Date: 2022-04-09
To: Franklin, NC
Miles today: 12.5
Weather: clear sky

What a day it has been. It snowed on us all night long. I woke up to my tent weighed down under two inches of snow. It was still below freezing. Like well below. So I had no trouble packing my stuff up without getting wet.We had been warned by a Ridgerunner that a momma bear and her cub had been seen in the area the night before. I woke up around midnight and I thought I heard something big outside near the area some people had hung their food bags. I have the bear vault and since it was so cold I had to just sleep with it in my tent. It wasn¢t long and the heavy thing was moving beside my tent. I couldn¢t catch a clear distinct sound to confirm it was a bear and with the snow continuing to come down there were no prints to see in the morning. I¢m talking with some people in my group there were a few of us who were awake around that time hearing something move around.I had some beautiful views in the mid morning while I was walking along the ridge of a mountain. For the most of the day it continued to snow. It was so cold. Except for extra socks I had every bit of clothing I had with me on.I kept a really good pace throughout the day. The crew I¢m with made a plan to get a shuttle from Rock Gap into Franklin, NC to get a motel room for the night. It¢s supposed to dip into the low 20¢s tonight. With being cold and slightly damp we needed to get out of the woods. Looking around the Sapphire Inn there are a lot of other hikers who had the same idea.Around noon I caught up with Prosecco and Moon. We did the rock scramble up Albert Mountain together. And I mean a rock scramble. I¢ve rock climbed sections less as steep as this. And that time I had a rope and harness on. This time there was no safety system. If it had been good weather it would have been difficult but manageable. With the snow and the freezing temps and the wet rocks. It was difficult to say the list. At the top of Albert there is a watch tower and that is where I crossed the 100 mile mark on the trail. Wohooo!!! It¢s hard to believe I am 1/22 of the way done. It¢s going by so fast. I¢m still so excited!I spent the two hours after that coming down the mountain and over a few more with Prosecco. She is really cool. This was the first time we had time to really talk about life. Her name is Stephanie. She is 38. From FL but has lived a little of everywhere. She played soccer in college so we spent time talking about the games we have played. In the things we talked about I kept thinking that we had a strange connection on things. Like we thought similar on something that came up. Turns out she is a Christian. So there is the connection I was sensing but couldn¢t put my finger on. Without over sharing her story she had life fall apart last year and is seeking a new adventure to change things up. So that makes a few of us in this group I have found myself in that are seeking a change to shake up somethings in their life. Oh and I¢m actually the middle of the group as for age.Our shuttle showed up to pick up 6 of us in a 5 seat CRV. You can see the issue. But then we had two guys who were trying to get a ride as well. I still can¢t believe it but we put 8 people plus the driver into that CRV along with all of our packs. It was a tight fit. I had Prosecco on one knee and my bag on my other knee. It was just crazy how many you can fit in a car when it¢s freezing cold and snowing outside.We are staying at the Sapphire Inn in Franklin tonight. It will be nice to dry out and be warm tonight. We are going to get some Mexican for first dinner here at 4pm and then maybe burgers at a brewery later tonight for second dinner. It¢s been fun to pretend that we are all hobbits because we like to eat all the time now.There has been a big discussion to give me a trail name. So far Fat Pony (which I nixed), precious (because of the lotr and I¢m just so precious.), and woody (because I like to wood carve). Oh and Canary (because I whistle all the time.). None of them are really sticking to me well. So we will just have to wait and see.