100 Miles!

As Tyler noted, we took a zero day in Franklin, North Carolina. A zero day means we hiked 0 miles today: or more accurately, ate more food than normal. Since Hiawassee we have been hiking in some cold conditions. For instance the other night we went to bed and woke up with snow covering the gap we were sleeping in. Getting going when it's that cold is difficult, but a new trail friend helped us out.

We may have mentioned our friend Winn earlier. He is hiking quickly by having his mom meet him at all road crossings with food and shelter. He only hikes with water, lunch, snacks, and a coat. Evenso we have roughly kept pace with him. The night it snowed he and his mom very graciously fed us, provided a morning fire, and offered us a ride into town. We hiked with Winn that day, but had to stop early. Hopefully we will catch up with him and talk more about Mario cart and lord of the rings.

There is little other news. The views remain phenomenal. I did pick up a trail name though, I'm now known as 'Earl Gray' after my favorite type of tea. After a days without it, I broke down and bought a box of tea bags and was named at the blueberry patch hostel back in Hiawassee.

That and we crossed into our second state, North Carolina. We also crossed the 100 miles mark on top of Albert mountain, the steepest climb so far, and the first mountaintop with a tower on it.

Other than that spirits remain high, despite the next few days being cold and wet (snow predicted for a few days). We've met many new friends, and because of taking a day off, seeing a lot of old ones.