.  Folks were slipping/sliding left and right….and a little stiff/sore the day after!  😉

We also encountered our first rattlesnake within the past week.  He was less than thrilled that we “encouraged” him to leave the trail and let us pass.  Thank goodness they give you an audible warning, as Rick was two strides away from stepping on him when he heard the rattle!

Heading out this morning for another 5 day stretch before resupply.  Hoping for more good weather like we’ve been blessed with recently.  

On an exciting end note….we’re officially 1/3 of the way to Katahdin!

“Virginia on Mind…..(sung)!

We were beginning to feel like Erwin, TN was “home” after spending a total of 7 nights there.  Ended up taking 5 days of rest to help the shin splints, then hiked out for two days, shuttling back to spend the night (thanks Miss Janet the trail angel!). What great people and what a great stay!  

Since then we’ve had some amazing views, some great climbs, a horrendous thunderstorm, and a stop at Mountain Harbor Bed and Breakfast and Hiker Hostel (incredible breakfast!!). We are making our way to the VA state line and Damascus, VA.  They say there is a section termed the “Tennessee Turnpike” that is so flat (relatively speaking!) that we’ll cruise right along.  Looking forward to that!!

Max Patch

The day we summitted Max Patch there were 35 to 40 mph wind gusts.  It was really beautiful though.  Rolling hills and farmland surrounded the trail.

300!!

We passed the 300 mile mark a couple of days ago!  A creative fellow hiker had previously crafted a “mile marker” out of sticks right in the center of the trail! It’s so nice to reach little milestones like this!!!

Had to come off of the trail two days shy of Erwin to nurse shin splints that hit Monica out of no-where at mile 310. Planning to lay up a few days and head out once the leg feels better.  We’re hoping that will be Sunday or Monday.    As a surprise bonus to this unplanned break, our aunt and uncle (Phyllis and Billy) are going to come see us Friday night!!!!!

300 + feels good!!!!

Smokies???

Smokies?? Ha! More like the “Soakies”! Would you believe it rained everyday that we were in the park? Not just a drizzle….but rather a pouring, sometimes hailing, muddy, cold kind of rain. There were times the trail itself was a rushing stream 4″ deep that we just had to wade through….and keep trudging on.

Wish I could post pics, because words don’t do it justice.

Our rain gear couldn’t even stand up to the downpour as we climbed, so we were soaked through to the core at any given moment. Then, there were the wet muddy socks and shoes to put on first thing in the cold morning. Most of those mornings found us heading out not only in the rain and/or hail, but also in a thick, dense mist which made it hard to see the trail ahead of us. Hoping this gives you a little visual of our 8-9 days through the park…

Oh – and we had our first dreaded “mouse encounter”! (No bear, just a mouse-hahah!). It crawled up on Rick’s sleeping bag and scampered over the top of his head while he was trying to sleep. The nerve of that mouse!! They require you to sleep in the shelters in the park, which means you are sharing space with these critters. Ugh! Makes us even more thankful for our tent!😉

All that said, we made it through the park just fine with lots of memories…and we are looking back with a smile! Now we are warm, dry, and full of delicious food (stuffed, actually!) in Hot Springs, NC …taking a rest day. With it being the first town outside of the park, hikers are flooding the streets. Seriously, it’s a tiny town with only a handful of businesses….hikers are literally everywhere today!

Our next resupply town will be in Erwin, TN in about 5-6 days. That’ll put us at just over 300 miles. Still loving the Adventure!! Thanks for all the prayers, cards, and support!!

“Whew”!!

Dropped into Nantahala Outdoor Center in Bryson City, NC after a two day hike in from Franklin (a very long downhill!). Picked up mail (love those letters and cards!), resupplied, grabbed dinner, and stayed the night.  We ended up in the same building we were in with Matt and Lins, years ago, when we brought them white water rafting and hiking.  Good memories!!

After a wonderful breakfast the next day, we started the long, LONG uphill out of NOC.  It was one of those “is it ever going to end” sort of climbs.  Gentleman, his trail name, fresh out of college, got to the top, where we stopped for the night, threw his poles down, and said, “I quit…I’m going home after that”. Well…he wasn’t serious, but that was a good description of how every one felt!  Whew!!! (Must have said that a hundred times!)

Two and a half days out of NOC, we made it to Fontana  Village….staying here till Monday morning.  Sam and Martha are coming to see us Sunday, which will be our first “visitors” on the trail!!

We’ve come upon three snakes on the trail since we started.  Each time…they keep getting bigger!  Also found clumps of bear fur on the trail,  but no other sign of bear.  Hear they’re waiting for us in the Smokies!

NC….finally!

Seeing a little wooden sign, on a tree, in the middle of no-where would normally not excite us.  However, when it reads “NC/GA”, that’s an entirely different story!

We reached two little milestones since our first post….we entered NC (as marked by that sign on the tree!) and we made it over the 100 mile mark.  Seriously, I witnessed fellow hikers RUN to the “state border tree” and embrace it with a giant bear hug.  Never has something so simple, seemed like such a big deal!

We’re taking two zero-days in Franklin for Easter, which allows for some rest after a few back-to-back high-milage days.  There is a fabulous outfitter in town (Outdoor 76) who is helping us out with some gear adjustments, as well as “fussing” at everyone for taking on high mile days too early .  Turns out you need to keep it at a max of 9mi or 10mi for a while longer.  Okay!  No complaints here! 😉

Hello family and friends….and fellow hikers!

Hello from the Top of Georgia Hostel and Hiker Center!  We have been on the AT now for a little over a week and have been asked numerous times, “Do you have a blog we can follow?”.      No, we didn’t….but now we do!  Thanks to Akela, a fellow hiker, we are set up to give this “blogging thing” a try.  (Thanks, Akela!!)

We are truly blessed by the outpouring of support we are receiving from friends and family as we make our way north.  Thank you ~ all of you ~ for the prayers, for thinking of us often, and for wishing us well!  It means a lot!!

Things are going very well for us at the beginning of week two!!  Beautiful views, incredibly fresh air, spring blooming to life, and some wonderful people along the way.  Of course, this is all coupled with some long days and seemingly endless uphill climbs. Most of the time (so far!), it’s been a comfortable balance.

Feeling Blessed!  mac-n-pace