May 13-May 22

May 13th

We were leaving Black Bear Resort, where we stayed to dry out our gear, and headed for Watauga Lake. Right down the trail was Laurel Falls, which was very pretty! It was the biggest waterfall we've seen so far. The trail down was steep and all rocks, which was pretty treacherous at times. The trail around there wasn't very well marked and we got confused a few times. We found a nice creek area and Gary threw some sticks for Roofus who really enjoyed a good swim. We crossed lots of footbridges along the streams and began our climb up to Pond Flats. We'd been spoiled for a few days with nice, gradual terrain so this climb felt exceptionally long. Let me preface by saying that the day before this, I'd tripped and fallen along the trail into sort of a lunge type position. I (Kaci) had joked with Cody that I thought I'd pulled a butt muscle because it hurt and felt like it was about to cramp the rest of the day. By the end of this climb, I knew something was wrong. Climbing down this mountain after passing Pond Flats my hip started hurting really bad. My pace had slowed dramatically, about twice as slow and normal. I hobbled my way down the trail, very frustrated, very worried and pretty angry that I was dealing with more physical issues and limitations. We made it to Watauga Lake and found a detour because part of the trail was underwater for 

flooding. We ran into Mama Goose (Warrior Hiker Sharon) and our friend from the trail Neema. Mama Goose looked at my hip and knew just what it was by the way I was walking. It turned out that when I had fallen the day before I'd pulled/had micro-tears in my Gluteus Medius (yes, that means I pulled my butt!) Mama Goose said since I'd continued hiking on it, it caused my Busra (a sac that is in our hips...and are in other joints too) had become irritated and inflamed. Exactly what any hiker is really thrilled to deal with....joking. Mama Goose said, "No more hiking!!" When  we found our campsite that night I called my parents, who were luckily in the area hiking, to come get me. Of course they had no signal so I couldn't get ahold of them until the next morning. They drove down (about an hour away), picked me up and we headed for Damascus where I spent 2 days resting (and going insane!!) waiting for Cody and Gary to arrive. 

Tuesday May 14th

By Cody 

Kaci's parents made it Watauga Lake around 1230 today     We were lucky Rick and Lola were in the area or we would have had to get a hotel in Hampton for a few days. Hampton isn't the town to be stuck in either, with only Mickey D's in sight. Gary and I left camp around 100pm and hiked out with  Warrior Hiker Jesse and his dog Cooper, who had recently returned to the trail because he had left the trail due to an illness. We started out and crossed Watauga Dam and made our way up to the ridge line. The terrain wasn't to bad, but we had a lot more uphill climbs then I was expecting. I prefer hiking ridge lines because the up hills and down hills are less dramatic. There are more changes, but I'd rather have 10 little hills than 1 massive climb. So we walked the ridge most of the day and had nice views of Watauga Lake from 3000ft up. For those reading this from Southern Indiana, just picture Lake Monroe! We put in about 13 miles total and stopped for the night. Our chosen campsite was pretty crowded so Gary and I mashed down some tall weeds and plants and camped away from the main group.

Wednesday May 15

I got my trail name today! Yesterday while we were stopped getting water, I had mentioned  during introductions that I didn't have a trail name yet ( Sorry to Triton if you're reading this, but Sergeant Magic Johnson didn't stick!) I got some pretty weird looks and they said that I needed a trail name before Trail Days. Jesse came up with Nonstick because things don't really seem to bother me and just bounce off. I thought it was appropriate it so it stayed! Anyway, we set out fairly early in hopes of having a high mileage day. We went pretty fast for awhile and put in around 8 miles by 1. We came across a hiker group that calls themselves Riff Raff. They had set up a camp for 3 days in a farmers field in preparation for Trail Days. We stopped for about 2 hours to relax and enjoy a cold adult beverage. It was a beautiful day for the 2nd day in a row so we tried to soak in some sun. Gary and I took off about 4pm and headed back north. We knocked out another 6 miles relatively quickly, and still felt good, so we chose to try to go another 8 before dark to the next shelter. We beat feet for a few more hours and got to Abingdon Shelter. It had just gotten dark and Gary was feeling like putting in his biggest day so far. I felt good so I agreed to hike on into the night for the Tennessee/Virginia state line. It was another 7 miles or so, on very favorable terrain, so we made good time. I wouldn't want to night hike everyday, but I did enjoy it. It's cooler out and it's just really relaxed. We made it to the border about 1230am and it was awesome! It felt really good to put another state behind us. There was a campsite  right by the sign, so we set up camp right there. We ended up hiking almost 26 miles in about 14.5 hours, making it he longest day for both of us. Other than some tired feet, we felt pretty good!

Thursday May 16th

With only 3.5 miles to go till we get to Damascus for Trail Days, we got up and around fairly early by our standards and left camp about 1030. We were excited for a couple down days and I was ready to see Kaci again! We did the 3.5 miles in 59 minutes on very easy terrain. We got into town while all the vendors were setting up and met up with Kaci and her folks at the Old Mill where they had agreed to let all the Warrior Hikers camp. Tent City is where all the hikers camp for Trail Days, which is notorious for a raucous 3 day party. The Old Mill is private, which should allow for a good night sleep. We made camp by 2 creeks and spent the rest of the day relaxing....with some rain of course. 

Thursday May 16th-Tuesday May 21st

Damascus, VA: Trail Days!

A little background on Trail Days. Trail Days has been going on for 27 years and is the annual gathering of the current years thru hiking class and former thru hikers getting back together for a reunion. Damascus is a town of 910 but welcomes in around 20,000 people a year for the 3 day festival. It is mainly a reunion/ party and almost all hikers on the AT try to get to town, no matter where they are on the trail. 

As a group, we spent about 5 full days in Damascus, which was too long. We were supposed to leave on Monday, but of course, rain. It was a complete washout so we stayed till Tuesday. Since we were there 5 days, I will just hit some of the highlights and unfortunately, there were some lowlights. 

 We found out a friend most of us had met along the way named Biscuit had died. He was the guy Mama Goose and Jesse had helped in the Smokies when he tore up his knee. I had talked to him about a week before at Black Bear Resort and he had been asking about the Warrior Hikers, those two in particular. Everybody has said he loved our group and always tried to meet up with us when he could. He passed away at a couples house in town, but we haven't heard a cause of death. There wasn't drugs or foul play involved, be we just haven't heard yet. Mama Goose has talked to his mom and the couple he was with and has possession of his beloved Notre Dame hat he wore everyday. We are going to make sure it makes it all the way to Mt. Katahdin in Maine before being returned to his mom. His mom hiked the AT last year with a broken pelvis and he was deadset on making in this year, so in a way, he will be making it all the way. 

   The last lowlight came from the annual hiker parade. It takes place on the second day of the festival and most of the hikers walk in it. Everybody in the parade and watching has squirt guns and everybody is supposed to have a great time and soak people and whatnot. Some of you reading this probably heard about the incident on the news las week. An elderly man supposedly had a stroke and drove his car into a huge crowd of hikers right after it started. Around 50 or 60 people were injured with 6 being critical. One girl was even trapped under the car and a bunch of people literally picked it up off the ground to get her out. There were 5 Medevac helicopters called in and it was pretty scary seeing them all flying around. Kaci and I weren't walking in the parade because her hip was hurting, so we didn't actually see the incident. As soon as we got word of what happened I tried to find all the Warrior Hikers and make sure everybody was okay. It took about a good 30 minutes for us to track everybody down because they had gotten split up, so it was a nerve wracking half hour just hoping our group was okay. Eventually we found all and they were okay. A few of them were only about 10 feet away from the crash and watched it happen, so they were pretty shook up. All the hikers were clearly pretty upset because a lot of us know each other, at least in passing, and nobody really knew who was hurt or how bad. We came to realize that we barely know anybody's real name, just their trail name, so it would probably be awhile till we could find out. About 2 hours later the town held a town hall meeting and word trickled out that everyone lived and would be okay. You could probably hear the collective sigh of relief from everyone. That was not a good day overall. 

 Okay, no more of the sad stuff, on to some of the highlights:

Friday evening Granite Gear, the sponsor of Warrior Hike's back packs hosted us for an after hours party and fed us ribs, polish sausage, salad. It was delicious of course and we devoured it like we always do. They also had two coolers full of Devils Backbone brewery beer. The brewery wanted to help out our group so they graciously donated us beer! It was excellent beer and I highly recommend it! I'm pretty sure it's based out of northern Tennessee or southern Virginia, so keep an eye out. We also met AWOL, author of one of the AT thru hiking guides and Tin Man, who does pocket profile maps and mileage markers for us. It was neat to talk to some of the guys who put together the books that help us out everyday. Someone eventually broke out the jar of moonshine and it was tough. I love watching the faces of everyone who takes a swig, because that stuff is ssstttrrrooonnggg! It was a fun night, having all the Warrior Hikers plus Sean, the founder and leader of Warrior Hike who put it all together for us, and all the friends of the group, together in one spot for the first time since basically the beginning. We all had a blast that night, some more so then others! After we left Granite Gear, we went into the woods to the drum circle. Here lies a massive fire pit in the woods that the hikers use and have a huge bonfire. All the hikers gather around and play drums and dance and sing and just have a good time. Around the fire it was probably 15-20 people deep with people dancing around the fire. It's hard to explain but it was an awesome experience I never thought I'd be a part of. Just a bunch of people having a good time! We got back to the Mill where we were camping around midnight and called it a day. 

 Rick and Lola headed back to Indiana on Saturday ending their two week vacation. I think they were excited to sleep in their own bed, but that's about it! They headed out around and 11am to get home at a descent time. We also had to say bye to Dexter and Roofus as it was time to send them home as well. It was sad to see them off because I know they had a great time. Dexter did about 150 miles with us and Roofus did closer to 200. We were talking about getting them patches with their miles on them to sew onto a bandana they can wear to commemorate their time on the AT. Overall they did great and it was so much fun having them with us! It's a lot tougher having a dog to take care out here, just imagine hiking with a 4 year  old for 3 weeks and you get the idea! My recommendation is, if you ever want to long distance hike with your dog, make sure both of you are mentally and physically prepared and go over all he different scenarios that could arise, and if you aren't absolutely positive you are ready, don't even try! And don't let anyone say little dogs can't hike, because Dexter proved they can!

The rest of our time in Damascus was spent relaxing and trying rest aching bodies. Overall we had a good time, although I think we were there a bit to long. 

Tuesday May 21st

Finally leaving Damascus! After an overall good 5 days off, we are chomping at the bit to hike. I felt like the person who goes to a house party and stays waaaayyyy to long and overstays their welcome! Most of the hikers had left and we finally rolled out around noon and headed north. It was a hot and sticky afternoon as we made our way back into the hills of southern VA. Steve-O AKA Popeye returned to the hike after recovering from his appendectomy, so it was good having him back. About 8 of us were hiking together so we were trying to ease back into things. We went about 7 miles on the day and came across a really nice campsite near a creek an the Virginia Creeper Trail which is a rail-to-trail bike path. SteveO was hurting a bit as was Kaci, so we all stopped for the evening. It was a bummer having Kaci hurting again as we thought a week off would help her hip and knee. We stopped around 500pm and had dinner. It was a good idea to stop, no since in pushing people past their breaking point and hurting themselves worse. Around 8 the skies got dark and it started to storm. We all scurried for tents before it opened up.  The storm was right on top of us with huge thunder and a steady strobe light of lightning. We were in a pretty safe spot, but with lightning like that, and only a nylon tent around you, it's hard to feel too safe. It stormed for a good two hours before finally letting up and we could finally get some good sleep! 

Wednesday May 22nd

Woke up to some sunshine this morning and we had hopes of a nice day. Kaci and I decided to hike on the Creeper Trail for 8 miles because it is long and flat and has no climbs because it is an old railroad track. It links back up with the AT so we figured we'd hike on that to help Kaci out. Gary and Liz joined us and we took off around 11am. We put in about 4 miles in the sun and came across a nice cafe. We enjoyed a chili cheese dog, tater tots, and an ice cold Pepsi for lunch. I also had some birthday cake ice cream which was amazing! While eating the storm clouds blew up and we knew we had rain coming again. We decided to push our luck and head to meet the others. We did get rained on, but luckily we had a lot of tree cover and didn't get soaked. We met up with Mama Goose, SteveO and Kevin at the 8 mile mark SteveO was hurting pretty good so we went another mile or so to set up camp and wait for the storms to pass. We camped near and old train trestle which is a really cool backdrop to camp by. All told we saw 4 snakes today which is 4 to many if you ask me. One was dead, one was a baby, and the other two were big black snakes hanging on to the train trestle. We were eating dinner when the next rain came through. As of this writing (on May 23) we have had 15 days of rain over the 23 days this month! Going back further we have been rained on 19 of the last 30!! We all knew it would rain, but this is getting ridiculous! 

May 9th-May 12th

Thursday May 9th

By Cody

After 2 days of slack packing, we're back to packing full loads. Rick and Lola are heading out to new ground and I'm sure they are tired of shluping us around while on their vacation! We're grateful though because they helped us out alot! We weighed our packs before we left the cabin and I won, or lost I suppose, because my pack weighed the most. I clocked in at a whopping 48 pounds! That's waaaayyyy more than I should have, but I'm loaded down with dog food and lots of snacks for me. Ideally I'd have around 40, so hopefully I can knock that down some soon. Gary and Kaci both weighed in at 42, so that's much more manageable!  Rick and Lola dropped us back off at Carvers Gap just passed Roan Mountain and we headed north. What. A. Gorgeous. Day! It was beautiful! For the first time in several days there was abundant sunshine and warmth. We made a short climb up and were on Round bald. We had a great 360 degree view and enjoyed it their for a while. Our day was actually full of large balds and meadows--it was awesome! We made our way up another bald then made a short descent. We came across Yellow Mountain Gap and there was a sign marking the spot that a thousand American militiamen had crossed there in 1780 on their way to fight the British. We kind of stood there for a bit and I just tried to imagine a thousand men in ragtag uniforms with their horses and long barrels walking through that gap on their way to fight.  The sign said they won the battle so that was nice to see. There was also a shelter close by that was an old barn but had been changed over for shelter use. Gary checked it out, but Kaci and I passed. There was a steep climb up for a bit, then we came to another nice bald with another amazing view. We decided to stop and eat a bit and enjoy the amazing area. We sat on some big rocks and let the dogs off the leash so they could run around --they loved it! They tore around chasing birds and chewing sticks and you could tell the were having a great time! We also jumped around the rocks, messed around and took lots of goofy pictures just because we could. We made one last climb for the day and went up yet another bald to Hump mountain. It was about a 600 foot climb and it was steep but wow, what a view. It was yet another 360 view and we were mesmerized. We wanted to stay up there for the night to watch the sunset, but we were low on water and needed to fill up before setting up camp. We ran out of daylight so we decided to stop at the next spot. Finally, we came to Doll Flats which is right on the North Carolina/ Tennessee state line. The sign about 15 feet from our tent stated that we were leaving North Carolina for good, so that means 2 states completely done so far on our hike! We ended up doing about 12 miles total and had a great day! We all remarked how good a day we had and how we all needed a good day like that. It was a lot of fun and I hope there are more days like that. 

Friday May 10th

HEADLINE: "No rain" streak ends at 1!

We decided to get up early and crank out some miles, so we got up and broke camp around 9:30. Doll Flats is a meadow, so we had to deal with spiders and grasshoppers all over the tent. I guess Dexter didn't get enough sleep because he was very ornery this morning. He felt he need to yap at EVERY person and EVERY dog. We hiked alone for most of the morning. We did a quick 3 miles and crossed US 19 near the town of Roan Mountain before heading uphill. We crossed an area that is being monitored for the endangered Yellow Wing Warbler, but we didn't see any. Soon after lunch, the skies turned grey and the thunder started to rumble. It was only a 30% chance of rain for the day, and it opened up. If anyone reading this wants to travel to southern Appalachia, just assume if the weather says at least a 10% chance of rain, it WILL rain. We got soaked for a bit and had some close lightning, but made it through. We cruised by the Elk River for a bit, made our way up the hills and got soaked again. Not long after the 2nd soaking we came across Cannibal Curious and his girlfriend who had their two dogs with them. Dexter and I were first by them, Dexter and the other two dogs started barking at each other. I tripped over my feet and fell into a creek and mud. I scrapped up my knee a bit too. Needless to say, I was pretty frustrated with the rain/creek/bloody knee. Gary caught up with us and looked pretty mad. Apparently Roofus had pulled Gary down a hill, he got drug into the creek  (doing a few backflips along the way) and he was soaked! We were all mad, so we stopped at the next spot which was just up ahead. We had originally wanted to go 14 miles, but called it at 11 because it was a frustrating day. We camped near Mountaineer Falls which was a nice waterfall. We set up camp and called it a day. Hopefully better weather is around the corner! Oh, and we crossed the 400 mile mark today, WOOHOO!!!!

Saturday May 11

Woke up today to grey, misty skies. We were hoping that by some miracle we would see some sunshine, but to no avail. This is purely speculation, and I have no facts to back this up, but I think you'd be hard pressed to find an AT thru-hiking class that has had worse weather through the first two months than we have. I talked to some folks who thru-hiked last year, and he only got rained on 5 times on his whole hike, and 3 of those times were his choosing to hike that day, not because he had to! I don't want to complain too much because rain will happen, and we obviously know that, but it has rained SO MUCH over these last two months! We are so water logged and just want some warm sunshine. We got rained on most of today, on top of our wet clothes from yesterday, we are down to our last dry, clean clothes. The ones that are wet have this weird, pungent smell to them. We're assuming it is the beginnings of mildew, but it may just be a mix between the wet rain and sweat. We left camp around 1pm today because we just weren't really feeling it. In the world off of the trail, it would be a good day to lay on the couch under a blanket with a good book or watch a good movie. We agreed to just hike until 5pm, so that's what we did. Several people have been finding Morell mushrooms, so we took our time to scan for some. We didn't find any though. We have olive oil with us for the dogs, so were hoping to find some mushrooms to fry up for a good meal, or at least a snack. Not much else happened on the hike. We thought we'd be coming across some waterfalls we saw on the map, but we didn't see any. We ended up hiking 8 miles by 5pm, which wasn't too bad. We were completely soaked again and just ready to set up shop for the night. We chilled in our tent for a few hours and ate dinner then called it a day. Surely there will be better weather soon!

Sunday May 12th

Happy Mother's Day to all our moms! Luckily I was able to get a call into mom today and tell her. Lola is out hiking so Kaci sent a text to her,  Gary never got a signal, but I'm sure Linda knows Gary would have called if possible! We woke up to a very chilly morning, cold enough to see our breath! One would think May in Tennessee would be a tad bit warmer. We broke camp around 11. Our 2 days worth of nasty wet clothes are almost unbearable to smell and should probably just be burned. They're gag inducing.  The cold air mixed with grey skies again had us all in a funk. I had just commented that I felt like yelling to make myself feel better, so I did. Kaci said she could freak out herself. At that same time, Gary was trying to pack his tent away, but it wouldn't fit right, and he had a real freak out! He just made this crazy primal yell, ran, grabbed this random piece of plastic tubing that was at our camp, and chucked it as hard as he could into the woods! The best part was he fell when he threw it because the ground was wet and he rolled over on the ground and got more wet. Kaci and I were hysterical after watching this, which made him laugh, and we all felt better afterward. After this, we rolled out and had about 8 miles to do. Due to being out of clothes and just needing to warm up and dry out, we decided we would go back to the Black Bear Resort to rent a cabin where we stayed with Rick and Lola earlier this week. Luckily, I had a signal to call and we got the last one. These are more like a bunkhouse than a cabin, with a shower house and restroom in a building near by. One of the cleaner and newer places we've stayed, really a nice place. Believe it or not we had some sunshine during the afternoon. I was almost blinded by that big yellow thing in the sky since it had been so long since I'd seen it. It even warmed up a bit! It was a relatively easy hike and we arrived to the cabin around 3pm. We all took showers, piled up our stinking mass of nasty clothes and got them in the washer. Gary and I caught the shuttle into Hampton and went to Dollar General to resupply and grabbed McDonalds for all of us for dinner! I decided since it had been a tough go the last few days, I bought us each a Heineken that I felt was well deserved. I'm glad we chose spending the money on renting a cabin for tonight because the temperature is supposed to drop down to 32! As I write this, Kaci is reading and Gary is packing. We've gotten all the 'chores' done and are just going to relax all night in the warm cabin. I think clean laundry and full stomachs is exactly what we needed to lift our spirits after a cold, sloppy, wet slog the last 3 days. We are still motivated and excited to be on the hike, just ready for some warm sunny days to join us!! We are 50 miles out from Damascus, VA where will be arriving on Friday for Trail Days! Trail Days is the biggest hiker event on the AT and every hiker tries to make it there. We are planning on doing roughly 10 miles a day to arrive there on Friday the 17th. We will be taking several much needed days off. We are all looking forward to Virginia and hanging out in Damascus!

May 4-8th

Saturday May 4th-Monday May 6th

By Cody

What a lovely 3 days we had in Erwin...or not. I went to bed Friday night at 1145, feeling fine. 130am rolls around and that has changed drastically. I woke up shivering and shaking and I couldn't stop, as well as my stomach going nuts. I hurried myself to the bathroom where I promptly threw up all my dinner...the dreaded Norovirus had struck. The Norovirus is the dreaded 24 stomach bug that's been spreading like wildfire along the AT, and Erwin has been infested. I had several trips to the boys room that night the puke amongst other things and finally calmed down around sunup. I told Kaci and Gary there was no way I could hike and we decided to stay again Saturday. Kaci did a great job taking care of me and made a store run to get me Gatorade. Mama Goose gave me some stuff to calm my stomach and make me sleep. There's not much I can report from Saturday because I didn't leave the tent for almost 24 hours because I was asleep. I was only awake an hour or two until 7am Sunday morning. Kacis parents made it back to the area and Rick set up camp with us while Lola started her section hike. I believe everybody had a very chill day. On Sunday I woke up feeling better so I took a shower. The monsoon had set in and it rained alllllll day. Rick made sausage and bacon for breakfast and we spent all day in our tents. Gary fashioned an old tarp and connected our tents so we stopped feeling so isolated! We played some trivia on Kacis Kindle and it helped to pass the time. Rick brought down some food for us From Dats Cajun restaurant in Bloomington, IN for us! He was talking to the owner Bob Crowley who is a former marine, and he and Rick got us 40 pounds of food! It was amazing! So Sunday evening we cooked Thai Peanut Ettofe and buffalo chicken. It was donated to Warrior hike, but since we had 40 pounds we were able to feed the whole hostel! Needless to say everybody was loving us! I'm not sure spicy Cajun was the best choice on my still sensitive stomach, but I mowed it down anyway, and enjoyed every bit of it! Dats is delicious anyway and after seeing how generous the owner is, I hope his good intentions don't go unnoticed! If you live In the area and love Cajun, go to Dats in Btown! It's right on 4th street next to all the other houses converted into restaurants! You WILL NOT regret it! That night we went to bed and it was still raining. We got 2 inches during the day and another inch over night.  A couple  people were camping along the river and were hesitant to move their campsites to higher ground, but they finally decided too. It's a good thing because the Nolichucky River rose really fast over night and they would have gotten washed away! I was standing on the bridge watching whole trees float under me, it was crazy! I hadn't seen a river that flooded in a long time. Monday  we got up and the forecast was  still crappy. Since I was still recovering, we took one more down day. We moved up to Black Bear Resort where Rick and Lola were staying because they had room for us. They took us to an Outfitter in Johnson City and we messed around for the day. We were all getting cabin fever and ready to hit the trail again since we had been off for 3 days. The weather this year has been nuts. I never would have guessed we would have this much rain so far. It's not that we're being fair weather hikers, it's just not smart to head into the mountains when it's raining 2 inches per day and 45 degrees. Every hotel and hostel along his stretch of AT was full with all the hikers coming down. Being wet for one day is one thing. Being wet and cold for multiple days is another and can get you in trouble fast! 

Tuesday May 7th

Regardless of weather, we were heading out. My stomach had calmed down and I think I finally kicked the bug. Because we missed so much time, Rick offered to help us slack pack and get some miles made up. In order to maximize miles, we chose to start today at Iron Mountain Gap and hike southbound back to Erwin. This way we would flip flop and have less climbing and more downhill. This was going to be a 20 mile day, so we wanted to knock it out the easiest way possible. The first 8 miles of the day were awesome. Good weather, and good terrain. We climbed Unaka mountain where it is beautiful. The whole top is covered with spruce forest, so we felt like we were in a completely different place. It smelled great, and was jus really pretty. We messed around up there and took lots of pictures. After that we started getting into hiker mode and headed out. By this time the weather was setting in and we needed to hurry. We ended up getting rained on for a good 2 1/2 hours, go figure. I learned my lesson from our first slack pack and actually brought my rain coat! Most of the afternoon was downhill so the terrain was good, but we were above the cloud line, so we had no views. Most of it was spent with our heads down watching our footing and just hiking hard to go fast. The rain finally quit for a bit and we kept chugging along. Of course the last mile into Erwin it started raining again. We ended up covering 20 miles in 8 hours and 45 minutes. We couldn't get out of Erwin fast enough and I was so glad to see that town in our rearview. We spent way to much time and money in that town over the days we were stuck there and it felt good to move on!

Wednesday May 8th

Today was another extremely gloomy day. I tell you what, we can't catch a break on this weather. Kaci decided to take the day off today because she was really feeling that 20 miles she did on an already sore knee. Gary and I were feeling good so we went out to tackle a 15 mile slackpack. We started out at Carver Gap and went southbound again today back to Iron Mountain Gap where we started yesterday. We did this because we wanted to go up Roan mountain on the shorter side instead of making the big climb up, and we could go faster. We climbed up to the top and started back down making really good time. We passed alot of the same people and they kept asking "didn't we pass you yesterday?!" We said we were just taking advantage of the slackpack while we could! We didn't have any good views at all today. We were completely socked in all day, mostly above the cloud line, so there wasn't much to look at. We felt like really stepping it out today so we pushed it pretty hard. We ended up doing 15 miles in 5 hours and 40 minutes which is slightly less than 3mph, which is a pretty fast clip. I enjoy hiking fast once in awhile, but I wouldn't want to go that fast everyday. I'd rather move slower and stop and smell the roses so to speak. Some days we'll fly, but I like the slow and steady variety more. We've done 35 miles the last 2 days, so were making up some time. We're back to only needing to do 10 miles a day over 9 days to make it to Damascus on time. Rick and Lola are moving up north tomorrow, so were hiking out again with full packs like normal. We will be starting at Carvers Gap again and heading north like normal. I'm sure our  packs will feel like we're carrying bricks after slackpacking for 2 days! I weighed my pack and it weighs 46 pounds right now. Thats quite a bit of heavier then Id like, but Im loaded down with food, so that should get lighter soon. We're hoping to do 15 more tomorrow since the majority is downhill. Hopefully we can do a couple more big days to    take a zero day without falling behind. We are just desperate for some sunshine. This miserable weather is just depressing and we just want some sun and nice weather for a few days to dry out! The forecast so far looks good for a few days, so hopefully it pans out. The terrain is getting a little flatter from here on out, so were looking forward to less mountains and more flatness! Hope we can update again soon. Until then, take care everybody!

April 30-May 3

By Cody

Monday April 29

Today we woke up to some sunshine finally, but we had to begin the lovely task of re packing our packs and making sure we didn't forget anything. Every time we've stayed at a hotel on the trip it ends up looking like a college dorm room. We have to unpack everything in small rooms,  usually do dishes in the bathroom sink and have laundry strewn about to dry. This time we had a stack of pizza boxes and to-go boxes from the delicious Mexican place as well. We got 2 of the things we had been craving the past week, but I didn't get my Wendy's. I've been craving a baconator for 6 weeks now, and I cant wait until I can sink my teeth into one! After picking up a few more food items, we hiked down to Uncle Johnny's hostel outside of town to wait on our ride to Colony Earth. Kaci finally picked up her new Kindle she just bought and has downloaded quite a few books already. I believe she is reading, " Into The Wild" as I type this. I'm sure she would appreciate any other suggestions anyone may have! At 3pm the bus to Colony Earth picked us up. Xavier Hawk, the patriarch of the farm, was driving. Very fittingly, it was a biodiesel bus. Xavier is a very cool guy and he immediately cranked up some Peter Gabriel and asked us if we thought 3 cases of beer would suffice. Of course, everybody thought that was a good idea! About an hour later, near Burnsville, NC we arrived at his farm. It is an 11 acre organic farm carved into the mountains. He took us for a tour after we set up our tents and it was super interesting. They grow all kinds of fruits and veggies, raise goats and chickens, have lots of solar  panels, and we helped them finish a greenhouse. As we walked around, he had us picking fresh greens and flowers for the salad we were going to have for dinner. We grilled burgers and hot dogs, had some chips and hummice, and had fresh salad and it was delicious! Afterward, we all sat around the fire and relaxed. A guitar, drum, and a didgeridoo made their way out and it was a great way to close the day. Xavier was able to play the didgeridoo really well and free styled onthat for a bit. That has got to be the coolest instrument ever!

Tuesday April 30

We all woke up to a nice warm sun this morning and took our sweet time getting up and around. We all made our way up to the kitchen for breakfast and coffee. Xavier and his wife Jamie had eggs and potatoes out for us and told us to help ourselves. Kaci cooked us up some and it was really good. She said it felt good to cook again since we haven't cooked in a kitchen for 6 weeks. Before we left for the AT, Kaci and I were cooking at home almost everyday. At noon, a man named Adam who teaches Lakota culture through ceremonies and medicines, arrived at the farm. Xavier had arranged for us all to experience an authentic Lakota peace pipe ceremony while we were there to help us along our journey. I know what some of you are thinking ( mom and dad!) but there was nothing illegal going on. What's smoked is a mixture of some tobacco and ancient herbs that's blessed by the person putting on the ceremony. We all sat on the yoga deck in a circle an Adam talked about the history of ceremonies, what they are used for, and how they work. He also told us about all the items that were there, and what they represented. We all smoked from the pipe, but there is no inhaling. The smoke is presented as an offering, not as something for you. It was a really cool experience, and probably something most of will never get the chance to do again. It's experiences like that that  we will probably remember more from this trip, then of some things we did on an average hiking day. After that was over we helped them inoculate mushrooms on logs. This was really fun to see, because a few weeks ago at the Kana'ti Lodge, we had seen the finished product at David's farm. He told us how he did it, but today we got to see it done. By this time, it was already 3pm and we needed to head back to town. Xavier dropped Kaci and I, Gary, Liz, and Steph back off at Sam's Gap. Since it was so late, we only hiked about 1.5miles and set up camp. Everyone had a great time at Colony Earth, and I'm glad that we were able to see it.

Wednesday May 1st

Hard to believe it is May already! It seems like we were at Springer Mountain, GA stepping off on this adventure ages ago, but yet it's hard to believe April is behind us already. It sure doesn't feel like May though. There has been a chill in the air all day, but as I write this in the tent, I am pretty chilly. Dexter thinks its cold too, he's snuggled up by my feet, at the bottom of my sleeping bag! We had another shorter day today. I'd say we  went 6 miles or so. It was a rather long 6 miles though because it was mostly up hill. Liz is just getting over an ailment and Kaci wasn't  feeling 100% so we decided to take it slower. We planned on just reaching the top of the mountain called Big Bald and calling it a day because there is a big meadow on top, but it was way to cold and windy on that spot. Of course things like that happen when you're up at 5500 feet, but we were hoping it would be nicer. We went another half mile or so passed the top, but didn't drop much elevation, so that's why it's colder tonight. We haven't camped at this altitude since early in the Smokies. Our saving grace tonight is our campsite. Liz found a nice spot tucked behind a huge rock, so the wind is going over the top of us. We built a fire into the rock because there was a natural chimney and it worked nicely. As we sat around it got much cloudier and windier and I believe I can here several rain drops coming down now. So much for 10% chance of rain! It shouldn't be to bad though as long as the wind doesn't change direction. Here's to hoping for a warmer day tomorrow!

Thursday May 2nd

Woke up this morning to the weather still being cold and windy with a little mist to boot. We all moved pretty slowly because its hard to get motivated to get out of your tent when it looks like it'll pour any minute. After about an hour it started to get brighter with the sun burning off some of the fog. We left camp about 1130 and we went the half mile to the shelter to fill up our water. By now the sun was peeking through and we were happy we wouldn't be getting wet today. The temps weren't to bad either. Out of the wind it was fairly warm, probably in the low 60s. In the wind however, it was quite chilly. Most of the day didn't feel like May at all. Most of our terrain today was flat or slightly downhill, which was a nice change of pace from the last few days of hiking. We had three climbs today, but none were terribly difficult. We stopped for lunch about 5 miles in and made fun of Gary for picking a bad spot. We just passed a sheltered rocky area which would have been great,  but he picked a lower spot with plenty of wind and it was chilly. We left lunch and went another mile to Spivey Gap to top off water. There was a group of hikers getting picked up by a friend, and one of them brought us a Miller Lite. I'm not normally a fan, but after a day of hiking , any beer tastes good. After a short break we made a short climb and then the terrain turned really nice. We just hiked along about 3 or 4 miles of flat trail with very little wind. We decided we would stop for the night whenever we found a descent flat spot. We topped off water one more time, went passed No Business Knob shelter and found a real nice spot off the trail, for a total of about 11 miles on the day. We set up camp, built a fire, and ate some dinner. Kaci found a fake snake on a stump today so we took it and put it in Gary's sleeping bag when he wasn't paying attention. We didn't get the reaction we were hoping for, just a "what the hell!?" Followed by a " please tell me that's a fake snake!" Kaci, Liz, and I got a good laugh out of it though. Only problem is he now has a fake snake to use on us, so we have to keep our eyes open! We have about 6 miles left to Erwin, where we will be stopping again. It kinda sucks to be back there because we basically back tracked, but Kaci needs to mail some stuff home and we all need to pick up a bit more food, enough for about 6 days. Plus we'd all like to shower and do some laundry as well, and I'd imagine the people around us would appreciate that too. We're planning on tenting at Uncle Johnny's Hostel tomorrow night and heading back out Saturday morning. Nobody really wants to spend any more time in town then we have to, but hopefully we can get a good lunch or dinner out of it. There are a couple towns about 50 miles north of Erwin that we will be aiming for for another quick resupply probably around next Wednesday or Thursday. Everybody's spirit is still high and were having a great time. The dogs are also doing great, although Dexter just loves to bark at anything and everything. But I suppose you'll have that with little dogs that have a Napolean complex! It's a little more difficult having dogs out here because you have to carry their food, keep an eye on them, and someone always has to be with them. But, it's been alot of fun with them and they help add a little something extra to this whole experience. Plus, you can tell they are having a great time! It'll be tough when we have to send them home, but I think it's asking a bit to much to have them out here for hundreds of miles. But until then, we are certainly enjoying their company! Anyway, we've got an early morning tomorrow, so I will sign off here for now. Hopefully when I write tomorrow's blog, I'll have a belly full of Baconators and French fries!

Friday May 3rd

Got up today around 8 and broke camp about 1015. We wanted to get to town earlier today so we would have enough time to run errands and get resupplied before places closed. We made great time! We did 6 miles in 2 hours and 10 minutes, which is really fast for us. The terrain was still very nice so we were able to hike very quickly. It was a warm day and very pleasant, great for hiking. Had some nice views coming down into Erwin of the town itself and the Nolichucky River. We got to the hostel around 1230 and paid for a spot and set up the tent. Lucky for us they had just fired up the grill and were making burgers and hot dogs for everyone. Kaci, Gary, and Liz caught the shuttle into town and got he stuff we needed while I puppysat. They also ordered pizza while they were out, so that made for a good dinner. Unfortunately I didn't get my Wendy's, so that'll have to wait for another day, oh well! The rest of the evening will be spent doing laundry and relaxing. As I was typing this, we were sitting at the picnic table waiting on the washer and two guys, Bo and The Dude decided to wrestle for fun. One of the Warrior hikers Sharon, AKA Mama Goose, who is a physical therapist told them " Dont make me work tonight!" Well the match went quickly, but 5 minutes later someone asks her for help.  The Dude apparently has an AC seperation in his shoulder. He took it like a champ though and just laughed it off, and said he wasn't in pain. We hadnt met before but hopefully it is okay! Never a dull moment when hikers are bored! We plan on heading out tomorrow and heading north again! Unfortunately, we lost another Warrior Hiker today due to injury. Dick hurt his ankle a couple days ago, so he needed to stop hiking. As of now we are down to 10 Warrior Hikers left out of the original 14. Only 8 of us on are the trail now, because 2 are at home recouping from injuries, but they will be back soon. That's about it from today, ready to leave town and get back on the trail! Ill update the blog as much as we can over the next few days!