Date: 2013-03-22
From: Springer Mountain

To: Franklin, NC
Miles today: 0.0

I have arrived in Franklin, NC. I am staying at the Budget inn splitting a room with my new friend "Thunderfoot". I am also here with my other friends Gravey, Brother, Twigs, Rooster and his dog Bangarang. The past 9 days have been insanely beautiful and challenging. I have a dozen blisters on my feet and have been told I'm a "True Canadian Wildebeest" and that I could get a job in the circus because of my 6th toe. Despite the repulsiveness of my feet I am still hiking well with a small amount of pain but I got some new boots today and that problem should disappear. We are planning on leaving Franklin today around 11 and to get to the NOC in two days in time for their beer fest this weekend. SO far almost all of my gear has been working perfectly and I haven't had to send anything home except for my boots. I've already meet many new people and am having a great time despite the foot issues. I met a through hiker from long island named peepaw who had some heels that were torn up and open that said its one step at a time and I have taken that to heart with my foot problems so far. So far its been pretty difficult to keep up with the journal because of the small amount of time I spend in towns. Another great way to track me for the time being is through brother and gravy's blog at www.thedustycamel.org/jr . They updated it much more often and Gravy is a much better writer than myself.   Day One: I hiked to the top of springer and back with Mom and Dad. I signed the log book and then we hiked back to the parking lot where we said our goodbyes. The first couple of steps into the woods after leaving that parking lot felt pretty amazing. Despite the 13 pounds of food in my pack the trip in was quite easy. I hiked 7 miles to Hawk Mountain Shelter and set up camp with the 30 or so others that were spending the night there. I met a bunch of through Hikers and section hikers who's ages likely ranged from 60 to 20. Many of us hung out around the camp fire and shared some storys. I met "Coyote" who was just starting the second leg of a Yo-Yo (where someone hikes to springer from Katadin and then back to Katadin). This guy is a character, he sleeps next to the fire in a 20 degree K-Mart special sleeping bag. Every article of clothing has burn holes, in fact the other night his pack caught on fire. In his entire set-up he only bought his pack, his sleeping bag and his knife; the rest he found along the trail or someone gave to him. This is a guy who just went through the whites in the winter. I also met many others. I watched the sunset and slept like a baby. Day Two: I woke up and ended up being the first to leave Hawk Mountain Shelter. I started hiking and decided I wanted to push myself a little to find my boundaries. I hiked 16 miles to lance creek.... Bad Idea. I felt okay coming into camp around 630, set up my tent and then layed down for about 5 minutes. When I tried to get up I felt like I had layed down for about 70 years and turned into a 92 year old. I hobbled around using my hiking stick as a old man cane getting food ready and filtering my water. I then took my rice dinner up to the campfire to eat and converse with some other through hikers. It was here I met Brother and Gravy, they had seen my Nova Scotia patch on my pack on my way in and they had both gone to Acadia. We instantly started talking and by the end of the night I found out that we knew at least a dozen people in common and that me and Gravy had played rugby against each other. Small world eh? Day Three: I woke up and began Hiking, I then met Rooster and his dog Bangarang while filtering water. We chatted for a bit and then continued on. I hiked over Blood Mountain where there are legends of ghosts and history of violence. On the other side of Blood Mountain is Neels Gap. This is where I met back up with Brother, Gravy, Rooster, and also met Twigs. Gravy and Brother were in the process of running up a $1200 gear and food bill while sending home 40 pounds of gear they decided they didn't need after all. I got some more food and ate some hot dogs. We all decided to hike in a few miles and camp together and to possibly continue on to Hiawasse and split rooms together. Day Five: Hiked just a few miles to Unicoi Gap and we hitch a ride with some weekend hikers we met. A suburban filled with 7 hikers and a dog rode down the mountains to Hiawasse with all the windows down to ensure that no one passed out due to the smell. We resupplied and stayed the night at the luxurious $30 a night budget inn. We bought some beers at the gas station for the night. Then we were told by the owner of the motel that "if you want to you can burn that brush pile over there" meaning we could that the brush from the fire to the fire pit. However we took it literally and lit the brush pile on fire creating a 15 foot fire ball that lasted about an hour. One of the through hikers had so much beer he fell backwards out of his chair doing two backwards rolls down a bank landing in a thorn bush. He didn't however spill a drop of beer. Day Seven: It rained most of the day during my hike and was pretty chilly. Only hiked about 8 miles and then hankered down in a crowded shelter. As a joke me and Brother hiked from the trail to the shelter in nothing but our compression shorts singing along the way. Day Eight: Crossed my first state border!!! We crossed into North Carolina today and passed the 100 mile mark! We also climbed mount albert where there is a fire tower at the top. Got rewarded with some great 360 views of what we had just hiked. Day Ten: Arrived in Franklin early, got new boots first thing and they feel 10x better than my old ones. Resupplied and then headed out for dinner and the Blue Ridge Steak house. Their listed hours were 3-8 we walked in at 810 saying that we could go somewhere else, but they insisted we stay and eat while they cleaned the kitchen. We had a lot of food and beer and then headed back to the hotel. Some continued on to the bar after that while others stayed back at the hotel.