Date: 2015-04-07
From: Hiawassee, GA

To: Muskrat Creek Shelter
Miles today: 11.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Awoke in the Holiday Inn in Hiawassee, GA after my first good night of sleep since beginning the trail over a week ago, the five of us slowly tiptoeing around piles of junk food wrappers and beer bottles from the night before. I made my way downstairs with Drew (now officially named Forrest Gump) to begin breakfast while Moosehead, General Burnsides, and Peace got ready at a slower pace. Breakfast consisted of scrambled eggs, bacon, a cinnamon role, 2 cups of coffee, 2 cups of OJ, and a cup of milk. Although a relatively small intake of food, especially being free, I decided to watch it before hitting the trail with legs that had been resting for the previous 36 hours.The morning began as our shuttle driver arrived, the 4 of us (Moosehead, General Burnsides, Rock Boat, and myself) piled in, and we were quickly heading back up the road that would lead us to the fog-crested mountains that awaited us. Other than filling slightly ripped off by our driver ($10/person for 11 miles) he was nice enough, though he did leave us feeling slightly uneasy after, when hanging up with a customer, yelled, "Don't call back you f*!..." Needless to say, there was more said, but I've chosen to leave it from this journal so as not to dampen the outlook of Southern hospitality.Gladly hopping out of the shuttle and practically tossing our money in the driver's general direction, we set out to continue north. The going was relatively easy for the majority of today's hike. Most of the miles were spent going upwards or were relatively flat - making it a good day for my knees. Tomorrow, however, has many ups and downs and will most definitely be challenging. The miles quickly disappeared underfoot as the four of us played many rounds of the game where you determine a subject and take turns naming things that fall under that category. Topics covered, for example, included movies starring Adam Sandler, Denzel Washington, Tom Hanks or quotes from Super Troopers, and even countries by continent. Needless to say, the countries category didn't last long when the others realized my talent for it. We eventually ran Intl Fiddler, Airlock, and Cherokee eating lunch at a campsite. We exchanged greetings and said we would wait a mile or so ahead at the GA/NC border to celebrate and take pictures.The final mile or so of GA seemed to last forever until, on a gradual uphill, we found the target we had been looking for. A simple wooden plaque with NC/GA carved in it, nailed to a tree, was enough for us to pause for a while and celebrate. Several other hikers would join us over the next 30 minutes or so, all being welcomed with positive greetings, handshakes, and smiles. Many pictures were taken to remember our first state crossing. Again, it's the small things. A few of us even said our farewells by straddling the border and peeing back into GA. The only real challenge of the day would soon follow as we climbed 800ft over the next 1.5 miles, which we conquered at the expense of what seemed like liters of sweat.We strolled Intl Muskrat Creek Shelter at 3pm where we found Star Crunch, Double Back, Botta, as well as Goose, Spice, and Cap - 3 young guys hiking the trail and picking up trash as they go along. Last week, they picked up 60lbs in a 2-day stretch alone.It's currently approaching 6pm, the camp is bussling with activity as hikers prepare meals, wash, joke, and exchange stories from their day's trek. I always seem to be the go-to for knats each evening, even after being relatively clean via creek water. People tend to keep a 5ft radius between themselves and me, save Moosehead sitting next to me as he bounces between journaling and preparing a solid concoction of butter fettucini, salmon chunks, pieces of knat, and deet. He also fancies himself a poet and has been in the works of creating an AT song. If I hear an update of its progress in the future, I'll include a few lines in a future post.We lucked out with no rain today, hopefully which continues overnight so we don't have to schlep wet tents again. The rest of the evening will be spent relaxing, working out knots in my muscles, and fending off millions of knats. Tomorrow brings either a 12 or 16 mile day depending on mental and physical strength. I will be hitting the first 100-mile mark in the next 2 days which will be another small accomplishment in what hopefully becomes many more along the way