All Journal Entries

Had an early start today since we have 16 miles to do. Today was an absolutely beautiful section of the trail. We went over several balds with gorgeous 360 views. It was windy, but in my puffy I was comfortable. Passed out of North Carolina for the last time which was exciting. 2 states down; 11 more to go. Made great time and was back at the hostel at 3pm. My legs were exhausted, but thankfully nothing hurt. Spent the rest of the evening vegging out in the hostel.
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Got to sleep in today. Only 6 miles from Carver’s Gap back to Hughes Gap. Started the day with uphill. It was beautiful. Reminded me a lot of the smokies. At the top is Roan Mountain Shelter, the highest shelter on the AT. It’s nice, but too cold 🥶 to even consider. It was a nice downhill back to Hughes Gap. Luckily, the trail magic was still there and we had burgers again ☺️. The hostel picked us up and shuttled us back. On the way we stopped at the store and got steaks and the owners grilled ...

Today was my worst day on trail so far. It started off well. Woke up in the shelter warm and dry after a night of rain. The rain stopped by the time we got moving, but it was still cloudy with the wind causing water to fall from the trees. Shortly after we got started it started to hail. It was not fun getting smacked in the face with pebble sized ice. Stopping and resting was not an option because the only thing keeping me warm from the wind was moving. Not Sure decided to get off at Iron Mountain ...

Today is an easy day. Less than 9 miles to Cherry Gap Shelter. We are still testing out Not Sure’s heel. Good thing we are. After about 5 miles his knee started to really hurt. There were no roads between then and the shelter, so he decided to push to the shelter and then get picked up at Iron Mountain Road which is 3 miles farther tomorrow morning. 2 knees and I plan to continue on. Hopefully, Not Sure can rejoin us farther down the trail. There was a sick hiker tenting near the shelter. He probably ...

To test out Not Sure’s foot we slack packed ~9 miles from Indian Grave Gap back to Erwin. It was nice to go SOBO. One, because it was downhill. Knees were KT taped and held up well. Two, we got to see a lot more hikers. We counted 65+ thru hikers which is crazy. Going into town and the weather creates a bubble, but it’s far more than I thought. Saw some hikers I hadn’t seen in awhile. Beast, Tennessee, Lost and Found, Drizzle. It was nice to catch up. Made it back into Erwin just in time to miss ...