Made it to Erwin TN

6/19 Pat let Nancy use her sewing machine and she made a summer underwear liner for her kilt so she could send her wool one home. Dennis gave us a nice lightweight multi-tool. Pat and Dennis drove us to the post office to mail more stuff home and to the trail head to send us off. A horse fly stung Nancy on the leg which gave her a nice welt. Stayed at Groundhog Creek Shelter.
6/20 Met Trail Maintainer offering sodas and water. Stopped at Max Patch which offered a beautiful view. Met some tourists there. Stayed at Walnut Mountain Shelter.
6/21 Craig felt temporarily nauseous after eating 5 minute grits mixed in cold water--thought they were instant grits when we purchased them. Met a hiker on Bluff Mountain who thought Nancy's pack rain roof was genius. Arrived at at Hot Springs NC and ate at the Smoky Mtn Diner. Met Otter and saw a father and son we previously met at Davenport Gap. Could not tent at campground because there was a biker (mostly Harleys) rally there that weekend--and boy we knew it--they were noisy into the wee hours of the night. We tented about a mile north on the AT which was free anyway but it was very hot that first night. Ate Dinner at Spring Creek Tavern and saw Alex (Chainsaw) Zigfoot, Otter, and the father and son.
6/22 Ate breakfast at the Smoky Mtn Diner and the sweet potato pancakes were the best. Kayenta also had sweet potatoes (canned), with Vienna sausage. Purchased a new dog backpack at Bluff Mtn Outfitters because she busted the side zipper. Had dinner at the food shack where Cliff was cooking for donation only (didn't get his restaurant license yet). Excellent!
6/23 A biker Carmen saw and loved Kayenta. We had crossed paths for the next couple days and Carmen donated $17 to the doggy treat fund. Took a hot spring bath at the resort. Toured the Sunny Bank Inn hostel...nifty old house.
6/24 Saw John and Kong (dog) in town. Decided to go to either Franklin or Hiawassee to make up the section Nancy missed. Tried to hitch a ride from the exiting bikers (some  were towing their bikes)...no takers. Paid for a shuttle to Franklin NC, and Ruth took us there. She told us that the Hot Springs locals used to hide from thru hikers because they were afraid of them because of their appearance. Hiked south to the Big Spring Shelter. Kayentas bladder let loose in the tent and the sleeping bag was full of dog urine.
6/25 Beautiful view at fire tower. Nancy had more hiking stamina than Craig, who believes it's due to lack of nourishment...Needs more Clif bars. Made it to Standing Indian Shelter where a man wondered why we hung the sleeping bag to dry. Craig said dog urine to which he replied, "That will keep the bears away". Funny!  It was tough to slide into a damp urine bag, boy did the tent reek that night.
6/26 Craig pondered changing Kayenta's trail name to Sweet Pee. Humor is good in times like these. Finished hiking the section to Hiawassee and hitched two rides to the Budget Inn in Franklin. Nancy had previously made an appointment with her Franklin chiropractor for the next morning, hitchhiking dependent.
6/27 Nancy went to the chiropractor while Craig laundered the sleeping bag at the nicest laundromat he had ever seen (E Main St). The chiropractor laughed at Nancy walking in with her backpack and called his videographer who was working on  testimonials for the chiropractor's website. Nancy agreed to do a video, and Craig and Kayenta unknowingly became a part of it later. We'll send anyone a link to this video by request. Hitched five rides to get back to Hot Springs. One of the rides was from George and Whitney who amazingly know our new Franklin friends Donn and Sandi! Another ride was from musicians Rorey Caroll and Zeb who took us to a health food store on the way to Asheville. Rorey gave us her CD but Craig accidentally left it in the vehicle. Arrived in Hot Springs for the second time, ate at Iron Horse Inn and met musician Dave who was playing his original music...very nice.
6/28 Went to Smoky Mtn Diner for the sweet potato pancakes and saw Woody and Jessica (aka MIA) again! Had a great conversation catching up with our nomadic neighbors. Hiked north out of town and had tremendous views of Hot Springs. Craig saw a bear who immediately ran after spotting either Craig or Kayenta. Stayed at Spring Mtn Shelter and met Piccadilly (I think) who was a 78 year old Greek man from NY doing a 50 mile section.
6/29 Hiked on an exposed ridgeline which was very beautiful but very strenuous and hot (temperature); almost ran out of water. Nancy found blueberries to eat. Arrived at Jerry Cabin Shelter and Craig started typing the blog while Nancy made a huge campfire. When he was done and ready for bed, some woman was walking fast toward the shelter and singing. She said, We caught you! Craig responded, Doing what? Then Craig recognized her as one of the 3 amigos Alyss (aka Bellows) from our first week. Trevor (aka Huck Finn) arrived shortly after. They caught UP to us.
6/30 Yellow jacket stung Nancy and she and Craig ran to get away in case there were more. Met a group of section hikers who petted Kayenta and noted that if a bear approached, Kayenta would snuggle the bear into submission. They were amazed at how friendly she was toward them, she greeted everyone of them. Stayed at Hog Back Ridge Shelter.
7/1 A fawn ran toward Craig on the trail. Kayenta chased it despite pleas to halt and desist. She disappeared for several minutes, then appeared and found an excellent spring to get water which we all shared. Hiked to Big Bald which had a beautiful 360° view. Stopped for lunch at Bald Mtn Shelter where a section hiker couple gave us fruit and crackers. Nancy had a tough hike day as her ankle was swollen up with the yellow jacket sting. For her this was another "true grit" day.  Stayed at Spivey Gap campsite where it stormed all night.
7/2 Hiked to Uncle Johny's Hostel in Erwin TN where we rented a cabin.