march 16 zero day

Today was a good day. Took a zero day in franklin, and took the time to resupply for the next few days of hiking. The weather was in the 70s so walking around town was great. It felt like the summer. Got some food and resupplied. But stayed in my room most of the day just eating and watching tv.

march 15- getting to franklin

Good day today. And long. Woke up after another chilly sleep, wasnt too cold though, nothing was frozen. And ive noticed some thing about the cold too. That is that my body can be warm in my sleeping bag, but as long as i breathe the cold air ill wake up shivering. So i tightened my liner over my face, and breathed through that with my sleeping bag hood cinched over my head. Still woke up alot, but because my back hurts when i sleep in one position for too long. Instead of both that and the cold. So the day started off well. Ate the poptarts given to me yesterday by the guy at the shelter, packed up my tent. owl, the lady who had given me the salmon jerky last week caught up just before i left, and this time she gave me venison jerky. Any protein is good protein. And by jerky standard this stuff was pretty good too. About 4 miles in, after a hard climb, i got to a fire tower that overlooked an entire valley, but i was so high up it was a valley full of mountains, and i can see rolling hills and mountains in every direction. I took a picture and went back down the tower, it was very windy and cold at the top of it. The higher you go the colder and windier it gets. The day warmed up pretty quickly after that, and soon i was down to a tshirt. Today was the first day it was warm enough to do that. I stopped at the first shelter, about 6 miles from where i started, to check the register, take a break, and change my socks. Ive found that switching to dry socks midday helps slow down the blisters. Dj had signed out of that shelter earlier in the morning, so i knew we were close. I continued hiking, over mostly easy terrain, except for a fun climb past a waterfall. I eventually made it to winding stair gap. I figured dj was camping further down the trail, but i needed to resupply food. After about 15 minutes i managed to hitch a ride into franklin. The guy who picked me up claimed to be rons cousin. Ron is the owner of 2 motels in franklin and one in hiawassee. Hes also a name ive been hearing repeatedly from people who know the trail well. Anyway, he dropped me off at the budget inn in franklin. Just before i rented a room i decided to turn on my phone and call dj to see where he was up to. When i turned my phone on i got a flood of missed text messages. One of them was from dj. Turns out he was staying at the budget inn with hermes, frances, carlie, and a new guy named bo baba. The front desk called his room and he came out. The motel told us they only allow 4 in a room so me and hermes split a room. I took a walk and picked up some food. And then we hung out until we went on a beer run and just sat around chillinng, eating and drinking. We're all pulling a zero day tomorrow. Which means that were not hiking at all. We all have to resupply before we hit the trail on sunday either way, and most of us have achy joints from the past few days of hiking. Its gonna be a relaxing weekend. And when i get back on the trail on sunday itll be a short day anyways, maybe about 5 miles, because im 6 miles ahead of everyone else.

march 14

Today was a long day. Not a bad day, just a long day. Did a little over 16 miles today. I wasnt planning on doing that many, but when i got to the shelter about 12 miles from where i started, there was still 3 hours of daylight left, and only 4 miles to the next campsite. The day started cold, really cold. The kind of cold we havent had since last week when we first started this adventure. The temp got down into the teens overnight, and the water bottle i had inside my tent with me froze during the night. The condensation on the rainfly of my tent was frozen too. My feet had gone partially numb during the night, and i had gone to sleep wearing everything i have, even gloves. My sleep was frequently broken by bouts of shivering until i'd fall asleep again. I packed up and left camp as quickly as possible. it was too cold to sit around and make breakfast so i ate a zone bar and started walking. It didnt take too long to warm up and soon after i had taken off my down jacket and long underwear and was wearing a sweatshirt and just my hiking pants. I stopped at the first shelter i came to to check the register for signs of dj. He hadnt signed in to that one. There was a guy there making lunch for himself and 3 other hikers who were out on standing indian mountain. They were only in for a few days and had plenty of leftover food. So he gave me a bowl of ramen and a bag of snacks. I continued on, feeling renewed and fed, and hiked as quickly as i can. Today the elevation went up to about 5500 feet. The highest ive been yet on this adventure, but the terrain was relatively easy. With gentle inclines and declines the whole day. The view from the top was nothing less than amazing. I was able to see as far as the horizon, with dozens of mountains all around, in every direction. I think i saw some even higher than the one i was on, but its hard to tell from a distance. At the shelter i was aiming to stop by, i bumped into owl and zag. Owl had given me a bag of salmon jerky a week ago on the trail. Trekker was also there, he helped me last night after the alcohol incident. And pilgrim was there, an older guy, yet still making good mileage. Trekker told me there was a message for me in the shelter register. Dj had written the lyrics to the tenacious d song "dude i totally miss you" sometime today. Probably in the morning before he left the shelter. I continued on until i got to betty creek gap. And ive eaten, and im about to go to sleep,. Its 745pm, and evryone else here is already sleeping. Its also getting cold, gonna be another long night...

march 13- cross to carolina and drank the alcohol

If youve ever wondered what happens when someone drinks denatured alcohol, keep reading. Day started off pretty well. Wokie up abt 8am, made breakfast, packed up, and started moving at about 930. Saw gary as he was dropping off a group of hikers that stayed by himm that night. Said hello and kept going. It was a cold day, one of the colder ones weve had, and so i had to wear my gloves for almost the entire day. I checked the register at the plumorchard gap shelter to see if dj had been there but there was nothing from him. So i kept hiking, and decided to go as far as i can and hopefully catch up. It was also a very windy day so the presence of the sun did little to warm me up. There was one cool moment, as i was ascending a mountain, where the wind was roaring very loudly. As i reached the top, the wind stopped completely and it was perfectly quiet. Then a few second later, as i began descending, the wind picked up to a roar again. It sounded kinda like a roller coaster. I eventually crossed the georgia/north carolina border and saw alot of hikers staying there. That site is the lowest elevation for a while, and it gets colder the higher up you go. It seems like carolina will be higher and colder than georgia. While i was ascending the first mountain in nc i turned around and saw the georgia mountains all lower than me. Then after i got to the top i saw all the nc mountains higher than me. I eventually reached the muskrat creek shelter, and decided to stay. The next shelter is 6 miles away and i couldnt get that far before sundown. I said hello to everyone staying here then cooked dinner. Shortly after dinner me and another hiker had a smoke. One of the hits was especially harsh, so i grabbed the first bottle off the table and took a swig. It tasted like nail polish remover and burned going down. I realized that i had drank the denatured alcohol i use for my stove. So i immediately asked otehr hikers for water. About 5 min utes later my stomach became uneasy, and then i puked up everything i had eaten just before. Then i got cold, really cold, another hiker shared his hot food with me. While i ate some trail mix to try to get some energy in me. A half hour later i felt like i was back to normal and i fell asleep.

march 12- long day, camped alone

I hiked far today. Really far. And im camping by myself for the first time. Its not a shelter or a campsite. Its a little clearing near the road, near dicks creek gap. Its close enough to the road that i can see cars driving past, but they cant see me. They call this stealth camping. I left the blueberry patch this morning, after another awesome blueberry patch breakfast. I helped gary clear the table, then he called me into the kitchen, and we spoke about religion for a few minutes. One of the other guests from the day before had told him i was jewish, and he wanted me to know that he and his wife love jewish people, as they are from the same bloodline as jesus, as well as being fellow humans. We spoke about finding god, or jesus, or religion in general. The blueberry patch is renown for having the best breakfast of any hostel around, but its also known for gary and his wife lennie, who run the blueberry patch. The blueberry patch is a garage converted into a two room guesthouse, its heated, and has a stove and fridge, and 6 small bunks, and large beds. Gary and lennie live in the house. And run a farm in their backyard, with donkeys, goats, and of course blueberries. Frank, who gave me a ride yesterday, told me he takes his kids to the blueberry patch during the summer to pick blueberries. Back to gary and lennie, they are known to be generous, patient, and above all, religious people who love people and want to do what they can to help people, they open their home to hikers, and all hikers know they are welcome at the blueberry patch as long as theres space, though gary will usually let you sleep on the floor if all the beds are taken. I almost ended up sleeping on the floor there last night, when another hiker walked in from the rain at 730pm. The only spot left was the couch, which was where i ws gonna sleep, but new hikers take precedence, and it was mu second day there. So i told gary that the newcomer can have the couch and ill take the floor, under the table. Which is where gary prefers people sleep if they sleep on the floor because they wont trip anyone waking during the night to go to the bathroom. As i was sweeping the kitchen, molly came in to help. I told her i didnt need help, that i was just sweeping under the table so i can sleep there. She asked sarah, another hiker, if they can share the big bed, and molly let me take hers. Before we went to sleep, dj called a chabad a few towns away to see if they can accomodate us for passover. They said theyll get back to us.... Back to the hiking today, i hitched a ride from the bluberry patch back to unicoi gap, and dj got a ride from gary to dicks creek gap. About 18 miles away from where i started. I quickly caught up to traillite, as hes quite overweight and hikes very slowly, and we hiked together for a few hours. It was relaxing going so slowly, and i still wanted to take it easy on my ankle, but by 2pm, after 4 hours of hiking, we had only gone 4.5 miles. I told him i need to catch up to dj. And i hiked ahead. I was planning on only hiking 5-8 miles today, but instead went 18, on one leg and two trekking poles. Once i was halfway from unicoi to dicks creek, i decided to just go all the way to dicks creek. When i got here i refilled all my water, then cooked dinner and tried to make a fire, the wood is still very wet from yesterdays rain. So it didnt catch, and i didnt put much effort in. Im in my tent now, my new tent, which is smaller and lighter, and feel slightly cramped, especially for a two man tent. Its dark, and getting cold very quickly, im hearing sounds in the woods and im uncomfortable being here alone. Its gonna be a long night. Plus i heard the temps will be in the low 20's.

march 10-11 staying at the blueberry patch

Today is my second day at the blueberry patch, and my third zero day. Well yesterday was a nero, in which i hiked only 2 miles to get off the mountain. Carlies mother gave me a ride from unicoi gap to the blueberry patch. I dropped my stuff there, and met gary, the owner of the blueberry patch. Then me and bill who also goes by woodman, hitchhiked into town. We got a ride from a guy in a pickup truck who told us to sit in the flatbed. It was really cool sitting out in the opwn watching the landscape zooming past. When we got to town We checked out the outfitter, which is more of a garage with some hiking supplies, and i asked if they can get me an ultralight 2 man tent. they said it was no problem and theyll have it by morning. Then me and bill went to ingles, the local supermarket, and resupplied our food. Didnt have to buy much food though, because the hiker box at the hostel had plenty of food that other hikers had left. We hitched back to the hostel, i took a shower and shaved while gary washed my clothes. Most of the hikers had come back, and someone made dinner for everyone. We all tried to go sleep shortly after, but one of the hikers, andrew, was snoring so loudly that everyone had a hard time sleeping the entire night. He was still snoring in the morning, and so was renamed earplugs, because he should give them out to anyone sleeping in the same area as him. Gary and his wife served breakfast, then gary drove some hikers to the trail at dicks creek gap. A few of us stayed behind, some because of the weather, and me because my ankle is still bothering me. I got a ride into town from gary, and shipped 4lbs of stuff, along with 6 more lbs of tent, then went to the outfitter and bought a lightweight tent, my pack is below 50lbs even with alot of food and water. After that i went back to ingles and picked up ingredients to make pizza. Then i hitched a ride back to the hostel with a guy named frank. He's a real estate agent in atlanta, and owns some property in hiawassee. He had his two little girls in the car, and he told me that his son wants to hike the trail after high school. When we got to the blueberry patch he took a picture of me with his kids, that i think he wants to post on this blog, im just not sure if people can post here. Me molly and andrew made the pizza, which was with vegetarian meat and nachos. And shared it with the other hikers here. Dj showed up shortly afterward when gary came with some more people from the trail. Gary told me i can stay another night here, but new hikers take precedence over second timers, and all of the beds are full. Another hiker, prayer walker, told me i can split a room with her at the holiday inn if i like, so im debating hitching to get there. Though i might just stay at the blueberry patch because its raining hard outside.

march 9- dj found

Today was a pretty good day. I pulled a zero day, which means i took the day off. Partly because of my ankle and knee and partly because it was saturday. Either way it was a well deserved day to relax. I woke up around the same time i usually wake up, about 8am, made breakfast, then brought my pack from my tent to the shelter to lay out everything and decide what else to send back tomorrow when i get to hiawassee. I managed to find about 4lbs of stuff to get rid of, clothes, wilson, water bladder, and some other things that i just have too much of.. An eagle scout troop came through about lunchtime, and a few other thru hikers also stopped at the shelter for lunch, so i spoke to them, seeign if they had seen dj at the previous shelter. Nobody had seen him, but about 1pm he showed up, with snacks given to him by the people that helped him. The eagle scouts left shortly after, but not before givin me their extra food. My strategy for my off day was to eat and sleep alot to help my body heal. So I had a big lunch and took a nap. When i woke up an hour and a half later gthere were more hikers here, some that planned to stay the night, and a few that didnt. One of them, irish charm, told us that he and some other hikers stop in every town and drink. He wants to write a guidebook for the trail with the best towns to get drunk at and/or just have a good time. We all ate and sat around a campfire while an older hiker, john, told us stories of vietnam and his time in the army. We all sat around the fire talking until about 8, and gthen everyone went to sleep. Tomorrow im only hiking 2 miles to unicoi gap to hitch a ride into hiawasse. Im gonna get things i need, as well as a lighter tent and backpack. And ship the rest of my stuff home. Ill prob stay at a hostel called gthe blueberry patch, then get a ride back to unicoi gap in the morning and continue hiking from there. Me and dj have decided that we'll keep to a similar schedule, but not necessarily hike together, so we can go at comfortable paces for each of us. When DJ, now DTour, showed up, he asked me what it felt like to have a zero day. I told him it feels like getting a day off from school. Its just more relaxing.