Day 140 through 155

Day 140 - zero

Came back to Hot Springs and ended up staying with Mehdi and Brenda for the night. I will hike out early in the morning. 

Day 141 - 20.5 miles

Hiked out early that morning from Hot Springs and will get picked up by Mehdi and Brenda at Max Patch. It was a very cold and windy day. 

Views from Max Patch. 

Got picked up and taken back to Hot Springs. I got a call from my friends that night and they were only 6 miles ahead of me. Bad weather was coming in and they were gonna come back to Hot Springs the next day to let it pass over. We made a plan to meet up the next day and Mehdi would pick everyone up and bring us all back to Hot Springs.

Day 142 - 12.6 miles

Had a fun hike today. I ran for about 6 miles to catch up with everyone. We all met up at Standing Bear hostel and Mehdi picked us all up. It was 6 of us total: me, Matt, Liam, Clam, Bug out and Moxie. They had taco ready for us when we got there! What amazing trail magic. We would take 2 days off to let the weather pass. 

Day 143 - Zero

The view from our room in Hot Springs. 

Day 144 - Zero

Day 145 - 7.9 miles

Left Hot Springs and got shuttled to Standing Bear Hostel. 

It was so cold that the van doors were frozen shut! We hiked through snow and made it to the northern boundary of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It was very cold and windy. 

We hiked 0.6 miles to Mt Cammerer lookout tower. It was enclosed and had amazing 360 views. We decided to spend the night there because it was cold and very windy. 

Clockwise: Me, Matt, Liam, Moxie, Clam and BugOut. 

Day 146 - 15.7 miles

Had a wonderful sunrise. 

The trail was frozen solid, you could have ice skated on it. 

Day 147 - 10.4 miles 

Short day because we were going into Gatlinburg. Had some great views along the way. 

Views from Charlie's Bunion. 

Made it to Newfound Gap. 

Day 148 - 12.5 miles

Had a huge breakfast this morning. 

Got a ride back to Newfound Gap and headed for Clingman's Dome. We had awesome views from up there. 

Made it to a shelter and met some really interesting characters. We ended up with 14 people in a 12 person shelter but still got a good nights sleep. 

Day 149 - 14.7 miles

Cold, windy, rainy miserable day. Went over Rocky Top and Thunder Head. Hit 2,000 miles today. Made it to the shelter and got dry and warm. 

Day 150 - 13.8 miles

Had a beautiful day of hiking but a very windy day. Went up in Shuckstack Fire tower for some great views. 

We left The Great Smoky Mountains and made it down to Fontana Dam. 

The lake was very low. 

Stayed in a nice shelter and a couple we all met gave us s'mores and this happened..... S'mores beard. 

Day 151 - 21.8

Long hike today. Made it up on Cheoha bald and caugh the last bit of the sunset. 

Day 152 - 6.7 miles 

Easy down hill hike to NOC in Bryson City, NC. My brother Cyrus picked us up and took us back to Athens, GA. 

Day 153 - Zero 

Had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends. 

Day 154 - Zero 

Relax day

Day 155 - Zero

We all went to the UGA vs GT game in Athens. Liam's first football game!! We had a great time. 

We should complete the trail in 8 or 9 days. Only one more post people!! Thanks to everyone who had been following along, writing comments and donating. It's been an amazing journey. Thank you!

Enjoy-

Total miles: 2,048.0

Miles left: 137.3

Day 126 through 139

Day 126 - 18.2 miles

Left Damascus on Halloween and crossed into Tennessee, my 11th state. 

We were told that there could possibly be some snow tonight. Well, it snowed about 8" that night. 

Day 127 - 3.0 miles

This was my tent in the morning. 

I had to dig myself out a few times that night. 

We decided to hike 3 miles to the road and get a shuttle back to Damascus and let the snow melt a little. It was a hard hike through deep snow and cold. 

Day 128 - 11.4 miles 

Got a shuttle back to the trail from Damascus. 

This was our drivers dog. 

Back on the trail the conditions were not much better. Still about 6 to 7" of snow. 

All the beautiful rhododendron tunnels had turned into impassable rhododendron ice caves. We had to hit them with our poles to get the snow off then we could go under them. 

We had to take turns taking the lead and making footprints for the others to follow. We finally made it to Vanderventer Shelter and had a wonderful sunset view of Wataga lake. 

We setup our tents behind the shelter because the wind was blowing right into the shelter. It was a very cold night. 

Day 129 - 14.8 miles

Had a beautiful sunrise this morning. 

Hiked 5 miles through snow. Hiked 4 miles at a lower elevation with no snow, then back up in elevation and hit snow again but this time in shorts and short sleeves. If you get cold, you just hike faster. 

Wataga lake. 

We stayed in Hampton, TN for the night. Due to weather conditions we decided to shuttle ahead and and come North bound back to Hampton. This would give us good conditions on Roan Mt. 

Day 130 - 12.1 miles

Got a shuttle up to Roan Mt and had a great day. Spent a lot of time on Roan Mt and Grassy Bald. This is the highest shelter on the AT at 6,194 ft. 

Some of the amazing views we had. 

The title of this picture is, " The men who refuse to wear shirts while hiking in the snow..... Except Liam, who chooses not to wear pants either".

Ladies, your welcome. 

From: Dirty Mike and the Boys

This was an old barn that they made into a shelter. 

Day 131 - 18.0 miles

Left the shelter and hiking over Hump Mt we found a very malnourished dog. We called her red. 

We feed her a bunch of our food and she ended up following us for 4 miles. She was very timid and would run if you made any sudden movements. Although, she let us pet her while we fed her. She was very sweet. 

At a river crossing she wouldn't come near the bridge and we had to leave her behind. It was a sad day. 

This was a waterfall right before the shelter. 

Day 132 - 17.8 miles

Left the shelter this morning in the rain. Not a fun hike for about 5 hours. Made it to the Laurel falls area. 

This was part of the trail. You had to tiptoe around the edge of these rocks and try not to fall in the river. 

Made it back to Hampton, TN. 

Day 133 - 12.2 miles 

Got shuttled from Hampton to Hughes gap and started hiking again southbound. It was snowing and it was cold. 

We made it to the shelter and made a huge fire to heat us up before bed. 

Day 134 - 17.5 miles

Had another cold day of hiking up Unaka Mt. 

Made it to Erwin, TN and stayed at Uncle Johnny's Hostel. 

Day 135 - 17.6 miles

Had a great day and ended up setting up camp ontop of Big Bald. The sunset was incredible. 

This is one of my favorites

Day 136 - 17.7 miles

Woke up and watched a beautiful sunrise

This is the most sunrises and sunsets I have seen in my entire life. What an amazing journey this has been. I am grateful to everyone who has helped me along the way. Thank YOU!

Day 137 - 21.3 

Big day today to get close to HotSprings, NC. 

This was a grave site of 2 Civil War soldiers. 

Had some good view today. 

Some areas still had snow!

Day 138 - 11.0 miles

Had a smooth hike into Hot Springs. 

Walked into Hot Springs and had no service. I knew that Melanie wouldn't have service either. I didn't know what to do. About 5 minutes after being in town I saw her car pull up and she saw me. It was perfect! We all went and had lunch together at The Iron Horse. It was delicious. Thanks Barbara!

Day 138 - Zero with my Baby

Had a great day with Mel. I ate as much food as possible. Thanks for lunch Marty! 

Day 139 - Zero

Headed back to Hot Springs with Brenda and Mehdi. We got here late and it started getting dark. They told me to stay with them and we could go to dinner (They know my weakness) and leave in the morning. 

Total miles : 1,911.4

Miles left: 273.9

Enjoy!