Wednesday, 13 June – Fontana “Hilton” Destination: Fontana Dam Shelter Today’s Miles: 12.8 Start Location: Brown Fork Gap Shelter Trip Miles: 174.3 I slept in a little since today was a shorter day. Spoke with the six guys who stayed at the shelter last night and was hiking at 7:30. Today was relatively easy compared…
2018 AT – Day Fourteen – Up, Up, Up
Tuesday, 12 June – Up, Up, Up Destination: Brown Fork Gap Shelter Today’s Miles: 16.0 Start Location: NOC Trip Miles: 161.5 Lee, Half Ration, came into the bunk house last night. I had met him at Cold Spring Shelter the night before. Just him and I in the bunk house. There were a couple of…
2018 AT – Day Thirteen – Nantahala Outdoor Center
Monday, 11 June – Nantahala Outdoor Center Destination: Nantahala Outdoor Center Today’s Miles: 11.7 Start Location: Cold Spring Shelter Trip Miles: 145.5 It continued to thunderstorm for a while last night followed by on and off rain. Things were pretty wet in the morning. I packed up a wet tent and food bag. I was…
2018 AT – Day Twelve – Balds
Sunday, 10 June – Balds Destination: Cold Spring Shelter Today’s Miles: 15.8 Start Location: Winding Stair Gap Trip Miles: 133.8 To continue the food theme, last evening, Angie, Theresa, Poul and I went to Motor Company Grill for dinner, a pork barbecue and fries. We stopped at the Lazy Hiker Brewery for a beer before…
2018 AT – Day Eleven – Zero Day
Saturday, 9 June Destination: Franklin, NC Today’s Miles: 0 Start Location: Franklin, NC Trip Miles: 118.0 Woke up around seven on a real mattress with sheets and a pillow. Headed to Kountry Kitchen for eggs , sausage and French toast for breakfast. Real bed, real food, nice start to a zero (rest) day. Around ten,…
2018 AT – Day Ten – Franklin, NC
Friday, 8 June Destination: Winding Stair Gap Today’s Miles: 15.9 Start Location: Carter Gap Shelter Trip Miles: 118.0 People continued to come into the shelter last night. A couple more girls came in and an odd young man. He had a huge backpack full of organic and natural foods. One of the guys mentioned what…
2018 AT – Day Nine – One Hundred Miles
Thursday, 7 June Destination: Carter Gap Shelter Today’s Miles:12.5 Start Location: Muskrat Creek Shelter Trip Miles:102.1 It never did get cool last night. Stayed comfortable, another dry day. I spoke to a couple of folks at the shelter before leaving. A girl from New Hampshire came in late. She was hoping to get to the…
2018 AT – Day Eight – Georgia on My Mind
Wednesday, 6 June Destination: Muskrat Creek Shelter Today’s Miles: 11.8 Start Location: Dicks Creek Gap Trip Miles: 89.6 After breakfast at Top of Georgia Hostel, the eight o’clock shuttle took Angie, Therese and myself the half mile uphill to the trail. Justin (EVO) and the husband and wife were taking the nine o’clock shuttle. My…
2018 AT – Day Seven – Top of Georgia Hostel
Tuesday, 5 June Destination: Dicks Creek Gap Today’s Miles: 13.0 Start Location: Cheese Factory Site Trip Miles: 77.8 Two groups of three hikers went by but no-one stopped. They were headed to the next shelter so I spent the second night alone. It got windy after the sun went down and cooled. I was hiking…
2018 AT – Day Six – Cheese Factory Site
Monday, 4 June Destination: Cheese Factory Site Today’s Miles: 13.4 Start Location: Low Gap Shelter Trip Miles: 64.8 I was alone in the shelter last night. I heard some folks that I thought were coming in. Either they could not find the shelter or they went on up the trail. The weather forecast was for…