All Journal Entries

Got back on trial about 9:30, with 11.2 miles to Addas Gap. It was a cold morning and played the layer game all day. Jacket on, jacket off, gloves on, gloves off. Stop take a break, everything back on. Had a spring in my step because my right knee had zero pain. Hooray! Made into camp at 4:30. Last time I had similar miles, I got into camp closer to 6:30. It’s exciting to see improvement. Earlier night due to cold. Hopefully, I’ll sleep comfortably.

Very glad with my decision to stay another day in town. It’s very cold and windy in Hiawassee, can’t imagine being on the mountain in this. Switched over to the Budget Inn for the night since its cheaper and it will be more convenient to shuttle back to the trail. My friend Lizzie decided to get off trail and come into town due to the cold, so we are splitting a room. Decided to take advantage of the zero day and go to Urgent Care and get my knee checked out. The doctor believes it’s just inflamed, ...

Got up about 8am this morning to rain and my tent was in a good 2 in puddle. Stayed relatively dry considering. Packed up my gear and hung out in the shelter until about 10:30am since my shuttle wasn’t until 2pm. It was interesting to hear everyone’s plans on how to beat the weather. Go into town, stay at the shelter or hike on and hope there will be room at the next shelter. This is my first deviation from plan and I would be lying if I didn’t say that it doesn’t bother me to be delayed, but I’m ...

Had a great sleep last night. Woke up warm and cozy. Only 7.3 miles today, so no rush. The first 5 miles was a gradual uphill which was great on my knee. Ran into Justin again on trail. He is wearing his grandfathers WW2 uniform and pack. When I meet him at Neels Gap he would only talk to me in riddles, so haven’t gotten much of his story yet. Made it to Blue Mountain Shelter around 3pm and set up my tent. Got my first 🔥 of the trip. I love the smell of a burning wood fire. It’s suppose ...

Had another great breakfast this morning. Can’t thank Bonnie and Paul enough for there hospitality. Paul shuttled Papa Bear and I back to Neels Gap and I was back on trail by 9:30am. Started off feeling really good. Pack was well positioned, it’s nice weather, and my knee was feeling good. On the descent into Tesnatee Gap my knee started to hurt, but not as bad as it did on blood mountain. Thankfully, I had my first run in with Trail Angels. They had burgers, lemonade, brownies and more. They were ...