No Time to Blog

We took three days to hike the section Nancy missed between Franklin and Hiawassee. Stopped at the chiropractor and hitchhiked back to Hot Springs. Should be in Erwin TN in five days.

Confessions of an overweight backpacker

1. Carried enough spices for a month.
2. Packaging packages (bags in bags) weighs a lot.
3. You can either be comfortable camping or hiking, not both. Nancy is ready to be comfortable hiking now.
4. 10 extra carribeaners just in case is not worth it.
5. I can wear underwear on my head if it is too cold, I don't need my cold weather hat.
6. My organizational skills were great, but it made my backpack complex and heavy. I know, many of you figured this out before I did...
7. Too many bells and whistles on the pack make a lot of noise but not a lot of sense.
8. Placing items in a secret compartment still adds weight.
9. ANYTHING not being used is TOO heavy and not needed. Nancy finally understands backpacking.

Happenings:
6/12 Discovered that the water bottle owner was a lady named Patty who Craig dubbed the trail name Waterfall. Met Waterfall and Mike a few times along the trail including Rocky Top TN (just like the song). A hiker had his socks drying on the rock so Craig said it must be socky top. Stayed at Derrick Knob shelter.
6/13 Went to Clingmans dome. Young men were intringed with our backpacking stories as this was their first time, they sought us out just to talk. It is odd to realize we were fast becoming knowledgable of backpacking and people are often approaching us with questions. Stayed at Mt Collins shelter.
6/14 Went to Charlies Bunion which was a beautiful and scary view. Brave kids were standing on the edge of the bunion rock. Stopped at Newfound gap and met an Arkansas couple who made us sandwiches and gave us chips and brownies. Stayed at Pecks corner shelter and met Bill who said the kilt idea was genious.
6/15 Record 20 mile day to Davenport Gap shelter because desired shelter was closed due to bear activity. Nancy desires to hike the section she missed and Craig agreed to redo it. Need to find a way to get there after Hot Springs. Someone called Nancy True Grit for her determined long hike with injuries.
6/16 Pat and Dennis were going to pick us up at the Standing Bear Farm where Kayenta was staying. To our mutual surprise while we were hiking to the farm on the trail which was on the road, Pat and Dennis drove up beside us and gave us a ride the rest of the mile to the farm. Decided to stay with Pat and Dennis for an extra day while Nancy recovered (calf issue). Craig's uncle Ted suggested the name Crazy Calf.
6/17 Toured dowtown Dandridge. Craig attempted to waterski and got up briefly before wiping out a few times.
6/18 Nancy wind surfed a little. Went to Knoxville.

Sorry we could not update the blog last week (wifi issue)

6/2 Donn dropped us off at the trail head and we began hiking. Stayed at Siler Bald Shelter. Siler Bald provided an awesome view. Met two young guys who were excited about our kilts.
6/3 Hiked to Wayah Bald Stone Tower for another nice view. A man day hiking the other direction told us of his story of recovery from a heart bypass surgery...full recovery by carrying weight up hill. Stopped at a ranger station built in 1916. Craig said we were tourist backpacking. Met Frank and three Korean siblings. Intense thunderstorm during the night. Stayed at Wayah Bald shelter.
6/4 Donn called and said they would like to see us in Fontana Village when we get there. Stayed at Cold Spring Shelter.
6/5 Breathtaking view from the Wesser Bald fire tower. Met two marines and dog from Asheville NC. Met a Scottish man hiking the other direction who said he never saw a red (Craig's) kilt but he really liked it. Stayed at A. Rufus Morgan shelter.
6/6 Woke up and a tour of middle school kids came to the shelter. We were the only hikers so they asked us a lot of questions. Went to the Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC) and spent the day. Nancy had a backpack shakedown and got rid of some weight. Craig had a couple beers. Stayed at Sassafras Gap shelter.
6/7 Nancy met John, Ki, and dog Kong, who Craig had met earlier. Met two bicyclists at a road crossing who gave us some Amish pumpkin bread. Tented at Cody gap. Heard Owls calling each other in the early morning hours.
6/8 Made it to Fontana Village via shuttle and picked up our mail drops at the post office, which later filled our tent with the 3 boxes. We had things to ship back that we had sent ahead.  The logistics of this type of trip are challenging. Had a nice lunch and got the shuttle to the Fontana Hilton Shelter which had bathrooms and a shower. Walked down an extremely steep hill to dip into the lake. Met yogi bear at the shelter and saw triscuit and mayapple, who is still deciding on a trail name. Also met boys from Mississippi who were hiking to the NOC.
6/9 Took a shower for the first time in a week (we do stream bowl bathing on the trail). Nancy organized the mail drop and lightened her pack once again while Craig typed the blog and talked to yogi. Sandi and Donn visited and we all went to the Fontana Dam visitors center, Marina, and  village for dinner.   Donn wondered what must go through Kayenta's mind with all this hiking... "Did we lose the house?"  :)  John showed up and decided to kennel Kong with Kayenta (dogs are not allowed in the smoky mtn national park). So the dogs will have a vacation together.
6/10 Rain all night and morning. Hiked one mile between the Marina and the shelter so we wouldn't need to do it Monday. Craig's air core mattress is leaking so we dunked it in the lake to determine it had the same problem as Nancy's. Ate boiled peanuts and met Serenitina who offered Nancy the trail name Lighten Up. Nancy lightened her pack by removing some inner material, the foam padding on the straps and belt.
6/11 Curtis picked up Kayenta and Kong. We met Sharon S from PA at the Fontana Hilton Shelter as we waited for the shuttle to mail our boxes at the post office.  What a surprise that was. Walked to the visitors center on the way to the trail. Hiked 11.5 miles and stayed at Mollie's Ridge shelter. In the middle of the night Nancy began to feel precipitation but we were on the bottom bunk of the shelter. Woke up the top bunk folks and found that someone had rolled onto a water bottle valve and it leaked thru the floor onto us. We mopped up several cups of water from our sleeping bag and cuddled to dry it out. Fortunately we have a synthetic bag which can dry out fairly easily.  Yogi Bear said we handled it like champs, that he would have awakened the whole shelter.

Staying with new friends in Franklin NC

5/26 Nancy's friend Pat B contacted friends Sandi and Donn to ask about us pstaying in Franklin NC.  Nancy was having trouble walking due to the ankle pain and she was struggling to make the hard decision to take time off to rest while Craig continued on.

5/27  Craig and Nancy met more hikers coming into town.  Hiker wisdom: You can either be comfortable at camp or on the trail, but you can't be both.  Met more folks who would like to own some of the products that Nancy has designed, so she is collecting contacts.  Many people are offering help for us to market and manufacture the products. Decided to have Nancy stay in Franklin while Craig hiked the 40 miles from Hiawassee. Craig hitched a ride to the trail head; Sandi and Donn picked up Nancy and Kayenta, and took her to Franklin. Craig hiked to Plumorchard Gap shelter, ate (Carly's) peanut butter, and slept in the shelter with Chris "tangled" and his army friend Jake.

5/28 Craig's first occurrence of trail magic...young men left a bunch of cereal bars and other snacks. Arrived at Standing Indian shelter with Tangled and later with other young men. Tangled gave Craig the trail name "Kilt". Read an interesting book named How good is good enough; author made many good points but Craig did not agree with the conclusion; agreeing with our friend Gary G's theory.  Sandi and Donn were great to stay with, Nancy loved to learn about their lifestyle of bee keeping, organic gardening, cheese making, solar oven cooking.  There were so many books she wanted to read, but she needed to eliminate weight in her pack and Sandi offered her use of a sewing machine. All of this lessened the disappointment of leaving the trail.

5/29  Craig hiked the toughest hill so far up to a fire tower. Met previous friend Alex. Called Nancy to say I would be arriving in Franklin a day earlier than expected. Arrived at Big Spring shelter and had a nice campfire. Nancy went with Sandi and Donn to meet Kim and Dave, who is president of the local hike club. They have hiked 550 miles of the AT, so we had a great time sharing trail knowledge and stories, wonderful people.  Nancy is now using essential oils to keeps most ticks at a distance of her and the dog.

5/30 Craig hiked to US 64 and got a ride from a hiker's mother (I believe) to Franklin. Sandi and Nancy picked Craig up and we had lunch and ran errands. Spent the night in a tent on the porch to accomodate Kayenta who is not allowed in the house, this is where Nancy had spent the last week. This is a very nice accomodation from very gracious folks. Today Nancy met Faye and had a delightful conversation with a kindred spirit, Nancy purchased her CD which was about the plants of Appalachia.

5/31 Nancy downsized her pantry of backpacking spices and extra trail supplies, while Craig helped Donn with some house carpentry work. Nancy chose to have a chiroptactic adjustment on her feet/ankles.  A local man named Bill was a great help, he worked her sacrum, back, and neck as well, Nancy could tell it helped.

6/1 Getting ready (shipments etc) to get back on the trail either this evening or tomorrow morning.  We stayed the night and went with Sandi and Donn to a solar oven presentation.  Ended the evening with a great conversation about living well.

6/2  Off to the trail after an excellent breakfast and conversation.