Franklin NC

Hi from Franklin NC. We now have over 100 miles on the AT and we are 40 miles further down the trail from Hiawassee. After a great day off at the Cloud 9 Hostel we were dropped off back where they picked us up on the AT and started back on the trail. The first day back on the trail was a good day and we added another 12 miles to our total. We camped and then woke up to cloudy foggy skies and walked through a thunder storm. We have really been in rain and fog or cloud for the past 3 days. After walking through the thunder storm we came to a Forrest service road and crossing. We heard a lot of people and almost walked right by. We crossed the road and saw a Paper Plate posted to a tree on the side of the trail that said "Thru Hikers Breakfast".

We then headed for the big white tent and had our first taste of "Trail Magic". A through hiker who completed the trail in 2002 had his entire family and most of his son's new in laws and they had a tent set up and were cooking breakfast for all through hikers who were crossing the trail. We arrived at 11:30 am and were just in time for the last of a breakfast of sausage, eggs, potatoes, bisquits, juice, and coffee. They also had beer and soda and then at noon started cooking burgers and hot dogs. It was a great treat and really hit the spot on what was otherwise a pretty wet and ugly day. Patty sat right down with the wives of the guys who were doing all the cooking and fit right in. the thru hikers were all from Atlanta GA and have come up to this location at Deep Gap to feed the thru hikers the last weekend in March ever since they completed their thru hike. O'h and they do this out of their own pocket and would not take any money. It truely was trail magic.

We spent another wet night up on the mountain across from a very tired boy scout troop #303 from Florida. These kids were really tired and the leaders were in worse shape. We spent some time visiting with a father son team who were locals and had hiked up for the nite. Dad was quite the hunter and we hit it right off. He also had two flasks of Johnny Walker Red and he even shared a little with me. We are now lifelong friends.

It stopped raining Sunday morning but stayed cloudy and foggy. We hiked through the fog and came up one mountain that had us doing more climing then hiking. We were going hand over hand almost straight up and gained almost 2000 feet in about a mile. It was either step up or climb up the rocks. When we got to the top there was a fire tower, but, it was so cloudy we could not even enjoy the view after all of our hard work. We had lunch about a half mile down from the tower at a shelter and then hiked another 7 miles. We did 12 miles each of the last 3 days and then hiked four miles this morning to the NC Highway 64. We came out to the road and a van was waiting for us. It took us to the Budget Hotel in Franklin. The owner is a very good friend to hikers and for $40.00 we have a room for two, clean clothes and a shuttle driver who will take us anywhere we want to go. Check out http://www.havensbudgetinn.com/ and you can see where we are staying tonight. The local Baptist Church does a free breakfast for thru hikers and our plan is to eat there tomorrow morning and then be on the trail shortly after that.

We have about 36 miles to the famous Natahala Outdoor Center and the trail goes right through it. Our plan is to at least stop at their famous restaraunt on Wed nite and we may even spend the night there. Staying in the woods is great, but, a nice bed along the trail is even better.

We are still healthy and having fun, even in the rain. I am going to try and post a couple of pictures. One is of Patty baking cookies at the Cloud 9 Hostel, one is Patty and I at the GA/NC state line on the trail and the other is from the group that we seem to be moving with at the shelter last night. We still have not stayed in the shelter, but our tent was right next to it last night, because that was the only flat spot we had.

We will try to Post again from the Natahali Outdoor Center April 3, or from Fontana Dam April 6 or 7. We have another mail drop there and depending when we get there, may have to wait on the Post Office until Monday.

Take Care all. Lucky Dog and Red Dog.