Hello from the trail! (Well, from a library in Hiawassee, GA). Kris and I have hiked a little over 50 miles and will be entering North Carolina after the weekend. Last night after a few long days, we decided not to stay in the windy shelter on the side of Blue Mountain and hitched into town for the night. The Hiawassee Inn is “the AT hiker’s home away from home” and is a very hiker friendly place. They wash your clothes, feed you breakfast and even let us borrow their van last night to drive into town for an all you can eat fried chicken buffet! We started our journey last week in overcast skies. The first four days were rainy and cold, but was a nice test of all of our gear (which worked great keeping us dry). We hiked along rugged terrain in an endless blanket of fog. One hiker described it as “hiking in a dream,” but after four days of it we were happy to see the sun make an appearance. Did you know you could get hiker’s arm? My right arm is burned because that side of the mountain got the most sun.
The rain was followed by two nice days of warm and sunny weather. The view from Blood Mountain (highest point in GA) was amazing and we were able to see all the ground we had just covered. Followed by more rain and cold weather, we took our first “zero” day in Hiawassee and are enjoying a day of no walking or climbing. Tomorrow we head back into the storm and finish the last 30 miles in GA.
Rest assured that I am safe and with good company. This is a very social experience, but very solo at the same time. I spend my days walking with the silence of the woods, but spend my evenings with people from all over the world who enjoy the same things I do.
Sorry I can’t reply to everyone’s email, but after a week after being wet and cold and forcing my body to keep climbing these rugged Georgia mountains, it was nice to read all the kind words of encouragement. Keep em’ coming.
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