Today was a good day, a beautiful day. Numerous amounts of good hiking – though difficult, it was beautiful. It was also the earliest I got started hiking this far. By 7 AM (I think), I was dressed, had eaten, and was ready to go. There were a couple of people just waking up exiting their tents, but for the most part, the world was still asleep – the human world anyway, which makes for a very peaceful morning. If you’ve never hiked through some of the most beautiful stretches of the United States in the early morning, I highly recommend it.

As I mentioned last post, everyone was pretty low on food today, and they were headed for the next town: Franklin, North Carolina. As to be expected, my breakfast consisted mostly of raisins. Not a bad breakfast, but I was certainly looking forward to some real food. I was sleeping in the shelter, as opposed to tenting it last night, so I was trying to be extra quiet in the morning. I’m assuming that most of you know how shelters work along the Appalachian Trail, but many of you probably do not, so I will try to make a post about that soon.

I felt good this morning, so I started cruising pretty fast. After about 4 miles, I had made it to campsite where quite a few people had camped the night before. Quite a few of them were awake when I arrived, and they were sitting around the campfire. A second breakfast in the morning chat around the fire seemed like a good way to start the day. Before long, I set off again on the trail, and as I was the first one out in the morning, I ended up spotting a deer not too far off the trail. It was my first deer sighting so far. Surprisingly, there have not been to many wildlife sightings thus far. A few birds, few insects, but otherwise not too much. Hope to see more soon.

The climbs started out gentle enough, but that was soon to be remedied. Just before the hundred mile mark, there was a steep, rocky climb, nearly going vertical. Now don’t tell anyone, but it was a fairly difficult climb. I had to set down the trekking polls and use my hands to pull myself up a couple of times. The reward was worth it. Waiting at the top of the climb was a beautiful view and my new friend Hawk. After enjoying the views from the rock and from atop an old fire tower, we congratulated each other on reaching hundred miles in, and continued hiking. We talked about our respective plans for the day, and considered the idea of sticking together for a bit. I hiked with Crazyhorse and Young Gun for a while, and then I hiked with Hawk again for a while. For an old man, he sure had some horsepower. It always feels good to find someone who can hike your pace comfortably.

We decided to hitch in to town, as we arrived at a point crossing the road in the early afternoon. As luck would have it, we successfully hitched a ride within the first five minutes. Southern hospitality.

We secured a motel room, headed to the grocery store for food (which I got a lot of), and caught some dinner at the local Mexican restaurant. A successful and surprisingly efficient trip into town, we were both quite pleased. After business was taken care of, Goat and I headed downtown to play some pool at the bar. It felt good to be a normal person for a bit. The people managing the hotel and associated businesses have been extremely kind, and we feel honored to stay here. I got to meet Ron Haven, the owner, in the parking lot, and he was a very generous man. The all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet starts at 7:15 AM, so I think I better get some sleep. We are considering taking the shuttle back to the trail early in the morning, but we will see if I make it that early. An extra shower and a little bit of lounging time in the hotel room sounds pretty good.

As I said, I really great day for me. I managed to do 12 miles before noon, and a total of around 16 miles. I am hoping to do about the same mileage tomorrow, but I will be flexible, since I will be heading out of town. I really like the people that I have been hanging out with recently, so I hope to keep up with them, for at least a little bit longer. I expect to reach Fontana dam in four or five days, and after that come the Smoky Mountains. It’s going by so fast!

Sweet dreams,

Firewalker.