Helene has decimated our local communities surrounding Asheville including the mountain towns of Marshall and Hot Springs that we as a family frequent and love. Our communities are hurting and it will take years to rebuild. Many friends and family have asked about how they can help especially if they’re…
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Weekend Hike – Mt Mitchell Loop
Alltrails, you’re such a liar ! 😂 We had time for an afternoon hike today and picked this supposedly 5.9 mile, 3 hour hike and by the time we were done, it was more like 7 miles and more like 4 hours thanks to the tricky terrain. It was a…
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Days 6-7 Bears Galore.
We are done a little early from our planned itinerary for #Life reasons but wow what an amazing trip. After leaving Mountain Crossing we dispersed camped a couple of nights and also hit some gnarly hills including Blue Mountain. I mentioned the creepy abandoned tent. That night, we had some…
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Days 4-5 Zero Day and Reaching Mountain Crossings
On Day 4, we got picked up at Jarrard Gap to stay at Suches Wilderness Ranch for a resupply and Zero. My feet really needed the rest day. This place was a camper with a nice deck and outdoor shower. We spent our Zero Day replenishing calories (i.e. stuffing our…
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Days 2 and 3 – Hawk Mountain Shelter to Jarrard Gap
We are currently taking a zero day at a fantastic little place in Suches, GA after 3 days on the trail. Our total mileage is around 26.3 miles not counting all the side quests off trail for water sources and shelters. Michael has shoes that are half a size too…
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Day One – Springer Mountain to Hawk Mountain Shelter
We’re really doing this! This morning, our wonderful shuttle driver showed up bright at early at 7.30am in a souped up Jeep Wrangler to take us to the Springer Mountain Trailhead to begin our section hike. We hiked south for a (uphill) mile to get to the southern terminus and…
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The Voices.
I’m a huge fan of Stephen King and am on my second read of the Dark Tower series. In Book 5 (Wolves of the Calla), the group visits a place called The Cave of Voices and it is the center for many important events. The cave got this name because…
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Packing
I laid out my pack with my base items (no food and water). It is a good exercise to take one final look at the list. I discovered I could use a smaller bottle of multi-purpose soap and I’m rethinking my rain poncho situation. I ordered a Frogs Togs ultralight…
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Two weeks out!
It’s getting real! We are two weeks out from our section hike of the AT. I’m in full logistics mode and here’s what we have so far: I also need to finalize my pack – this is a work in progress.
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Shake down trip and Changes
Life throws curve balls and for us, it means we can no longer take a whole month off for a trip. We have two weeks and the JMT is going to be there another year. But with the two weeks, we are going to start section hiking the Appalachian Trail…