Day 10

Been awhile. My battery pack ran out of juice and I didn’t want to waste too much battery power.

So far I have done 109 miles of the Appalachian Trail. I got into Franklin, NC yesterday. Over that time, we skipped Hiawassee, GA because we had enough food to go through to Franklin for resupply. However, at one of the parking lots/gaps, a man by the trail name Atlas was with another man who was doing trail magic. I had 3 cookies, a banana, an oatmeal cream pie, and, because it was St. Patty’s Day, a PBR. All of it was delicious.

We continued to trek on to the shelters. Tuesday night we stayed at Rock Creek shelter where I met a group who had been together for awhile. One man, Jason (44), was a mobility trainer. I had explained to him that the lateral part of my right knee was in so much pain. I had just accepted it as life for the next 2000+ miles but he gave me some exercises that would help stretch it out. He also recommended a foam roller called The Orb from REI. I also met a girl whose trail name was Woodchuck, a teacher from Denmark named Johana, and a 20 year old from Ohio named Gunner. All excellent individuals.

The next morning I left early for Winding Stair gap to catch a shuttle into Franklin NC. Instead, I met a man named Thirsty Boots who was hitching a ride. Thinking it was more likely that waiting for another 20 minutes for the shuttle wouldn’t be a big deal, he got someone to stop to get a ride. He took us into town and dropped us off across town from where we wanted to be. In the parking lot of a Dollar General, we were studying a map when another man came and offered to take us to where we wanted to be.

Thirsty Boots (Jeff) and I ate at Shoney’s for breakfast. Thirsty Boots was a 66 year old man from Vermont who was doing his 3rd thru-hike of the AT. He retired at 50 years old and has since done the AT twice, the PCT twice, and the CDT twice. Pretty amazing. He didn’t have any real philosophical advice other than, as long as you can keep walking you can do the trail. We had an entertaining breakfast and then he went to Ingles to resupply and head back to the trail.

I decided to walk across town to a brewery called The Lazy Hiker. While walking, a car stopped to pick me up. It was Atlas! I would say small world, but he seems to just be around the trail and try to help out hikers as much as he can. He took me to a hostel that several hikers were staying at where I got to meet other hikers. Then I went to the brewery. It was really nice to get to meet with other hikers and have a few drinks. While at the brewery, I met the mayor of Franklin. He was super super nice!

I was there from 1 PM to 6 PM when my buddy from Asheville, Joshua, came to pick me up. With my knee pain and now knowing the stretches I need to do, I decided to take today and tomorrow as zero days for some rest.

I do love Asheville. We have had a blast and I got to meet his 17 month old daughter, Emma.

I wish this post were longer. My days are essentially wake up, pack up, walk, get to a shelter, boil water, eat, set up the hammock and get to sleep by 7:30-7:45 when the sun sets. I’m trying to come up with a better way for pictures. Also, I guess any questions or anything that anyone would want to know might help me gauge what to write about.