Date: 2019-03-14
From: Wallace Gap

To: Tellico Gap
Miles today: 14.0

TUE 3/12/19. Waking up in a warm hotel bed, followed closely by a hot shower and continental breakfast! Life is good in Franklin, NC on this morning. That was followed by checking out and shuttling to the downtown Outfitters 76 Store on Main Street. This is a really popular store for trail hikers. They have a good selection of gear and are super nice and helpful. While there I bought a new tent (Big Agnes) and a insulated sleeping pad. There will be no more storms in a hammock. Also ran into three outer hikers that I have seen and spent time with on the trail.There were five of us that went into the restaurant Martha¢s Kitchen to have lunch. Our shuttle driver said they had great food, and he was right. When we asked for our bills our waitress said that everything was already paid for. Yes, that¢s Trail magic! Now for those that don¢t know what trail magic is, people that live along the AT have been provided free services to thru-hikers for many many years. You never know when it¢s coming. Generally your hiking along and you might come close to a road crossing, and someone has set up a table with food and refreshments. That¢s just one example. So with today¢s magic lunch, our waitress said that one of their regular customers sometimes drops an extra $100 above his bill, and tells the manager to use it to pay for the dinners of the next few incoming hiker meals. Pretty cool stuff right there! We all took the bill that said paid, turned it over and each of us thanked the person for his/her kind jester.Spinner and I needed to sent a few things home . We left the restaurant and started walking when a man with an AT shirt was getting into his car and asked us if we needed a ride. We said yes so we got into his car and drove to the USPS. He said he hiked 200 miles of the AT when he was 66 years old (trail name Intense). On his hike (22 years ago) he loved his visit to Franklin. Said when he got home to Cleveland he told his wife they were moving to Franklin, NC. Intense said he also lived in Nashville for several years as a country music song writer. Said he liked Nashville but he couldn¢t write enough songs to make a living.Around 3:00 pm, after almost a 24 hour stay in Franklin. Sara, Spinner, Trigger and I headed back to the trail. We were shuttled back to the spot we got off (Wallace Gap) and then hiked about 5 miles to the Moore Creek CampIng Area. A very pleasant camping area, with a water stream beside us. We all set up our tents, hammock, hung our food, and called it a day.WED 3/13/19. Left Moore Creek around 8:30 am, arrived at Wayah Gap (Mile 115) around 11:30. During our hike we took a slight off trail adventure up to Siver Bald. It¢s a steep climb up to about 5200 feet but when you get there, you can see all the slightly lower mountain tops all the way around you (360 degrees). Once we returned to the trail, we only had about 2 more miles to reach our next pick up spot (another light, 5 mile day). After arriving we waited briefly for our B&B shuttle to take us to the Nantanala Mountain Lodge where we will be shuttled back and forth to the trail and lodge the next couple days. Steve and his wife Maggie are from England but long time U.S. citizens too. A great couple that owns the lodge and cater to hikers. Steve hiked the AT in 2010 and had many great stores and tips.THUR 3/14/19. After a bagel and yogurt we left the lodge and headed back to Wayah Gap. Steve, the owner of the lodge was driving and he always has a few stories to tell. As we say in Texas, the guy is a real Hoot! He was a green beret and you quickly realize his high intellect of world events. When he dropped us off, rain was light with mild temperatures and high humidity. I wore my rain pants and jacket. There were three significant climbs of around 1000 feet each which means lots of sweating under my rain suit. Rain was steady but light most of the day. With about five miles to go, as we arrive at Burningtown Gap, the Crawford family was out giving trail magic! I had a corn dog and lots of fresh fruit. The Crawford¢s are a young family of 8 that finished the AT last year. Their trail name was ¢the family¢. I also got to hold a miniature Australian Shepherd that was running around silly. Too cute. Have I said yet how much I miss my four dogs? On the day, Sara, Trigger, Spinner and I hiked almost 14 miles to Tellico Gap. Maggie was there when we arrived to take us back to the lodge. When we arrived I met two new hikers that had checked into earlier in the day. Leah (trail name Wednesday) from Olathe Kansas (where the Garmin Company Headquarters is located/I ran a marathon in Olathe several years ago) and Papa Smurf from North Carolina. Both great friendly hikers I hope to get to know better.Day 14 on the AT ...