April 17th-April 28th

This post is really long as it covers almost 2 weeks! We haven't had great cell signal or much time lately. Hopefully we can keep this updated more consistently  in the coming weeks. This is also my (Cody) first time taking a turn writing this out! Enjoy!

April 17

Kaci and I, along with a few others, decided to slack pack this day the 14 miles from I-40 up through Max Patch to the Kana'ti Lodge.  The owners, David and Jeanette Kendall, offered to let all the Warrior Hikers stay that night. We hadn't slack packed before so we figured it would be a good idea. It turns out a few lessons were learned that day. It was a tough climb up the mountains and the humidity was stifling because there was a storm brewing. It was only a 40% chance of rain so I didn't bring any rain gear (Kaci did) or a change of clothes, which was a poor decision. About 2 miles in Kaci had an asthma attack which was pretty scary. She was okay, but we figure the fast climb with the heat and humidity must have played a factor. A few more slow miles later, the rain finally came, it was a cold rain. I had taken my only shirt off because it was soaked through with sweat, so I was hiking shirtless through the cold rain and wind.  Luckily, the rain only lasted a few miles. Of course the sun came back out and it got hot again, but at least I wasn't going to freeze. The mountain tends to be a little crazy sometimes! A few loooonnggg miles up and down hills and several hours later we finally came to the point where we thought our meet up point for the lodge was. Well there was a sign there informing us we still had an hour to go! That was quite the kick in the gut, because it had been a long day already and we were ready to be done. So Kaci and I headed up to Max Patch, which was beautiful, but we were almost too tired to enjoy it. We came to a "T"in the trail and were trying to figure out the map to the lodge that was left for us. A fellow warrior hiker, Steve-O, caught up with us. We finally figured out the right way to the lodge, it was almost dark, we were not happy and we figured we missed dinner but when we made it to the lodge, our mood did a complete 180! The Kana'ti Lodge is a beautiful log cabin and we were greeted by Jeanette and David; they are the nicest people ever! They invited us in and told us dinner had just been served. They had steak, chicken, potatoes, corn on the cob, brats, burgers, wine, and ice cold craft beer! It was amazing! We stuffed our face for a good hour, and then Jeanette served us amazing blueberry lemon swirl ice cream by the scoop and brownies until we couldn't fit anymore. The night was topped off by sitting around the fireplace, on leather furniture, drinking wine, and listening to David play old railroad songs on the player piano. We couldn't have asked for a better end to a bad day. The only bad thing was Gary, Liz, Tom, and Joelle got lost and didn't make it to the lodge. They were fine and ended up at a different cabin the next night, but they would had enjoyed this. The Kana'ti Lodge is actually a Bed and Breakfast, and I highly recommend it to anyone lookin for an awesome B&B in the mountains of western North Carolina.

April 18

Today started with the scent of fresh brewed coffee and bacon coming from the kitchen as David got up and made us all breakfast! We all sat on the porch and watched the sun come up while drinking coffee; it was super relaxing. David and Jeanette also own an organic farm down the road from the lodge and offered to show us around. Kaci, myself, and a few others rode down there and he took us for a tour. They have another cabin there that he built and a farm with all sorts of fruits and veggies, a mushroom farm, and chickens. He also has 2 WOOF'ers who volunteer there. WOOF stands for World Organization Of Organic Farmers. It is an organization where people volunteer to work on organic farms anywhere in the world. So that was a fun side trip. It was really hard to leave that day, but we still had 20 miles to Hot Springs with rain forecasted the next day so we decided to head of in the afternoon with Steve-O and Kevin. We knocked out about 12 miles that day. We had two big climbs, but nothing crazy. We wanted to go as far as we could so we would have less rain hiking the next day. We found a nice flat spot around dark and called it a day. 

April 19

We got up and had about 7 miles to go till we got to Hot Springs. It was kind of rainy but not too bad, not a down pour or anything. The most exciting part of this short hike was seeing our first, and hopefully last, snake. It was about 2 feet long and black with a small head just laying across the trail. It saw us and as Kaci approached it scurried back into a bush, much to my relief! We finished out the hike at the Laughing Heart Hostel where we were staying, it was right there off of the AT, so that was very nice. We changed clothes and showered and had a big lunch out of the rain. Kaci's parents came down to visit for the weekend and arrived that afternoon with our dog Dexter with them! They also brought Gary's dog Roofus too. The dogs are going to join us for about 3 weeks until we get to Damascus, VA. It was awesome to see the pups again and Kaci's folks were excited to see her again. Kacis mom, Lola, is going to hike the AT for 2 weeks next months and I think she was eager to pick our brains a bit. We had another big meal with them and called it an early night. 

Saturday April 20- Monday April 22nd

We stayed in Hot Springs, NC the weekend for Trail Fest. Hot Springs is a tiny little town with no chain stores or restaurants  in sight. It was voted #1 mountain town recently and has a festival every year for the hikers. I have a feeling that's where 75% of the towns annual revenue comes from! The highlights of the weekend were a free soak at the Spa in Mineral water and Kaci finally got her massage she's been wanting.  They also had a parade in which they had us Warrior Hikers lead. The parade was all of one block! It was the Warrior Hikers and about 30 kids on big wheels and that was it! But hey, it's the thought that counts right? I weighed myself for the first time and I am down 22 pounds! I started the trail at 215 and am now 193! Needless to say, I was super happy. We  took Kaci's folks back up to Max Patch and it was nice to be up there when we weren't all worn out. It was cold and windy, but everybody enjoyed it, especially Dexter! Rick and Lola headed back to Indiana, but they didn't seem too enthused to be headed back already. Other than that, we just relaxed the rest of the weekend. 

Tuesday April 23

We finally got out of the Hot Springs vortex and hit he trail. By the time we started we had about 4 straight days off which was really nice. I think all of our bodies needed it, and we all felt better. We hiked out with me, Kaci, Dexter, Gary, and Roofus. It was a steep climb out of town but the day overall was uneventful. We did about 10 miles and set up camp at Hurricane Gap. It was a warm night so we built a fire and ate dinner. It was a clear night and the moon was super bright. The dogs were pretty tired after their first full day of hiking, but they did great, minus Dexter being a little yappy, but he's a little dog, so he has that tough guy complex. 

Wednesday April 24

Today was cut short due to threat of thunderstorms. We ended up only doing about 7 miles total. We wanted to get up to the top of the next mountain, but the rain came early, so we set up the tents really quickly and stayed dry. It was kind of a long day being stuck in the tent for so long, but it was better than being soaked all day and night!

Thursday April 25

We slept in and took our sweet time; we headed out around noon today. We had a long 4 mile climb going up 2200 feet to start our day. Luckily, it was an absolutely gorgeous day. The climb wasn't too bad, but the last mile was super steep and pretty tough. We had lunch at the top and relaxed for a bit to get our legs back. The afternoon stretch took us over some rocky ridge line, but offered us some beautiful views of Tennessee and North Carolina. Some of the rocks were treacherous but the dogs loved it. I think Dexter was agitated with me for not going fast enough! For such a little dog, he was climbing around the rocks like a goat! We did about 9 mile total and called it a night in a gap. It turned out to be a pretty cold night, so Dexter got to sleep in the sleeping bag with me and I think he was very appreciative of that!

Friday April 26

We knew rain was coming so we wanted to put as many miles in as we could. We started around noon again and had some climbs but nothing crazy. The first mountain we went up was called Big Butt. It is a bald and it had a big meadow up top. We decided to stop up top and had lunch under some trees and it was really pleasant. A few miles later we passed the Shelton grave stones. It is the final resting place of William and David Shelton. They were an uncle and nephew from Madison County, NC, but enlisted in the Union Army during the Civil War. During the war they were heading home to a family gathering and were ambushed and killed by Confederate soldiers. The burial site was on flat land on top of the mountain under some trees. They were killed in a brutal way, but they were laid to rest in a peaceful spot. Someone still puts American flags on their graves, so that was a nice thing to see. We wanted to get down the mountain and up the next one before we set up camp because of the looming rain. It got dark as we headed up. Of course, it started raining too. We were about halfway up and Gary stepped on a rock wrong and sprained his ankle. He heard it pop so we went to the next flat spot and set up camp. It was swollen and bruised but he should be okay. We ended up doing about 12 miles total and called it a day. 

Saturday April 27

Woke up today to rain and more was forecasted. It had gotten chilly overnight. With rain and wind forecasted the entire day, and for Sunday as well, along with Gary's sprained ankle we decided to hike 7 miles to Sam's Gap and catch a ride  into Erwin, TN two days early. It was a good decision overall, and when we take off Tuesday, we'll go back to Sam's Gap to make up the 25 miles we bypassed. It was a very cold, rainy, gross hike but we made it relatively quickly. We ended up sitting under the I-26 underpass for an hour waiting on the shuttle to pick us up. A nice man named Tom was our driver and he drove us to Erwin. He gave us some good info on restaurants in the area and was super nice. We are staying at the Grand Southern Hotel in Erwin because it is the only hotel in town that allows dogs. It is certainly nothing to write home about, but I still think it is a step up from the Budget Inn of Hiawassee! We checked in, ordered pizza, and just relaxed the rest of the night.

Sunday April 28

Woke up to more pouring rain and reserved the room for another night. Tom swung by and gave Kaci and I a ride across town to a laundry mat so we could finally do laundry. We got that taken care of and walked across the street to a little Mexican restaurant/grocery store. Tom, the shuttle driver, said it was really good, and boy was he right! The burritos were huge and made fresh, you could hear the woman cutting and cooking in the back, and slapping out hand made tortillas. We stuffed our faces and set off through town trying to hitch hike back. After a few blocks a door swung open and told us to get in. A hiker named Hand Me Down, who we had seen on the trail, but never formally met, let us in. I guess he is from Erwin and was with his mom and Grandpa. They drove us back to the hotel and were super nice, plus they  kept us from getting soaking wet! As of this post we are just hanging out, watching tv, and relaxing for the rest of the day. We're in town tomorrow and going to Colony Earth, a local organic farm/sustainable living community which is having a dinner for the Warrior Hikers tomorrow and breakfast Tuesday. We are really looking forward to seeing that place, just hoping the weather improves!