Date: 2009-04-15
From: SPRINGER MTN, GA

To: MT KATADIN
Miles today: 235.0

We are drying out in asheville...235 miles of the trail have been completed!! we've had some crazy weather! it's the wettest year on the trail in a decade. lots of rain...a bit of snow while we were in the smokies! at some points we were walking through drifts 3 1/2 feet deep!since franklin:my birthday was fun! ended up meeting up with some local folks and hanging with them late into the evening! the next day was long but we busted out eleven miles anyways...slowly.(thanks to alan watts for knowing military time so we could set our alarm for the school bus shuttle back to the trail) (1)we got to the nantahala outdoor center a few days later...up to that point we pulled our biggest day of 17 miles into n.o.c. we didn't want to pay to stay in the hostel so we walked down the railroad tracks and pitched our tent on the side of a gravel road...we were nervous that someone was going to come tell us we couldn't stay but the only ppl that stopped by were tourists taking pictures of the crazy kids in the tent on the side of the road/railroad tracks... the day after noc was our hardest day yet...we only did 6.9 miles but they were straight up out of the gap...i mean straight up. russ was supposed to come hike with us and i'm kinda glad it didn't work out bc we didnt' make it to fontana by sunday like anticipated! but he better get out here soon! that night we had a great group at the shelter, snake eyes/google/red elk/jay/super dave/james/ laughing owl/one step/sun seeker/ the kiwis etc....this was our first experience with snake eyes bear bagging test! haha. so everynight we have to bear bag our food (hang it in a tree our of a bears reach) snake eyes acts like a bear growling and jumping up to get your food...if he can reach it it doesn't pass the bear bag test....we also learned about dragon slaying but all you really need to know about that is the best time to kill dragons is at dusk and dawn...their eyes don't adjust well to this light....made it to fontana damn by monday the 6th....and the snow had started to come down...ugh. cold. brrrrr! we got to the fontana "hilton" (a really nice shelter on the trail with showers...wahooo!)an amazing group from northern indiana came to the shelter to feed hikers and bring towels, shampoo etc for us to use! such amazing trail magic all the way from indiana! a huge thanks to jessica for coming to pick up corbin! he's not allowed in the smokies so he got to go hang with aunt jessica....i heard he got to eat some taco bell and got to go the bar. lucky. we got advised to take a "zero" day and not hike into the smokies the next day bc of the snow...we debated...but when we woke up and there was several inches at the damn which is only at 1700 feet we decided we should wait a day to start hiking up to the highest point on the AT. so the day turned into a drink beer at the lodge and get into a snowball fight with a whole bunch of hikers...the next day it was time to start into the great smoky mountains! the trail was in horrible condition...so much snow, slush, mud...ugh. we got 11 miles into the smokies and stayed at mollies ridge shelter....we had fairly good veiws all day coming up shuckstack mtn....we saw nothing else of the smokies until we got on top of rocky top bc of the weather...in the smokies the rule is you must stay in the shelter unless it is full and then you can pitch your tent...since it was so nasty out everyone would want to stay in the shelters anyways! it was cold cold. the shelters were packed...the next night we got to derrick knob and had to squeeze in...from there it was on to silers bald.i was mad we were missing the view from these places because they are supposed to be amazing..we had to wait to leave derrick knob that morning because of an intense lightning and thunderstorm! we sat with our new friends red tree and western and learned some sign language....they are an amazing couple of people who are deaf out thru-hiking! many names played her guitar and we waited out the storm... we only made it 7.5 miles the next day due to the condition of the trail...and we heard that the next day was supposed to be nice and we wanted the view from clingmans (it wasn't nice the next day. i thought my hands were going to fall off they were sooooo cold and you couldn't see 3 feet in front of your face due to the fog and rain!) at the double spring gap shelter we saw a bunch of deer real close up! they weren't scared of us at all! logan was tempted to get one for dinner... that night we laughed hysterical while huck finn made us a fire and i stayed in my sleeping bag...we wrote an incredible song that will probably go platinum called "shovelin in the moonlight" (about diggin your four to six inch hole to deposit fecal matter in by moonlight)lyrics will get posted when complete....maybe even a preformance at traildays if it's perfected by then! clingmans dome. the highest point on the entire AT at 6,643 feet. we saw nothing but rain, fog, mud, rivers going through the middle of the trail, some slush, and hallucinations of hot dogs and hot coffee and entire pigs smoking, and dorritos, and whiskey. passed by newfound gap and decided not to go into gatlinburg, tn. although the temptation of being able to go in and get anything we wanted airbrushed was strong we carried on to icewater spring shelter. we got to the shelter and was thankful to moose and his crew for already having a fire going....it was cold. we woke up the next morning to an amazing phenomenon, the sun was out! we were all blinded! it was amazing you could see mtns. we got a great day of ridge walking in all in the sunshine. the trail was still icky but it was a beautiful day. we busted out 20.3 miles! whoop whoop! charlies bunion had a wonderful view! by the end of the 20 miles logan and i were deleriously laughing at things that really weren't funny at all. we got in the cosby shelter and ran into a few friends we hadn't seen in a couple of days, the kiwis, dave, mellow, seneca, alan, jp.....that night there was a crazy snore-chestra going on...we laid in bed and laughed at the preformance! the next day it was time to bust out the last ten miles of the smokys! we did some extreme freestyle hiking....haha. when we got to davenport gap we had decided to hitch hike into asheville and surprise jessica for her TWENTY EIGHTH birthday! one truck drove by and i think the sight of all of us hikers scared them and they told us to start walkin...the next car waved at us...the boys decided to throw me (the only girl) out there to try to get the ride...i'm apparently less scary. a great couple from PA, tom and ellen wallace, were driving around aimlessly lost on this curvey back road and let us all jump in their truck (it was a rental so they didn't seem to mind that we were covered in mud and stunk bad) they took us to a gas station where we killed some philly cheese steaks and bbq and honey buns etc. the wallaces live close to teh trail in PA so we are going to hopefully get to see them again when we get up that way! mellows dad picked us up from the gas station and dropped us in asheville at mollys work...we were a sight i'm sure! molly has been amazing letting us steal her car to get around for a few days and letting us crash with her...we surprised jess at the restaurant at 8...we bathed first! we have a few more days to slack pack and chill in asheville before dubs wedding this weekend...then pack to the trail to keep busting out the big miles.....we will be a bit behind our group of friends so it'll be time to meet some new ppl! i'm excited to get back out there and keep on truckin....you can track us on the map at: http://share.findmespot.com/shared/gogl.jsp?glId=0hlfdvtWfbWTCupgiLTGYjxf2VvCXnrEXwe put up our next mail drop under the tab on the left...(if you do send anything send me a quick email so i know to ask for it at the post office)we miss you all and hope everyone is doing great! if anyone wants to come hiking with us....make it happen! our trail names have changed: we are now the wolverine (get it...weapon X...X men...logan) and beans....love you all, the wolverine and beans and corbin (he doesn't get a trail name or he will just be really confused)"your soul needs the wild"