Welcome to Virginia!!

That next morning after cowboy camping Puddin' and I woke up to all the morning dew soaking our sleeping bags and everything around us.  We probably should have known not to camp in the grass but after that trail magic and being so full the soft grass just looked so inviting.  Oh well, you live and you learn.  We all (Sleeping Beauty, Nova, Fatty, and us) decided to hike about a mile up the trail to the top of the bald so we could lay our stuff out in the sun. We had some breakfast while we were waiting.

Our stuff hanging in the tree to dry out.

Seemed to be the easiest way to dry our stuff out.  Pretty funny.  

Time for some breakfast while our stuff was drying

We knew that some rain was coming that evening, but the change in weather brought the temperature up for our hike during the day, and it couldn't have come on a better day.  We passed a couple of waterfalls and a river followed the trail for a good section.  We couldn't resist jumping into all of them! Hiking with Sleeping Beauty has been great because he loves getting into the cold water just as much as we do.

At Jones Falls

Puddin' climbing up the falls

Fatty washing the stank off of herself

Sleeping Beauty loving that cold water

MC happy as can be

No, Sleeping Beauty isn't naked, just in his undies.  That little hole was the perfect little spot to take a bath.  

This was at the second set of falls.  If you look closely you can see that my mouth is open because I was screaming like a little girl.  That water was cold!!

Sleeping Beauty's face says it all.  

A picture from the bottom of the falls.  

After relaxing in the water and enjoying the sun all day we had to book it down the trail to get to our campsite.  Puddin' got some painful blisters on her heel so I went ahead to see if I could get the tent set up before the rain made it.  We couldn't find the campsite that the book referred to, so we ended up just setting up on some flattish ground surrounded by pricker bushes.  It was not the best spot, but it was better than being wet.  Our single wall tent is great because it is so light, but it builds up condensation real fast if the vestibule isn't open.  We found that if big rain drops hit the outside of the tent we would get misting in the tent from the build up of condensation.  A little bit of a pain, but we are dealing with it.

The next day the trail was just as beautiful.  It was unlike anything else we had hiked so far, and was lovely.  We hiked back and forth along the river almost the whole day.  We passed Laurel Falls and were so happy with our surroundings that we decided to cut the day short and only hike 10 miles instead of 16 so that we could dry out our tent and stay at a spot right by the river.  Another bonus was that we were right by the side trail to Hampton, TN so we hiked into town for some Subway subs and so many cookies that I'm embarrassed to admit how many we ate.  Also, on the way into town we ran into Spanky! We thought he was way ahead of us but apparently he had gotten sick and taken a zero back in Erwin.  We were excited to see him again and looked forward to trying to keep up with him for a bit longer.

Puddin' loving a little swing that went over the river

One of the many bridges crossing the river

Loving life at Laurel Falls

Laurel Falls

The rock hopper herself

This part of the trail was AWESOME! They used part of the cliff to make a walk way and you were right next to the water.  

That night we slept well with bellies full of Subway and cookies.  We sat by the fire for a bit before calling it a night.

The next day we were so rested that I got a hair brained idea that we could make it into Damascus, Virginia in two days to avoid the upcoming weather and that way we could take back to back zeros.  It would require us hiking 48 miles in 48 hours, but everyone seemed into it.  The terrain wasn't as bad as some of the spots in the past, but it wasn't very flat by any means either.
We started hiking across the Watuga Dam which made Watuga Lake, a truly beautiful piece of Tennessee.  We saw another big king snake on the trail, but most of the rest of the day was a blur.  Passed a bunch of shelters and a bunch of hikers and ended up putting in 26.4 miles!!!!!! Our biggest day yet.  Many of the hikers like to hike 26.2 miles in one day because that is the distance of a full marathon, but they usually choose to do it in a section that is a bit more flat than the one we chose.  That night our heads hit the pillow and we were out cold.  We tried not to think about the 21 miles that still lay ahead of us to get into Damascus.

Watuga Dam

Watuga Lake from ground level

The four foot black snake that greeted us on the trail

Watuga Lake from up above

Enjoying the view

A panoramic shot of the whole lake area

The next day we crushed the remaining 21 miles which allowed us to cross off another state and enter our fourth state, Virginia!  We were glad it was mostly downhill.  We made it into town and arranged for our accommodations at the Hiker Inn, a wonderful little spot ran by Paul that might have the most comfortable beds in Virginia.  We are now looking forward to some much needed rest and enjoying the town of Damascus.  We will be back here in a couple of weeks when Merry picks us up and brings us back for Trail Days, one of the biggest events on the trail.
-Paddy Cakes

Puddin' got a fresh new rain jacket for the upcoming weather.  She looks so good.  

Goodbye North Carolina, Hello Tennessee!!!

After pulling out of Erwin, TN, Fatty, Paddy Cakes and I followed a gorgeous stream up and over some rocky climbs. With our packs newly supplied and feeling way to heavy we decided to stop on a bald named Beauty Spot. We soaked in the sun and relaxed for about an hour so Sleeping Beauty could catch up. After finally getting motivated we climbed Unaka Mountain which is over 5,000 ft. On the way up we past a couple that was day hiking and having a very hard time. They were both a little large but seemed to be pushing to the top. After the top we finally descended to Cherry Gap shelter where we pitched tents and enjoyed a fire. A little after dark the day hikers we encountered earlier stumbled into camp looking broken down and exhausted. They warmed their cold fingers and pushed on, even after many insisted they use there phones for help or even stay the night. One thru hiker even gave them his headlamp because they had no light to hike in the dark with. After crawling in the tent at about 9:30 we heard this terrifying noise in the distance. It sounded like a couple of drunk locals riding dirt bikes through camp. We were both terrified that they were coming to mess with the thru hikers, and we knew our thin tent would be no match for them. It turned out to be a search and rescue team on four wheelers looking for the day hikers we had seen earlier in the night. Our friends who were still up told them which way they went and the search team took off just as quick and noisy as they had come. We never heard what happened with the search but I am pretty sure everyone went home safe that night.
The next day we got a lazy start because it was very cold. We hit the trail at 9:00 and started slow with our still heavy packs. We took a nice long lunch which turned into a nap for Sleeping Beauty and myself. With to much of the day slept away we pushed up and over Roan High Knob which was 6,290 ft. It was a hard cold end of the day push that no one enjoyed. After 18.5 miles we ended up stealth camping in a field by Carvers Gap. The next day we had two main mountains to climb. Little Hump mountain and Hump mountain. There were some great views and a very sunny warm day. We even stopped by this barn that had been converted into a shelter. U could have slept at least 50 people there. After our climb up we were greeted by a steep climb down into the great state of TN. Not only did Tennessee greet us with a down but it also greeted us with the most amazing Trail Magic ever. This couple from Michigan named Slow and Easy had a car full of food. I'm talking trail magic on crack here folks. They had everything from bananas, mangos, cantaloupe, avocados, meats, cheeses, free gear, cokes, clif bars, milk, noodles, nuts, and to top it all off they were cooking BBQ Beaver. We were in heaven. We stopped short of our goal for the day and took it all in. We actually resupplied off their trail magic so we didn't have to go into town. God Bless those Michiganders. After we stuffed our bellies and our packs we took a quick rinse in the nearby stream to wash our feet then hiked another two miles where we all cowboy camped under the stars. It was a great welcome into Tennessee!!!!
Puddin'

Three twenties and an eight! Hot Springs, NC to Erwin, TN

Coming out of Hot Springs we had a great idea that we would do three twenty mile days and an eight mile day to get us into Erwin. So day one we started out good. We had some light rain but it was warm enough where we didn't have to put on rain gear and just hiked through the mist. It was really nice because this was our first really humid day. A few of our Canadian hikers felt a bit overwhelmed and especially appreciated the rain. By mid afternoon the rain stopped and we started our last accent of the day. About half way up we all realized that we ran out of water so I volunteered to crawl down this ravine to retrieve some water from this trickle of a stream. Along the way down I took my first spill and landed flat on my face. Good thing I didn't have my pack on!! After that we pushed on and made it to the Little Laurel Shelter. It was getting chilly and dark so we pitched our tent, ate dinner and crawled in to bed. We quickly realized that we choose poorly on who we camped next too because the guy tenting next to us had a snore like a "dying elephant" to quote Paddy Cakes. We have now starting tagging folks that are the snorers so we know not to camp by them. I guess it's a good thing we are carrying ear-plugs. One Twenty Mile day down.

Day two we started out early in a fog and wind. We had some mixed terrain of downs, gravel road, rocks and lots of ups. About seven miles short of our twenty we hit a wall, literally. We climbed up a trail beside a beautiful cascaded waterfall with lots of trees, green moss, and every color flower in the rainbow. Along one of the descents I jumped out of my skin because a four foot long king snake had bedded in a tree just at face length and decided to say hi right as I walked past it. I screamed like a little girl! After the climb we had roller-coaster hills for what seemed like miles and miles. We rolled into camp dead, limping and thirsty. Paddy started to pitch the tent and I went to retrieve water which ended up being half a mile away. ( 22 blue blazes infact) Now to all our friends and family out there half a mile isn't long at all in the grand scheme of things but what started out to be a 20 mile day became a 21.6 mile day and a extra half mile there and back was just more than my poor feet needed. Second Twenty Mile day down.

Starting out on our third and final twenty we had multiple types of weather. Warm at first followed by wind, fog and then heavy rain. So lots of stops for wardrobe changes slowed us down. As we pushed towards our first up of the day the wind kicked up to the point where you could lean into it full pack on and not fall. As it continued to rain on and off we crested a few Balds that literally we so windy I almost got pushed down. At mile ten we hit our first shelter and decided to stop and dry out. As soon as we got under the canopy the bottom fell out of the sky. We then and there decided our three twenties were looking not so good. We set up out pads and sleeping bags and for the rest of the afternoon watched our crew drag ass soaking wet into the shelter. One by one they quickly followed our lead and called it a night. We had lots of day left so we ate and played farkle then ate some more. The shelter turned into a nine person clothes line. There we socks, underwear, pants, shirts etc hanging from anywhere and everywhere they could. We called it a night early and fell asleep to Swedish Dub Step House Music that our new friend Eddie from Israel or " the Wandering Jew" was playing. Third twenty mile day a flop.
As we woke up to freezing temperatures everyone quickly realized that wasn't the only thing that was cold. Over the night everyone's clothes had frozen solid. Our buddy Sleeping Beauty's socks were as hard as a rock. Everyone's shoes had frozen also. It was a hard morning getting everything packed up that was frozen, shoes on frozen and start hiking with frozen fingers and faces. Since Paddy Cakes and I were so cold we decided to run the remaining 16 miles into Erwin. Time and miles quickly swept by with the thoughts of pizza and clean clothes. As we crested one of the last ups with speed in our shoes we saw Erwin and were overwhelmed with joy we ran right by Sleeping Beauty's parents. But, they were quick to call us back for some wonderful and well needed trail magic of starburst, red velvet cake bites, sodas and juice. They are such great characters. We sat and talked for about 15 min about the trail and how everything was going so far. We thanked them and told them we hoped to see them soon again and with the thoughts of pizza still running through our heads we descended down onto Uncle Johnny's Hostel where we pitched camp and got three large hot and ready pizzas from Little Caesars. Clean clothes, clean body and hot pizza! What more could I ask for. 16.5 miles in 5 hours. A new record.
Sorry we don't have any pictures for this section because we forgot to charge the phone. But I did get a pic of Paddy Cakes double fisting some pizza. Enjoy!

Crazy Elmer - Painter Branch to Hot Springs

The first day of this hike was beautiful. There were carpets of white flowers all around. Lots of streams and creeks. We hiked 18.7 miles the first day. One of the big things many of the hikers talk about on this section of the trail is a place called Max Patch. It is a big bald on top of a mountain where you can see the other mountains in the distance for miles and miles. The pictures just don't do it justice. From there we pushed on. Our group broke up for a bit with some choosing to push further than others. Fatty and Funnybone finished with a monster 28 miles that day! Sleeping Beauty, Spanky, Puddin' and myself camped in a gap that was not quite as windy as at the tops of the peaks.

The next day we hiked 12.6 miles into Hot Springs, NC. The hike was not too eventful, but when we got to town we met Elmer. Elmer is an old man, and former thru hiker who runs a hostel out of the oldest, and one of the coolest houses in Hot Springs. He was a bit grumpy for our taste, but the price on the room was right and everyone raved about the organic vegetarian dinner and breakfast he served so we were in. The wallpaper on the walls was as old as the house, but the stories and company at the dinner table were worth it. He served a first course of vegetable soup. Next was a huge salad with every vegetable you cold want in it. 3rd was a delicious pasta dish, and he finished it off with key lime pie. We were in heaven. We retired to the front porch to digest and quickly got a food coma and went to bed.

The next day everyone but Puddin wanted to take a zero so the majority won and we got a cheap cabin by the river for 8 of us. Crankin met back up with us but unfortunately she broke a small bone in her foot that didn't allow her to continue. She will be section hiking parts of the trail with us as we get closer to Maryland and Pennsylvania. The day started with pecan pancakes and fresh strawberry syrup at Elmer's. Then we moved all our packs down to the cabin and had lunch at the diner near by. They served a laurel burger which consisted of a burger squished between two grilled cheese sandwiched. Amazing. We digested and went for a swim in the river. That night we had a fire at the cabin and cooked spiraled hot dogs and s'mores over the flames. It was a wonderful way to spend a day off the trail.