Wingit and Don't Panic - 2009 AT

DONE!!!!!

2009-09-13T05:40:00.000-07:00

We made our summit of Mt. Katahdin at around 10:40am, September 10, 2009. Taking a few days in Millinocket, ME to enjoy the End of Trails Festival, then onward to our respective homes. I hope to update the blog within the first week that I'm back home, but I suppose I shouldn't make any promises....

Well, okay...

2009-08-28T04:04:00.000-07:00

So, we're in Maine, and finding internet is becoming more and more difficult. I, and everyone who follows this blog, is going to have to wait until the end of the trip for me to update. And this time, I mean it!

Dalton, MA

2009-08-01T09:02:00.001-07:00

Trying to update the blog, but again, there are time limits to the computer use. Will keep updating as much as possible.

Still alive....

2009-07-17T15:03:00.000-07:00

We are now in Unionville, NY. We can't seem to find a computer with unlimited time to update the blog, but please keep track; you never know when there will be a huge update.

We are still alive

2009-06-20T13:44:00.000-07:00

Computers have been few and far between, (and with time limits) so we haven't been able to update as often as we'd like. We will update more when we can, but for now, just know we were last in Waynesboro, VA, and will probably update again when we arrive in Harper's Ferry, WV.

Waynesboro

2009-06-20T08:50:00.000-07:00

We hiked out of Glasgow in good spirits. It had decided to drizzle, but it wasn't a bad day to hike. The next morning, however, it was raining and didn't let up once all day. We got to Priest Shelter, stayed the night there reading all of the "confessions" in the register. The next day was slightly foggy, but was clearing up by mid-morning. We had taken a break by Harpers Creek, and Don't Panic went ahead to sign the register. Wing It was still putting on her shoes when the unthinkable happened: her pack went end over end into the creek! Most of her stuff was in a liner bag, and therefor spared, except her cellphone and camera. Furious, she used her angry energy to fly up the Three Ridges, with the intent of making it into Waynesboro that night. Exhaustion finally caught up, as did Don't Panic, and we decided together to zero in Waynesboro whenever we arrived. We camped near the Blue Ridge Parkway with MIJ (Made In Japan), a fellow hiker from Japan that we had met earlier. The next morning we all but rushed to get into town, with the hopes of drying out the electronics. We got in, found a hotel, and tried everything we could to save the phone and camera. The phone made it, but alas, the camera that had been through hell on the PCT, died in Waynesboro, VA. All photos on the memory card should be okay, but we have no idea when they will be uploaded.

We zeroed in Waynesboro, eating at Ming's, an all-you-can-eat Chinese restaurant that had to be the best on the trail so far. Everything got dried out, and we hoped to make miles in the coming days.

Natural Bridge

2009-06-15T08:38:00.000-07:00

We wanted to into the town of Natural Bridge, so we hiked two miles to Glasgow, and got a ride from a trail angel. Natural Bridge is the home of a geological formation in which Cedar Creek carved out a gorge in the mountainous limestone terrain, forming an arch 215 ft high with a span of 90 ft. But that's not why we came. We came for another attraction, the Dinosaur Kingdom, a hand-made, fiberglass creation by local artist Mark Cline. It depicts dinosaurs versus the Union Army in an alternate universe Civil War! It was spectacular! Corny, but well worth the $8 to get in. We also went into the Haunted Mansion, by the same artist. Afterwards, we walked back to our motel room, and on the way was another Mark Cline creation, Foamhenge. It was a life-sized replica of Stonehenge, made with foam! There was even a fiberglass replica of Merlin, who in one theory helped make the original Stonehenge. Overall, a great nearo!

Blue Ridge Parkway

2009-06-13T08:19:00.000-07:00

We left Pearisburg around noon, and hiked through fields of freshly cut grass, farmsteads, trees and the heat. We met Gutsy, a lady who was section hiking and picking up pieces of each of the three long trails. We got a lot of information from her regarding the Continental Divide Trail. Don't Panic at on point saw a copperhead by the trail, and used Gutsy's trekking pole to fling it off into the woods. Wing It wasn't feeling well, but we somehow still made it 20 miles to Pine Swamp Branch Shelter. There, we met the snore swallower, a section hiker with the loudest, most strange snore we had ever heard.

We walked through fairly nondescript land, and even night hiked a bit to get to Keffer's Oak, the largest oak on the AT in the south. It was a pretty impressive tree. The next morning we hiked through more fields and saw a lot of cows. We had to go up and over many stiles, wooden structures for hikers to safely climb over barbed wire, which got annoying after the 20th time. We made our way to Pickle Branch Shelter, named, we think, because the stream had a very alkaline flavor. There we met Miles, someone from Seattle that we bonded to right away.

The next few days we were hiking through more farms and fields, then the skies opened up and poured on us. We hoped we would get views by the time we got to the Tinker Cliffs, and sure enough the rain stopped and the clouds began to clear in the sunset. We had our first great views in a long while. We then pushed on to Lamberts Meadow and stayed at the shelter.

We got into Daleville, VA for Miles' birthday, and had lunch with his folks. They brought grilled chicken, potato salad and an upside down pineapple cake. Wing It even had some, though she is allergic to pineapple. Don't Panic got his wish to watch some basketball playoffs and dink some beer.

The next day we resupplied and bought much needed new shoes. We hiked out and stayed in the Wilson Creek Shelter. We were now approaching the Blue Ridge Parkway, which the trail once used. The ATC (or local hiking club) decided to move the trail back into the woods, thus missing every possible view. The only time we had views was when we would cross the road. Very disappointing. We stayed at shelters Bryant Ridge, a massive structure that could sleep 20, and Matts Creek.

One Quarter Of The Way There

2009-06-11T15:20:00.000-07:00

We left Atkins, and after six miles or so, we hit the 1/4 mark! Already a quarter done! We celebrated by drinking a couple of beers that we had packed out. The rest of the day went uneventful and we got to the Knot Maul Branch Shelter, and decided we felt good enough to keep going. We crossed a large foot bridge over the Kick Creek, and found a good campsite under some rhododendrons.

We got going again the next morning, with Don't Panic far out pacing Wing It. Fortunately, we decided to meet up at the Chestnut Knob Shelter. On they way, Wing It ran into Alex, whom we hadn't seen since we left Hot Springs for Trail Days. Wing It hiked with him to the shelter, and Don't Panic was pleasantly surprised to see him. We also ran into Plunder How Far there, and the three men discussed going all the way into Bland for the night. That was 21 more miles! Wing It complied, and we all pushed our way into town. It wasn't easy going, the day got hot and the terrain was constant ups and downs. We did finally make, around 9:00 pm. We sat by the road trying to hitch, but the going was tough. Plunder finally went into the church across the way, and was able to score us all a ride! The man drove us into town, just before the DQ was closing. Only problem was, they closed just a bnit too early and didn't have anything for us! They did eventually take pity on us, and quickly fried up some chicken tenders and onion rings. What service!

The next morning, we all went back to the DQ for more greasy goodness, then tried our luck at hitching again. It wasn't easy, and after about an hour a lady finally picked us all up. Alex was trying to get to Daleville in a few days to meet up with friends, and Plunder was trying to hike as much of the trail as he could in three months, so we said our goodbyes and watched them go. We took our time and eased our way to Jenny Knob Shleter.

After such a short day, we decided to try to put some miles in. We thought come hell or high water, we would make it to Doc's Knob Shelter. And high water did come. It had been raining off and on the past few days, and the trail had pretty much completely flooded. After a while, we decided to not even bother trying to keep our feet dry. It was easier to plow through the middle of the trail then to dance around the edges. It seemed whoever designed this part of the trail didn't think to add drainages. Thankfully, the trail was relatively flat, so we were able to make good time and easily make it to Doc's Knob Shelter.

We woke early the next morning because we knew we would be getting into town again. We were heading into Pearisburg, hoping for a movie theater. The trail had been badly maintained through this section, and we really needed some rest. We made it, only to find that the theater had closed, and the hotel we picked out was far away from the downtown area. We were slightly disappointed, but the landlord loaned us her car so we were able to hit up the Wal-Mart for some much needed supplies.

Bears, Catfish and Thunder, oh my!

2009-06-01T12:58:00.000-07:00

We dragged our feet getting out of Damascus. We decided to take it a bit easy, and stopped for a late lunch before heading out of town. We ate at a restaurant called "Fatties," and had some Carolina Style BBQ. Then we started the long, hot climb out of Damascus, eight miles to the Saunders Shelter.

The next morning, we woke to a foggy sunrise. About a quarter mile from the shelter, we heard a commotion in the forest, and a bear cub darted up a tree. He was so cute, and our first instinct was to grab our cameras. Only, we then heard more noise downhill in the undergrowth, and Don't Panic saw another cub going up another tree but momma was no where in sight. We could hear her, huffing and puffing down below us, but had no idea where she actually was. We quickly got out of there and kept moving. The rest of the day was spent climbing and climbing to the top of Whitetop Mt. It was foggy and cool, and a bit drizzly the whole day, and we still had to climb to get to Thomas Knob Shelter. We were soaked and a bit cold by the time we got there. But we saw a bunch of wild ponies! A mother and her foal had come up to the shelter looking for food, and since the red beans and rice we made was too salty for us, we dumped it on a rock and watched them try to eat it (they were hesitant at first, avoiding the dish and just licking the rock instead!)

We again woke to a foggy morning, but knew that it would probably burn off, so we got moving. We descended down to a beautiful valley filled with more wild ponies (and day trippers). We somehow missed a turn, and had to backtrack about a half mile before finding the trail again. At least the terrain and weather were pleasant, so it wasn't too big of a deal. We eventually made it to Fox Creek, where we were able to hitch in and grab some dinner at the local restaurant. Fried catfish and okra, mmmm! We then packed out a 12-pack of Yuengling, and carried it 3.3 miles to the Hurricane Mountain Shelter. We then surprised about seven hikers with the beers and of course shared!

We (everyone in the shelter) woke up in the middle of the night to a wonderful light show put on by a thunderstorm. The next morning, we woke bright and early because we knew we would be spending the night at the Partnership Shelter, where one can order a pizza and have it delivered! No, seriously, we are in the wilderness. This shelter also has a shower, and there is a Visitor's Center nearby where the pizzas are delivered to. We all had a pizza party and enjoyed a good chat around the fire.

We then pushed ahead to Atkins, where after putting in about 12 miles, we decided to call it a day. The terrain was relatively easy to what we had been doing, but the heat was bearing down on us, and we needed a rest.

Tenessee, North Carolina now in Tenessee, now North Carolina....

2009-05-28T09:30:00.000-07:00

It turns out that when we were at Trail Days a dog decided that our tarp would make a good bathroom. Unfortunately we did not figure this out until we were a couple of miles out of Hot Springs, back on the AT. We discovered that there was a hostel only half a mile off trail 16 miles out of town, so we made a bee-line there, and got a room for the night. Borrowing a bucket, and a stick of laundry soap, we were able to wash our afflicted gear.

The next day we hiked along a rugged ridge line most of the day, for the most rugged terrain we had encountered so far. There were stone steps, and even a 6 foot wall that we had to climb down. We had beautiful views in both directions, with the ridge culminating in a rock formation with the dubious name "Big Butt". For the first time on our trip so far, we had a shelter to ourselves! We celebrated with a giant pot of rice and chicken, and went to bed early.

We went up and over Big Bald, Little Bald, camped at Whistling Gap and then down to Uncle Johny's Hostel the following day. On bikes borrowed from the hostel we rode into Erwin to pick up supplies, including the most vital item of all: Double Bacon Cheese Burgers! Yum. We managed to get in and out of town in a few short hours, then back on the trail to Curley Maple Gap Shelter. Early in the next day we made it to Beauty Spot, where there was one hold over from Billville, who hooked us up with cheap beer! A little tipsy, we stumbled over Unaka Mt., which was like a little enchanted forest, and crashed at Greasy Creek Gap.

The next 3 nights we stayed at Over Mountain Shelter (a giant red barn), Vango and Abby Memorial Hostel, and Kincora Hostel, pretty nice accommodations! The Kincora Hostel, run by Bob Peoples, had more hikers per square foot than we had ever seen. There was a cabin built into the side of Bob's house, and there were bunks in every spare room. We were able to snag the executive suite, a small private room with a double bed! We got a ride with other hikers into Hampton, TN, got our resupply and a large pizza, showered up and laundered our clothes, then had a nice night chatting with the other hikers.

The next morning, four Texas boys we had been hiking off and on with made breakfast for pretty much everyone. Best breakfast burrito ever! The hike out had some of the most dramatic rock formations we have seen. We went through large cracks in up-turned rock walls, scaled down cliff faces and saw a large, multi-leveled water fall. After the trail went pointlessly up and over Pond Flats, a deceptively named steep climb, we went down to the beach on Watauga Lake. There was a family swimming area, barbecue pits, picnic tables, and a ton of people. Feeling out of place, we decided to cook a pot of ramen and move on, but before we could eat, we were invited to eat BBQ with one of the families! BBQ chicken, cheese burgers, hot dogs, baked beans, chili, 2 types of brownies, and soda... they had it all. Half staggering with the weight in our bellies we made it to the crowded Vandeventer Shelter for the night.

We were getting close to Damascus, VA. With the proper motivation (namely town food), we were able to cover the remaining 33 miles in a day plus a few extra hours the next day. First order of business in town was of course the Dairy King - double bacon cheeseburgers and chocolate shakes. We stayed the night at The Place, a bunk house / hostel run by the local Methodist church. We decided to send home some gear to lighten our loads a little bit, and Don't Panic scored a used backpack at a very reasonable price from another hiker who had bought a new one (DP's pack straps were ripping beyond repair). A steak and egg breakfast and it will be back to the trail!

Trail Days

2009-05-17T11:13:00.000-07:00

We waited for our ride in front of the Iron Horse until about 1:00. Big Red showed up in his sedan, and we crammed six people and all of their camping gear into that one car. It was a two hour drive, and not completely comfortable, but we made it.

Damascus, VA was PACKED with hikers. The camping area for the hikers felt like one giant zoo. You had to pay to get in ("donations" to help with costs) and you could wander around and gawk at the amazement around you. Vendors were set up on the other end of town, but there were a few at the park to help the hikers with gear. Otherwise, all of the tents were the hikers. We wandered over to Billville, where we knew Jester would be, and there in the middle was a giant orange geodesic dome tent with another large tent set up right against it. This would be the party tent for the late night gathering. And the nights were laaaate. We heard a drum circle going on for hours, at least until 3:00 in the morning.

Alcohol was not allowed to be consumed in an open container, so everyone was walking around with nalgenes full of beer and whatever else. The police were patrolling the area, and would ticket anyone holding an open beer can. They certainly hauled off a few people, for being too drunk in public or for drinking underage. With that many people crammed into one spot, they wanted to make sure nothing too drastic happened.

As is the Billville tradition, a Useless Gear Contest was held Saturday evening, where hikers could enter, well, their useless gear. One of the entries was none other than the Bad Wizard, the same one we hiked with last year on the PCT. And wouldn't you know it? Jester presented us with it to carry all the way to Katahdin! 4.25 pounds of bronze that we can't really use.

The hitch back to Hot Springs was easy. Don't Panic went to make a sign while Wing It finished packing, and someone looked over his shoulder and asked where we were headed. He told him, and they said hop in, they were headed that way. We got a two hour ride and a bit of info about the trail coming up. All in all a good deal.

The Smokies

2009-05-14T15:11:00.000-07:00

Leaving Franklin behind, we hiked out with Alex, Vape and L-evated. On our way we climbed up Siler Bald and Wayah Bald. Wayah Bald had a great stone watchtower, where we got our first views of the Smokies, including Clingmans Dome. Otherwise, it was back into the Long Green Tunnel. We camped that night at the Wayah Shelter, where we ran into Bojangles and Curly again. While we had taken the trail, they saw on the map that the trail hemorrhaged 27 miles to the east, so instead they blue-blazed 6 miles to the north. Seems the trail likes to do that sometimes.

The next morning we woke to pouring rain. We decided that it couldn't get any wetter, so we pushed out into the rain. About 15 minutes after we left, it got wetter. The rain came down with a vengeance. Then the thunder and lightning started. We just climbed and pushed our way up and down the hills until we could get to the Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC). Bojangles and Curly showed up shortly after we did, and we got a bunk house together. We then headed to the restaurant where we chowed down on pizza, soda and chocolate milk. We bought beer for the night, took the little bit of pizza left with us, and went to the common rooms for the hikers. Vape, L-evated and Alex showed up after us, ate and joined us for some quality drinking.

The next day, the others talked about rafting down river, while we decided to push on. The climb out of the NOC was brutal. It was over 3,000 feet in 8 miles! It was steep, and a little slippery from the rainfall the day before. Luckily, this was our first day of dry weather in a week. We kept pushing though, and made it to the Brown Fork Gap Shelter for dinner. We were tired, but wanted to put a couple more miles on the day, so we hike all the way to Cody Gap, and tented. We had hoped we would get to the Cable Gap Shelter, and would have had a 22.1 mile day, but it just wasn't in the cards. That climb was a toughie!

We woke with the intention of making it all the way to Fontana Dam, all of 9 miles away. We got in just before noon, and who was sitting there except Bojangles and Curly! Apparently, they had slack-packed from Stecoah Gap back to the NOC, and were going to get dropped off at the gap again to hike into Fontana, only their ride missed it and took them all the way to the dam! Yellow blazers! It was good to see them though, and eventually Vape, L-evated and Alex showed up, as well as Patches, a young girl with a foot injury, and we went up to the grill in Fontana Village. After eating ourselves silly, we got a shuttle back to the marina where we had gotten off, and hiked the 1.1 miles to the Fontana "Hilton," a 24 person shelter. Wouldn't you know it? It hadn't rained while we were eating, so of course it poured on us those 1.1 miles to the shelter. We had a big fire that night, and partied not too hard with our friends.

The next day was our first ascent into the Smoky Mountains. It rained. And was foggy. We couldnt' see much, and it was cold. We just marched ourselves up the mountain and to the first shelter, Mollies Ridge. We ate lunch then pressed on to the next shelter. At least it had stopped raining, but we were still wet and kind of tired. We wanted to make it to Spencer Field Shelter, but decided to stop at Russel Field instead. Everyone we had been hiking with (except Bojangles and Curly, who were skipping the Smokies, having already hiked them) caught up to us there. This was one of the few shelters left with a chain link fence across the front. It was originally to help people feel safe inside from bears, but it really only created a sense of security to where people started FEEDING the bears from inside the shelter. This caused the bears to really start frequenting the shelters, and some of the bears were relocated, others were destroyed. So, a bear visited us that night (Wing It slept through it), testing the bear cables and the fence to see if it could get food. A ridge runner was there, and tried chasing it off. It came back the next morning, and sauntered off as rocks were being thrown.

We would like to tell you the Smokies were amazing. However, we had a visibility range of 15 feet. Even Clingmans Dome was disappointing (though, the motor speedway up there was a shocker). Honestly, the Smokies looked just like the rest of trail so far, only foggier. We probably just hit it at the wrong time of year, and we're sure there are beautiful views to be had, we just didn't experience it.

We descended down from the Smokies, spent the night at Davenport Gap Shelter, met another Ridgerunner, Kentucky Blue, and pressed on. We went up and over Snowbird Mt., which had some views south of the Smokies. We climbed up to Max Patch, an artificial bald, and had our first wow moment. It was clear skies and wonderful views of the surrounding forests. We made our way to Roaring Fork Shelter, ate dinner with some more folks we had been hiking with, then decided to put in a couple more miles. We were glad we did, because there was a bear encounter at the shelter we passed. The bear used it's weight and muscle to break the cables, and sat there eating the hikers food while staring them in the eye. Ballsy. He then tried going for another hikers pack hanging from the cables, but for whatever reason the pack didn't come down. The hiker grabbed his sleeping bag from his pitched tent and went into the shelters with the others, and the bear then shredded his tent, probably in spite. The bear did eventually go away, after being threatened by a knife taped to the end of a stick, but it could have been worse.

We hiked out the next day to Hot Springs. It was a tortuous descent, since we could see and hear the town for at least a mile and a half before finally reaching it. We headed straight for Elmer's Sunnybrook Inn. We were able to get a room, did laundry and were fed an exquisite, gourmet, all organic, vegetarian meal. We were even able to line up a ride into Trail Days, from a man named Big Red.

Early Impressions

2009-05-05T06:17:00.001-07:00

First off, we had no idea how green the South is. It's spring, and everything seems to be a bright green. All the trees are budding, flowers of white, pink and purple lined the trail, and poison oak was EVERYWHERE! There are mini forests of sassafras, which look like 6 to 9 inch all green umbrellas. Dead leaves from autumns past littered the forest floors with browns, oranges and reds.

Crawling among the leaves were centipedes of colors we didn't know insects could be; typical blacks, browns and whites, as well as bright orange, neon pink, and creamy yellow. We thought the rains were coming on at one point, but we weren't getting wet, so we took a closer look at the leaves and noticed tiny grasshoppers jumping among the leaves making a perfect imitation of rain. Little gnats and black flies seemed to find us every time we stopped, which only made us hike further and faster. The trees are filled with all kinds of birds, and the hills echo with the sound of their song. Ravens, crows, hawks, vultures, grouse, barn owls, woodpeckers, wrens, orioles, gnat-catchers, thrushes, the list could go on and on. Waking up to the song of birds makes us want to get hiking!

The rains are making water very plentiful. Water seems to come from everywhere. Crystal clear springs just pour out of the rocks, mini waterfalls flow over deadfall, and seeps drip down mossy rock faces.

Our first 100 miles

2009-05-05T05:38:00.000-07:00

We've made it a hundred miles! Only 2,000 more to go.

We decided to skip the approach trail on the advice of our friends who have hiked the AT in the past. We were dropped off around 11:00 am at USFS Road 42 that leads to Springer Mt. The hiking was a breeze, until we met Sassafras Mt., aka Kick-My-Ass Mt. Thankfully we did this climb at the end of the day. We camped at Gooch Mt. Shelter, where we first met Alex, whom we have been hiking with.

Next day we set out towards Blood Mountain, and had our first real day of ups and downs, literally. We decided not to hike as long a day so we could hit Neels Gap early the next morning. The day was sunny and warm, and a little muggy, but the hiking wasn't too difficult. We camped at the shelter on the top of Blood Mountain, which was an old shelter built out of rock in 1934, and had 360 degree views after a short climb up a boulder.

We arrived at Neels Gap early the next morning. We were promptly told by a "trail veteran" that we were going too fast and that we needed to slow down. We then hiked 20 miles that day to Blue Mountain Shelter, where someone had pitched their tent inside the shelter. Rude, so we pitched out tent along side other hikers outside. Funny thing is, the people who pitched their tent, as well as one other guy sleeping in the shelter, all moved out because of the mice, and it ended up being our first rainy night. It rained, and no one slept in the shelter.

We packed up relatively early and hiked on to Deep Gap Shelter. The hiking seemed liked a roller coaster, going down to Unicoi Gap, then up Rocky Mountain, down to Indian Grave Gap, up Tray Mountain, up and down to Addis Gap, then a steep climb up Kelly Knob and finally resting at Deep Gap. We could have pushed on to Dicks Creek Gap (Hiawassee), but we didn't want to spend money on a room just yet. We were settling in, talking to Alex and a section hiker Alan, when the most God awful noise came out of the woods. I don't know what it was, but it sounded like a cross between a really pissed off feline, and a wild turkey. Alan said it should be the wild pigs that are in these hills, and they seem like more of a force to reckon with than the bears. Hope we don't run into one of those.

We did a quick resupply in Hiawassee, including three 5 ... $5 ... $5 footloooongs, and headed into North Carolina and on to Muskrat Creek Shelter. One state down!! (And in only 4 days, unlike the 3 months it took on the PCT.) The shelter was kind of full, so we slept on the "patio." That night, it really started to rain, and thankfully we woke up and moved further under cover before we were totally soaked.

The next morning, we were discussing whether to do 12 miles, or 19, and the other guys kept pitching in "or 5." No way were we only doing 5 miles. We hiked to Standing Indian Shelter ate lunch, then pushed to Carter Gap Shelter which was full (that would have been 12 miles.) The trail had been pretty easy that day, so we pushed to Big Spring Shelter. We walked along an abandoned dirt road towards Big Butt Mountain (I'm not making that up). We traversed along a flank of it on a ledge trail carved into a sheer cliff. We didn't even notice it at first with the brush, but then we looked down at our feet and noticed it was a long way down to the valley below. Then we had to take on Albert Mt., which had a climb of 500 feet in 0.3 miles!! It was a straight scramble up a rock face to a fire tower, where we got a 360 degree view of fog. Thankfully the shelter was only 0.5 miles away. There we had our first real rain storm, with the rain pounding the roof of the shelter. We came to find out that Mooney Gap, which wasn't far away, was the rainiest spot on the east coast. No kidding.

We hiked the easy nine miles to Winding Stair Gap, where Alex called the shuttle service into Franklin, NC. Ron Haven himself picked us up and has been taking good care of us in his Budget Inn.

Warm Up Hike

2009-04-17T21:15:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! I know it's been a while, but we've been having some fun down here in Southern California. We took the tram from Palm Springs and hiked to Saddle Junction, spent an hour slipping and sliding in six feet of snow to go one mile, then turned around once the weather turned worse. We camped in Idyllwild, then hitched a ride to Pines-To-Palms Highway, and started our journey there. We just weren't prepared for that much snow.

We've been taking our time, enjoying the high winds and even a few snow flakes (we are in Southern Cali, right?) The weather has finally turned into what we expected, so we are cooling our feet in the hot springs in Warner Springs. We are on our way to the PCT kick off party. Not sure when we'll be able to write again. (Probably from Georgia)