GET - AT Hike

So yesterday we hit our 100 mile mark!  pretty exciting for us as a team.  in the middle of the trail was 100 written in small stones.  many hikers that we have meet along the way will not get the chance to see it.  As days go by we hear about people we have hiked, cooked and sat in rain storms with that have gotten off the trail for good.  Many of them end their journey due to not being prepared for what mother nature throws at you or getting injured.  susan, big corley and i are very fortunate to have made it this far without any major injuries ie. blisters, shin splints, hurt knees, etc.  dont get me worng, we do in fact wake up every morning feeling the sore feet and legs from yesterday’s trek through the mountains.

each day brings a new adventure or challenge for us.  what is the weather going to be like?  how far should we hike today?  do you think there will be water?  in the end we make it through. 

tonight we are calling the great town of franklin, nc home.  staying at a motel for the night before we head back to the trail tomorrow morning for our 3 day trek to the NOC.  we ate at an all you can eat bbq joint for dinner with about 10 other thru hikers.  it was nice to not have to cook your own meal and eat it while sitting in the dirt. 

we had some nice trail majic the other day as well.  gatorade and fishing frank hit us up before we climbed albert mtn.  they hooked us up with hot dogs, sodas, coffee, cherry cobbler, coco, and an assortment of other things.  it was great to meet them.  hopefully we will be able to return the magic someday to some other thru hikers. 

hope all is well on the home front.  

andy, susan, corley

Greetings from South Carolina and Happy Easter! 

We’ve made an unexpected stop back in our old stomping grounds at the Chattooga River in South Carolina!  We hitched a ride from the Hwy 76 crossing into Clayton, GA and had our buddies Roz & Zach come pick us up in town.  A big group of us went out to dinner at the local Mexican restaurant - margaritas taste so good after a week in the woods!  We’re sticking around for Easter dinner here and then another buddy Lee will drop us back on the trail early tomorrow morning. 

Last you heard we were in Neels Gap, trying to decide whether to stick around for a day or head out into “severe thunderstorms”… and we decided to brave the rain.  It was totally fine hiking in the rain, our gear stayed dry as did our upper bodies, and we went about 5.5 miles before hatching a brilliant plan to hike to a shelter 1.2 miles off the AT where no one else would want to go because it would be so far off the trail.  There we could hang our clothes to dry inside the shelter & keep our tent high and dry in our bags.  BUT, about 7 other people had the same idea so we ended up having to set our tent up anyway (although we made it fun by having the other hikers time us on how fast we could set up our tent: 3 min 50 sec).  We met some thru-hikers we hadn’t happened upon yet- Foghorn, Austin, Sean, Top Hat, Grasshopper, Joe & partner - and had a great time getting to know those folks.  A chilly night in the gap lead to frozen boots, tent & clothes in the morning and it was the hardest morning yet - so so chilly.  After a little while, our boots thawed and our clothes dried and it turned into a beautiful sunny day.  We hiked a nice 12.7 miles that day to Blue Mountain Shelter where we stayed with the same crew again.  We felt good after that long day so we decided to do another long day - 13 miles to Addis Gap.  That day kicked us in the butt, especially Trey Mountain, which was beautiful and clear at the summit, but the downhill side seemed to go on forever.  Went though the ”swag of the blue ridge”, which we’re still not sure exactly what it was… and finally made it to our campsite to find that the water source was half a mile down the hill… AH!   

 So the next day we hiked about 7 miles to Hwy 76, tired and worn out, and decided to roll into town to take a day off and give our aching bodies a little break.   Plus there’s good food & company here, so why not!  We resupplied our food at the local Ingles, filled up on beer and ice cream to keep us for the next few days, and are looking forward to getting back into the woods and crossing our first border into North Carolina this week. 

Thanks to our buddies Roz & Zach, Kristen & Dave and Lee for helping us off the trail, showing us a good time, and then seeing us back on it safely.  See you all at the Gauley this fall!  

And a special shout out to the boys from Georgia Tech who did have some awesome trail magic going on at Neels Gap - some hot, delicious hamburgers straight off a hickory wood-chip weber grill - two each!  After a chilly hike up and down Blood Mountain it sure put us in a good mood!  \

much love,susan, andy & corley  

susan & andy atop springer mountain, ga 2008/03/15 

I’ve uploaded photos onto our web gallery - find the link under the “photos” tab! 

Hello from Neels Gap, GA!

This is the first stop on the trail where you can get a shower and some ice cream - so you know we stopped!  We’ve hiked just over thirty miles from Springer Mountain, with lots of adventure along the way.  Andy’s friends from Columbia came with us the first weekend to see us off on our hike.  We got lost several times trying to find the parking lot to get up Springer Mountain, then ended up hiking the wrong direction for a ways… but we made it to the top around ten or eleven pm, where it was foggy, then rainy, thundering & lightening.  Saturday we set off in dismal, but promising weather, just to be met by a downpour, then some hail, then rain, more hail, and wind.  HA.  It was a long eight mile trek for me, but even worse for andy’s friends who didn’t bring much rain gear…  After a windy night in Hightower Gap, we hiked a beautiful 7 miles to Gooch Mountain Shelter, where we met some fun thru-hikers like Willowwisp, Columbus, & Britt.  Yesterday was windy and we spent most our time on ridges getting blasted, but with some beautiful views of smoky blue mountain ranges.  It was our longest day so far, 12.3 miles, and we were so tired that we saw the sunset from inside our tent, in our sleeping bags, just before we went to sleep!  Today we hiked a short mile up Blood Mountain, where it was nothing but white fog and wind at the top.  At the bottom we came to a little hiker haven, a hostel/outdoor store where they go through your pack and take out the stuff you don’t need (but i NEED that deodorant Cola Monkey!!) and feed you good food.  YUM!  Tomorrow, if it’s not pouring, we’ll head out to the next mountaintop.  If it is storming, we may just take a day off (a zero day) and rest.  Sounds good to me!  much love! susan aka shutterbug

 ps. i forgot my camera gear (card readers, chargers) at home, so i won’t be able to post photos until franklin, sorry!!