March 11th and 12th - Days 10 and 11

chillin' at the Sapphire Inn on our first zero day

We decided to stay in Franklin, NC over night in a cheap motel that quickly turned into all of the group wanting to stay Sunday night and taking a zero on Monday. The first zero was pretty awesome. Before Monday, we had been hiking at least 12 miles a day for 8 days straight and we wanted to give our bodies some rest, plus it was about the 4th night that we had a crew of 7 people staying together and we wanted to keep it that way. Our zero day consisted of packing 8 people in a cheap motel room and watching movies all day. It was a good day of rest but I was excited to hit the trail the next morning.

headed to the Sapphire Inn (Franklin, NC). The free AT hiker shuttle service picked us up at the Winding Stair Gap trailhead

on our way to the NOC

It was going to be a tough day but we are starting to knock out 15 miles like its nothing and that's the goal. We beat everybody to Cold Spring Shelter and put our group of 7 in there. It wasn't too cold and we were all pretty cozy. All in all I'm loving the experience and the people I'm meeting are really cool.

the crew taking a break

Fresh Ground whipping up some Trail Magic

This is much better than my usual snickers, trail mix and dried mangos.

enjoying the Trail Magic

What a view!

Happy Trails!

March 10th - Day 9

Shout out to these guys for getting me past the 100 mile mark earlier today. Only 2,075 miles to go. #yee

March 8th - Day 7

Woke up in Matt's lake house smelling bacon. I was super excited to have a good breakfast before the long day that was ahead. We started at Dick's Creek Gap in Hiawassee, GA at 2,675 ft elevation and were planning to end the day at Muskrat Creek Shelter which was at 4,580 ft elevation. The day was going to be tough but after a good night of sleep and some real food in my belly I was ready to take it on. We got to the shelter and met up with a good group of hikers that are more our age. We met Tosh, Lucky, G, Gummi, and Rubic, all trail names. I kind of ditched the trail name No Rush and everyone just calls me Panch. I like Panch better. Ross, Michael, Matt, and I are in a bubble of hikers we see everyday now. We are all starting to get pretty close and it is making the whole experience that much better. I still miss the older hikers like Blue Moon and Dixie but I'm sure they're knocking out miles at their own pace having fun.

made it to NC

shelter life at Muskrat Creek Shelter, NC