As forecast, it was bitterly cold this morning. Everything was still wet from yesterday, thankfully the rain had stopped but it was still really damp. Got a late start and the first bit of the trail was an 8 mile climb. Everyone was hiking on their own schedule so I hiked by myself most of... Continue Reading →

None of us were at 100% but we set off anyway after some McDonald's. We'd planned to make it further but a little over four miles is all we had in us. The high was in the low forties, it never stopped raining, and I was still dealing with diarrhea and dehydration. Overall it was... Continue Reading →

The group is generally better, but still iffy overall. We're hunkered down for another day but planning to head out tomorrow. I managed to get some laundry done and resupplied on food. Day 36 Mileage: 0.0 mi [Erwin, TN -> Erwin, TN] Total Mileage: 352.4 mi

The seemingly inevitable sickness finally hit me around 6 am. I vomited every couple of hours through the afternoon. I finally felt well enough to eat something around 9 pm but I wouldn't say I'm recovered. This hotel sucks. We're splitting 2 rooms and between the two of them 1 microwave is unusable, a bathroom... Continue Reading →

I woke up around 1 am to the sound of Rick Flair puking outside his tent. Prairie Dog was similarly afflicted and Cabooses' first words this morning were "I shit my pants last night". The 3 of us that are still healthy enough to hike decided to slack pack into Erwin, 27 miles up the... Continue Reading →

Today was a long one. El Dorado was up most of the night between the vomit and the diarrhea, it sounded like what I imagine a bear giving birth would. We had to cover 9 miles to reach the first spot where we could get him off the trail, finally got started around 9 am.... Continue Reading →

Today was a weird one. Yesterday it was so hot and humid that I was hiking shirtless. When I woke up today it was sleeting and snowing. I slept in because the dampness made the cold so much more unpleasant. Eventually I put on my wet clothes and wandered out of camp around 10 am.... Continue Reading →

I've made it from Spring Mountain Shelter to Iron Mountain Gap. The blog posts record the days in detail but check out the video for additional commentary on the trek. https://youtu.be/R-G1tQK1A1Y

The weather forecast today wasn't great but another zero day would've been too much so we (Cricket, Prarie Dog,  Ric Flair, Caboose, and El Dorado) all headed out. Cricket managed to lose her hiking poles but found a mostly functional set in the hostel up the street to help keep her going. The first few... Continue Reading →

Zero days are glorious lazy days (though they don't lead to a lot of pictures, sorry about that). We slept in late, ate too much food, and generally just chilled out. We all ended up feeling like the hot springs were probably overrated, in then end just a tub filled with spring water. Instead I... Continue Reading →