Heading back to the trail!

We've been stuck in town for multiple days now. The weather is terrible and cold. Our gear is rated for around 25 degrees and warmer, it has been around 13 degrees with the wind chill in town...even colder up in the mountains. We've heard of multiple people being rescued off the mountains in the last few days. Yesterday part of the Warrior Hikers went out and ended up coming back into town last night, their water bottles were frozen and they had some wind burn from exposure. Today we've heard there are about 3-4 inches of snow and that there are also pretty deep snow drifts. We're heading out today and hopefully the weather will be better tomorrow. We have cabin fever pretty bad and Hiawassee isn't the most entertaining town. I would personally prefer sitting it out for another night, but that's not what the group consensus is and the Budget Inn in Hiawassee is pretty shady. We're hoping to arrive in Franklin NC on Friday or Saturday for Hiker Bash. Send warm thoughts our way and enjoy your warm beds for us tonight!