Date: 2010-05-27
To: Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 17.0
Weather: light rain

Been on the trail for 19 days now and am taking my first zero day in Hot Springs, NC. A lot has happened in the last two weeks since my last update. Hiked a total of 271 miles so far and was pretty excited to pass the 10% mark in the Smokies. I met up with a group of four other guys at the Shoney's breakfast buffet (best thing every, had probably 2 pounds of bacon) in Gatlinberg and have been hiking with them for a few days. A lot of people ask/wonder what type of people hike the AT and its impossible to narrow it down. Here's a sampling of the people I've met so far:Survivor Man - 22 yrs old from St Louis on his first backpacking trip ever, heading to Harpers Ferry, WV (half way)Three Amigos (Blinky, Indy and Prospector)- Three friends from New Jersey trying to finish in 4 months so they can get back to school in september.Oracle - African immigrant, mother of 4, married 27 years and decided this is something for herselfSpoon - 30 something quit his job as a marina manager in florida, sold his car, rented his condo and got rid of almost all his stuff before hitting the trailPopeye - 26 yr old UF graduate quit his job in the finance world and decided he's not going to work anymore and play the stock market insteadGood To Go - stand up comedian and personal trainer from L.A.Quite a bit of variety in the people I've met so far which is what makes it so interesting. I've been averaging about 16 miles a day for the past week or so and am planning on getting that up to 20 per day over the next couple weeks. Been getting some pretty wicked blisters on my feet but nothing that will stop me from walking every day. Biggest day so far has been 24 miles into the Natahala River Gorge. Hoping to hike 3 20's in a row leaving Hot Springs.Most interesting day so far was probably the day we left the Natahala Outdoor Center and a dog followed us up the trail. We figured it would get bored and turn around but it followed us about 8 miles to a bald on top of a mountain. We called its owner (# on the collar) and arranged to meet them at a road crossing 5 miles ahead. At this point the rest of the guys i was with decided it was too late to go on and were going to camp on the bald. I ended up hiking the dog 5 miles in the dark down the mountain. When i got to the road the couple was waiting for me with two bags of homemade granola and 4 cold beers. Pretty good ending to a long day. Unfortunatly i had to camp on the side of a forest service road, which was kinda creepy but turned out ok.Hiking the smokies was awesome as always but i saw a lot more wild life this time. Saw four bears in the first two days and was able to get some good pictures. Still having problems updating photos from libraries, hopefully I'll be able to figure out a way around that soon. At the shelter a few days later i saw a wild boar drinking from the spring when i went to fill up my bottle. On the last day out of the smokies i turned the corner and realized I was following some kind of animal up the trail. Turned out it was a bobcat! I knew they were in the park but never saw one or heard of anyone seeing one. Kinda got a picture before he noticed me and darted into the bushes.http://derek.ohlgren.com