March 29th through April 2nd

3-29 and 3-30

We got off the trail and found some trail magic at the road. Trail magic is people who set up camp and give trail weary hikers food/drinks, these people are called trail angels and for good reason. They gave us beer, water and bananas. They probably would have given us the shirts off their back if we'd asked for it. We waited awhile in the rain and the bus to town pulls up. The bus is driven by Ron Haven, he owns the Budget Inn in Hiawassee GA and Franklin NC. He also owns the Sapphire Inn and Three Eagles Outfitter in Franklin. Ron also drives the Franklin hiker shuttle and is the "honest, hardworking Republican" City Commissioner for that county (or so the advertisement in the shuttle read).  Ron is quite a character, full of stories and jokes but always willing to help anyway he can. He was the host of Hiker Bash that weekend as well. Franklin was a cute little town, it had a great view of the mountains and a super nice outfitter, Outdoor 76. I was able to find new boots at Outdoor 76. They were incredibly thorough and took about 30 or so minutes measuring and having me try different types of boots. Great shop and I highly recommend it to anyone passing through Franklin. We had dinner one night at Vito's Pizza. Amazing pizza and wings. Vito himself gave us rides home after the restaurant closed. He had to make a few trips but was happy to help. The normal rules of the road didn't seem to apply in Franklin, or any rules really. Ron's shuttle had people standing, one guy almost fell out the emergency exit in the back and Vito loaded people into the back of his hatchback and said, "if we get pulled over say we're delivering pizzas!" The Warrior Hike guys got quilts made by the Smoky Mountains Quilt Works ladies that were presented to them at the American Legion. They were beautiful quilts and each warrior hiker got to pick the one they wanted and they were personalized for them. Our second, and last night in Franklin was Hiker Bash. It was pretty tame when we got there so Cody, Gary, myself and two other Warrior Hikers, Steph and Dick, had some margaritas across the street at a Mexican restaurant. We went back to Hiker Bash and it was in full swing. Our new trail friend, Joe Cool, was pretty wasted singing on the mic and beer pong was in full swing. I had a beer but I'm not out here to party; it was pretty funny watching all the drunk people though. 

Sunday 3-31

This  morning we went to Sally and Don's house for Easter morning breakfast. They are part of the Nantahala hiking club and the American Legion. They were incredibly nice and the breakfast was great. I was feeling under the weather and they immediately offered to let me stay there in their spare room within about 2 minutes of meeting me. I decided to tough it out and we hit the trail. It was rough but about 6.5 miles down the trail we see a bright pink plastic Easter egg laying on a rock next to a stream, it says, "Please open!" I have Cody pick it up and inside there's a piece of paper that says, "Trail magic this way!!" We got excited and kept hiking. Soon we come down a hill and there's a cardboard box filled with oranges and on the box it has an arrow pointing to the left and says, " trail magic!" We obviously follow the sign and soon we come upon a glorious sight. There's a group of around 10 people with two campfires, tarps up to block the rain that will inevitably start pouring. As soon as we get there we're presented with hot dogs and burgers, beer, water, and soda. That is amazing, right? It gets better. Next we find out that they're making us Easter dinner!!! Ham, green beans, mashed potatoes, hard boiled eggs and some lemon cake stuff. It was amazing. They cooked 24lbs of potatoes and two hams! Most of us decided to camp there. I ate and took a 4 hour nap in the tent while it rained. I woke up, ate again then went to bed by 9 while everyone else partied. While I was awake I got to enjoy one of the trail angels playing guitar. He played some Neil Young (Heat of Gold) and then one of our German trail friends, Fresh Coke,( yes, the one from before at the shelter who was in his tighty whiteys peeing in the 15 degree weather) whipped out his harmonica and started playing along.  By the time dinner was over there were probably around 40 hikes at this spot. What had started as a few tents had become a tent city! It was a great way to meet people and see those we had already met along the way. We have a few notoriously noisy and, um, how should I say this, "Rambunctious" warrior hikers. We, and I'm assuming everyone else trying to sleep, were awoken multiple times to yelling and hooting and other noises typically produced by college freshman at their first frat party throughout the night. Overall, not a bad way to spend an evening! 

Monday 4-1

The next morning our trail angels who cooked us dinner made us breakfast too! Eggs, bacon, raspberry pastries and hot coffee! It turns out that these trail angels thru-hiked the AT last year and all met there from their different states to do trail magic. They call themselves the Sunshine Gang! Their trail names were Styxx, Double Back, Blacktop, Papa bear, Big Bear, Camel, 410, Psycho and that's all we can remember. A few were from Kokomo Indiana, pretty random. Cody and I left after breakfast. We were trying to make good time so we could make it to town early the next day so I could see a doctor so we hike 14 miles that day to Tellico Gap. It was a looooong day!! 

Tuesday 4-2

We woke up in Tellico Gap with 8 miles to the Nantahala Outdoor Center near Bryson City where we're staying for 2 nights. It was a long 8 miles, but by 9:15 we'd climbed a huge mountain with an amazing panoramic view. It was by far the best view we've seen. Minus a few ups and downs, the rest of the 6.5 remaining miles were downhill. Parts were very steep and rough on the knees. We tried our best to get here ASAP with hope of making it to a doctor. When we arrived we found out the nearest doctor is 33 miles away. I'm hoping a good night of sleep will do the trick, if not, we will be paying for a shuttle and taking an extra day off. Pretty sure it's just a sinus infection, but we're being precautions so it doesn't turn into something worse. Tomorrow is kayaking day at NOC (Nantahala Outdoor Center) at 11am. Hopefully I'm feeling up to it, but it may not be wise since the water will be really cold. We will be leaving again Thursday and heading toward Fontana Dam. We should be near Gatlinburg in a little over a week.