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.
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.
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.
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!
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