Date: 2016-03-10
From: Carter Gap Shelter

To: Franklin
Miles today: 15.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Today was my second day of pushing past 15 miles. I did 15 yesterday, and a little over that today. Essentially, I'm testing the waters to see how my body handles the extra mileage. Even though I hike on a regular basis, I still have to be conscious of the physical strain that a 30+ pound pack puts on my body. My feet are callused up and are more than capable of doing the mileage, but I still get aches at the end of the day. Alpine, the first shuttle driver I met, told me that in generally takes 6-8 weeks before the human body is fully conditioned to do this everyday. Each day I feel stronger and stronger though. The past two days of hiking have consisted of winding through tunnels of rhododendrons. The thick, waxy leaves of the plant block out everything around you. Little slivers of light break through the cover and dance along the trail. As you walk over the light, it creeps onto your shoes and up your whole body until you are fully engulfed. I guess what I'm saying is that I have been wandering through a hiker disco party in the woods.When Slug and I arrived at Winding Stair Gap, there were coolers filled with soda and beer waiting for us. This was actually my first run in with trail magic since I've been out here. There was a note attached to the cooler from a former thru hiker. It read something along the lines of, "Please, take only one so that everyone can enjoy. You made it past Georgia and nothing will stop you from making it to Khathadin." I knew I liked this town already. Ripple, Slug's brother, had left the shelter earlier than both of us that morning. He was only spending ten days on the trail, because he has to go back to his family. But when we got to the gap, he was waiting there with his beefed up F-350 to take us into town. Me, Slug and two other hikers all piled into the bed of the truck. We drove down the highway with the wind in our hair. The mountains we had just crawled off of, came into focus for the first time. We rolled into Franklin to the Budgett Inn- yes another one. This one was much nicer than the previous one in Georgia. I shacked up with Riptide and Broken Hammock in order to save a couple of bucks. I opted to sleep on the floor, with my sleeping pad and bag. The five of us; Slug, Ripple, Broken Hammock and Riptide all hit the streets of Franklin looking like a homeless version of Reservoir Dogs. We first stopped at the outfitter, Outdoor 76. These guys were absolutely amazing. They were willing to spend an hour with a thru hiker just to make sure that their footwear was working for them. Great people. I could go on for hours about that place, but it's just something you'd have to see for yourself. They also had a newly constructed taproom with about 15 beers on tap, darts, a projection tv, and a stage with guitars and other instruments on it for anyone willing to get up there. We pretty much failed to get past the taproom once we realized that it existed. The beer started flowing, people poured in from the streets and Dominoes dropped of four large pizzas to our table. That's pretty much the night in a nutshell.I decided to zero out the next day in Franklin, as did Broken Hammock and Riptide. We all figured that this was the perfect location for us to all take our first zero day. The zero day condition of buffets for all meals, Walmart for resupply, and then more beer at Outdoor 76. I think I could get used to this.