April 16th, 2014

Day 10 
Weather: Clear, Sunny, and cold night
Campsite: Long Branch Shelter
Mileage: 16.2 miles

Feel like the days are passing quick, had no clue it was already the 16th. We all woke up late or just didn’t want to get out of our sleeping bags because it was way to cold. I didn’t get out of camp till 10/10:30am. I had oatmeal and pop tarts for breakfast. Definitely not purchasing pop tarts again, just not enough substance or density to it. I hauled ass today and hiked solo after Standing Indian. I did 15 miles by 4:15pm where I met a new thru-hiker named “Bear Claw”. She was hiking early on with some people who had a dog that located a dead bear a little bit off the trail. Said it smelled really foul and gross like rotting flesh. There was larva and maggots all over it and she went down, when the others wouldn’t, to cut off a claw from its paw. What a way to get your name. She is an awesome chick from NH, but can’t take a successful pano. Albert Mt. is the official 100 mile marker of the A.T. And that’s where I ran into her. I have 2.5 miles to camp and I am debating whether or not to catch sunset. I ended up deciding against it due to being up there for 2 hours already and having to wait 2 more hours alone. Later I found out it was the night of the blood moon. Kicking myself a little bit again, but many more to be had. Passed Rockey “The Flying Squirrel” again and met up with “Easydoesit”. I fed off his energy of seeing me again. It got us both pumped up for Albert Mt.’s steep climb. He made it up 20 minutes after Bear Claw and I. We took some panos and got to chatting about the camera gods and NH. I shared some cheese and salami with them and the next thing we know the Florida crew rolls up the mountain. Naturally a cheese and salami toast ensues. I been talking all day about how I didn’t think they were going to push over Albert Mt. based off the last two days, but I was wrong. HELL YEAH, Love It! Such a spike of energy. They took the view in and pushed on two more shelters. Love this trail and all it’s surprises! I now know that they will always be in my ebb and flow. I didn’t wait for sunset and only went to the next shelter. The 10 oz of salami and cheese caused me to skip dinner. Some dude hiking 25 miles a day rolled up to the shelter late. That can not be enjoyable. Today is the 10th day so that means I am averaging 10 miles a day. I need to get back to 15 and I am running a day behind where I want to be. I already decided I am skipping Franklin. We’ll see what happens tomorrow.

April 15th, 2014

Day 9
Weather: Overcast day after rain
Campsite: Standing Indian Shelter by stream
Mileage: 9.5 miles

Rich Cove Gap was a nice place to camp. It had a nice stream and set up camp on top of a little bubble hill. I had pop tarts and a Cliff bar which did not satisfy my breakfast stomach. I should really not wait an extra day or two to write these journals. I remember pace being a little slow and thinking how I need to push ahead. My pace and comfortable hiking speed calls for a little more push on my steps. We finally made it past the GA/NC boarder. There is a crazy twisted tree about .2 miles before it which looks pretty cool. We made it to Standing Indian campsite right beyond where “chinook”set up his hammock. Again we were right next to the and a beautiful stream. It got really cold that night, so cold we doubled up in tents and saw ice crystal strands come up out of the ground the next morning. When I cooked dinner there were small little frosty snowflakes on the creases of our tents. Dinner was quick ramen then right back in the tent and sleeping bag. The low overnight was in the teens. I wanted to push over the hill instead of making camp, but vote was against it and proved better to set up camp early before dark. We saw Maine chick hiking with her mom again and been thinking I need to make that gingerbread joke a reality. Tomorrow is another day, hopefully it warms up.

Aprils 14th, 2014

Day 8
Weather: Rainy and foggy
Campsite: Rich Cove Gap
Mileage: 7.4 miles

A week in.. well in and out . I can really hike a lot of miles. I used to think 12 miles was a long day. Now it seems standard. Some days I won’t even start hiking till 2pm and I still can crush 10 miles. Today was another day of starting late and we still did 7.4 miles. The only tough part is getting up and going. The lack of sleep made me wonder what hiking was going to feel like. Not sure I noticed any difference. After continental breakfast, checking out, and mailing a letter, we crammed all 5 of us, 3 fully geared packs, and a guitar into a 2 door coupe (this does not include the trunk cause it was already full) . None of us coil move for the next 25 miles back to Hiawassee where we resupplied for the next few days. I resupplied 5 days so I could skip Franklin and head straight to the NOC if I wanted to. This is where I could make up some time. After shopping we met at McDonalds for lunch. I cooked my last pizza outside in the rain at those mini tables with the umbrellas. Pizza is so good. I looked like a perching bird eating out of a bowl. I had a few people look at me funny. We organized our pack in there and headed out back to the trail. Once we got back to the trailhead it was goodbyes to Greg. It seemed like he had a wonderful trip besides the first rough night and was ready to get back to his job. By the sound of how his first night went props go out to him for sticking through it. I know many people that would have said screw it, I’ll meet you later. Hiking was a nice 7.4 miles. I have two ideas I have to make happen. 
1) A Gingerbread House challenge for a very steep climb.
2) Trail magic for SoBo s (a keg in the ground)
3) a weird meal combination challenge between a group of people. Winner gets item of choice out of next resupply location purchases
While in Hiawassee BrotherNature traded in his guitar for a lighter one. Upon making camp we learned that it doesn’t sound so good. It was the first day hiking in rain for me. Our pace was good and walks thinks he has a blister forming. We met 2 new thru hikers, one named “chinook” and the other I forgot. Hopefully I can convince the crew to do 15 miles tomorrow. Finally eating light weight ramen.

April 13th, 2014

Day 7
Weather: Sunny
Campsite: Hotel in Helen
Mileage: 5.5 miles

Today we hiked 5.5 miles out to Dick’s Creek Gap. A boyscout troop lead the way. We passed them on the first climb and made our way to Hiawassee. I hitched cause there was like no room in the car they had. It was a small little dry town with not much going on. Good only to resupply, eat fast food, and get back on the trail. Florida crew immediately saw this, called me, and picked me right up. It was back to Hellen for another night of drinking. We got there and checked in to a hotel room, did laundry with money from “Angry Bird” and “Skyeyes” for giving them a lighter and taking their trash. I journaled up while they hit the Hayloft Tavern for food and beer. We all threw our cloths in one washer and they came out still looking dirty but smelling clean. I cycled the dryer every 5 min and ate a cheap tuna wrap, folded cloths and went back to the bar. I was a little concerned about falling a day behind and was looking at ways to make it up. Set a series of goals for the next few days. Sammy was working again and bought us all a round on her. She made fun of me for being back again so soon. Such an awesome person. We chatted a bit then got to talking to her boyfriend, known as “BoyWonder”. It’s from the saying, “boy I wonder about you”.He told us the story about his name and about the 24 mile challenge to MacArthur’s Peak, I think that’s what it is called. It’s Virginia’s famous rock ledge picture. Every mile you hike you have to stop and chug a beer and continue on till you make it up and watch sunset. He said his group started it in 2010 by doing it in suits bought at a Goodwill store. Imagine being in a conservative country hick town in western Virginia walking out of a gas station in a suit with a case of beer in hand and a hiking pack on your back. Haha, he said all the locals looked at them like they were crazy, which they are. I am totally participating in this challenge when I get there. I think he said it was 4 of them and a dog. It got to a point where they hiked miles apart and the dog would also walk at its own pace somewhere within a mile or two of the one person in front and the other behind. Said it felt like the dog was hiking his own hike. Found this to be awesome. The stories kept rolling and he sent us along with some advice. If your ever thinking of getting off the trail, give it 36 hours. Sammy says 24 hours. Also never say no to any trail angels or opportunities on the trail. Experiences are the prize not mileage. To quote his buddy “Lion King” “Never say no”. This applied later in the night. We decided to move on up the town and check out what was going on. Snagged some ice cream and played some cornhole. Jersey represented well and won 21-13. It was a Sunday and thing were dying down. We wandered back to the bar and shot some pool and played a game of fooseball. It was back to the hotel after that where WalkswithWhiskey scored some beans. To make the night interesting I decided to never say no. We waited for them to kick in and Greg said something really funny on our way to the jerky store. It was about all the pollen in the air. “We are all breathing in the trees semen right now”. I couldn’t stop laughing cause it was so true. The jerky place felt like a warehouse dedicated to jerky and really hot hotsauces. I didn’t feel things kick in till around 9 at the bar where we met 2 thru-hikers “saltyballs” and some misunderstood man who left all his belongings in a jeep to his 11 year old son and his girlfriend, saying he may never come back or it will be 6 months till I come home again. This guy was a little messed up. He is a little to far into music and showed us his YouTube videos of him playing weird instruments. He said his dad only showed him how to play the guitar and left him to fend for himself and that’s what he is going to do with his son. Really weird shit right here. I went to the bathroom and noticed how big my pupils were and was antsy to be moving around. I new it was kicking in now and the music was making me fidgety . Took a walk back to the hotel room and by the time l wanted to get some sleep I could not sleep at all. Felt jacked up on speed and finally decided to shower at 5am. I finally snoozed into sleep around 6:30 and woke back up at 8. Moved to the bed once a spot opened up at 9. Then hit continental breakfast at 10. So ready to be back on the trail. I spent more money than I wanted to those 2 days in Helen. It was just a weird night where the 2 guys at the bar ended up in our hotel room. The weird guy was making puking and spitting sounds in his sleep. Just a really weird night. Now I know what it’s like. Beans would be better at a festival. I hit a low point at 3am thinking about money and not making mileage and decided I can’t spend more than $100 a week. I have come to spin this low point to a positive and say you can always correct a wrong or mend a solution together to make it where you want it to be. You have to be a little weird and take some chances on the trail. It’s not about the mileage it’s about the people and experiences. Love the Florida group and going to try and stick with them.

April 12th, 2014

Day 6
Weather: Sunny
Campsite: Addis Gap
Mileage: about 11.5 miles

Woke up feeling a little hungover. I took care of hygiene issues and didn’t want to feel invasive to this couple. So I moved all my gear out to the parking lot and did a self shakedown. I ended up removing at least 8 pounds of gear. Such a success, made hiking later on much easier. The post office was closed because it’s Saturday and it either means pack it back in and catch up to the Florida crew or find someone in town to mail it. Someone told me the grocery store mails stuff via ups so I stopped in there. While I was outside putting my stuff together to be shipped a young lady named Sheridan from Atlanta came over and offered to help me out by shipping my stuff for me. This saved me at least $10. She is thinking about thru-hiking the trail next year. What is so great is she is providing trail magic without even knowing it. I hitched 2 rides back to Unico Gap. One from a flea market owner up the road and another from Ashley Akemon. She had a son Drew and sent me off with some great homemade oatmeal raisin cookies! My favorite kind of cookie, what a stroke of good luck. I told myself I am catching them and sharing the love. At the trailhead there was a church group making chile and burgers for through hikers. I was a little late and they were packing up so I just snagged a water. Good thing to cause I left my leaking nalgen in town. When at the trail head I saw 2 forms of trail magic. One was a box of snickers, twix, animal crackers, and other candy items. The other was a frosted flakes box left by “WalkswithWhiskey”, “Black Beard”, “Brother Nature”, and “just Greg”. It had 3 beers left in it and started with at least 7. I knew someone would love a beer at the top of Trey Mt. so naturally I scooped one and hiked it to the top. I also chose animal crackers out of the box, but didn’t end up fighting them like planned. Rocky Mountain was an easy climb, but Trey was a long up hill climb. It was a little easier to push straight up it knowing the Florida crew was up ahead of me. I kept hearing they were 2 hours ahead of me. I gave “JD” the beer on top of Trey when admiring the view, then headed down to the shelter to have a tuna wrap lunch and fill my water supply back up. I shared some oatmeal cookies and took the empty beer bottle back and started back up again. It was almost dark when a group said they were heading all the way to Dick’s Creek Gap. I thought awe man I am definitely not catching them. I walked the next mile to the next gap and there they were making a campfire and cooking. We all rejoiced and had a shot of whiskey. It turns out they didn’t leave Helen till 12 an I didn’t leave till about 2. They must have been booking it too. They started a new thing called trail song. You just sing a lash out whatever had happened that day. But in song, usually done at a break point of campfire with the guitar. I love it. There is talk of writing paragraphs for each section and singing the whole thing when we get to Katahdin . It’s Greg’s last night on the trail and we are trying to convince him to join us to the GA/NC boarder. Wish I had marshmallows but I think salami an snickers were good deserts. The next day is off to Dick’s Creek Gap, another 5.5 then into town to party for Greg’s departure.

April 11th, 2014

Day 5 
Weather: Sunny
Campsite: Helen, Georgia 
Miles: 15+

Hiked the whole day with the south Florida crew, a long 15 + mile day. Not to many vistas or photos today. We got down to Unico Gap and I hitched a ride to Helen. The people are awesome here. It’s a little tourist German/Bavarian town that makes me think of the alp due to its mountainous location, hiking, and architecture. I hitched a ride from a stereotypical Georgia country woman and her dog in a red pickup truck. Two Appalachian women hitched via a white Subaru which I ran into again at Hofmann Brauhouse. We had a couple German beers and brats and I recorded some hiking German music. I ended up talking with the waitress dressed in lederhosen. Man does that look good on women especially when you been in the woods a while. She has two kids and makes decent money when the season is right, Aka now and Octoberfest. You will now believe the generosity thru-hikers get. A man just walked up to me and gave me a half pie of pizza while I was walking down the street with my pack. So good, so good. I left the bar only to hit another where I purchased a drink then took photos with the owner who gave me $5 for my journey, so pretty much a free drink. I told them about my gofundme website and I believe I already received a donation from them. Positivity has a way of spreading itself especially on the trail. I meandered around town a while looking for camp spots just in case I didn’t run into those girls again that offered me a free stay at their hotel. I ran into a guy with two kids and we had a discussion about karma and doing the right thing. It was off to Hayloft Tavern after that. Sammy aka “Juno” hiked the trail with her boyfriend. She was really awesome and took my pack upstairs for me as soon as I walked up the stairs. She said I needed a shakedown really bad and I must have been packing 50 to 60 lbs. She was definitely right. I got going with a couple of good ol’ Georgia boys. I ran into the Appalachian State girls again when doing the cupid shuffle. There were some pretty good looking girls in there and two really beautiful bartenders. No luck though. Met a husband and wife that were super cool. The dude runs a tree service and tries never to lay anyone off. They were really good people and you could see love in their eyes. Tried influencing me into getting a dog and told me by the time I am halfway through the trail I will have a dog. They were definitely going back torn take love that night. They bought me a shot and we toasted to good spirits. Our discussion lead to the appreciation for business owners and how they provide a living for people to get by and enjoy life. It was actually really touching and enlightening. I actually ended up talking to a lot of older people that night and probably scored 4 free drinks. One guy who earned it doing carioke, the bartender who thru-hiked, the lovely couple, and a random dude. At the end of the night I wandered off and ran into the app girls in a parking lot. One dropped to squat in the middle of the parking lot and decided instead to wait when seeing me. They were lesbians just traveling the trail at their own pace. God people who invited me to stay with them and I had a bed all to myself. Got such a good sleep I had to throw them some money for the stay. I learned towns are dangerous. I spent at least $55 here on booze, food, and stay. Never again I say, never again.

April 10th, 2014

Day 4 
Weather: Sunny
Campsite: Whitney Shelter
Mileage: around 5 or 6 miles

Writing a morning journal this time. It was a decent sleep at the hostel in Neel’s Gap, very nice to wake up on something soft. Started the day off with pizza beagles and a shower. Someone left coconut shampoo that I was very thankful for, but on the otherhand I sometimes go 4 days without a shower anyway. So it didn’t feel like a luxury to me. I planned to shoot for deep gap, but I did not leave Neel’s Gap till 12:30 / 1pm. Think I did about 7 miles. I mostly hiked alone and did not pass anyone new. Caught up to the Florida crew and camped at Whitly Gap Shelter. The view from the top was amazing. Watched sunset and woke up to sunrise snuggled up in my sleeping bag at the perfect angle. On new thru-hiker “JD” came to the camp looking to stay but instead hung his hammock up at the top of the mountain. When I went up to check sunset out, I found him. He had a biolite stove charger going that he charged all his equipment with. This stove worked really well and wish I invested in one. I would be able to blog every night instead of rewriting my journal every few days when I hit a town. Smoked a 100% tobacco rolled cigarette, sure I’ll smoke another later down the road. He said all other companies even American Spirits cut their tobacco with paper and other fillers. Doesn’t surprise me. Definitely thinking in investing in a biolite. I fed JD’s for a while when he went down to the shelter for whiskey and salami. All in all a good day and a light hike. There was another guy staying, but I didn’t catch his name. Sounds like he has some knee problems already. See you tomorrow.

April 9th, 2014

Day 3:

Weather: Sunny

Camp Site: $17 Hostel at Neels Gap; Total Mileage 31.7

Miles Hiked: 14.5 miles

Woke up to sweet whispers by “walkin’withwhiskey”. Journaling till midnight will make you not want to get up in the morning, but i pushed through and got up at a respectable 7:45am. I got water, food, and took a picture with new friends. My hike started off strong and met some new thru-hikers at Woody’s Gap. There was an outhouse there which i took full advantage of, you will not believe how good the updraft of the toilet felt on my balls. any of you hikers/campers now what I mean. Met “5 Star” again, who i met on top of Springer. He did the PCT last year and got his name there when upgrading from a crummy hotel where shit was all over the place to a nicer one across the street that cost him less when splitting it with his friend. The name “solitude”suits me well. I always find that I am hiking by myself at my own pace. I always end up losing people who are following behind me. For good reason too. I don’t like stopping on the uphills due to fighting that mental battle between your mind and muscles. I only like this battle once per uphill climb. Fontana Dam to Clingmans dome is going to be a horror with this technique. “Angry Bird” is another hiker I seen before, but never stopped to introduce myself. Right before the climb of Blood Mountain we all took a lunch break at Jarred’s Gap. Met “Aladin” and “Cheif” there and talked about food and the glory of it. Many more of these conversations to come. Just 5 miles of Blood stood between us and Neel’s Gap. We journeyed on as it was uphill for 2.5 miles. .8 miles before the summit we took another break where “Angry Bird” started to do some trail work on a big blow down just above us.  When we started hiking and noticed him we decided to pitch in and help out. He had a saw and was going branch by branch. He broke the tip off his saw and we each took turns using it to clear branches. He said most people look at him with that “are you crazy” look on their face. This is the first time anyone has ever stoped to help him. We joked about our contribution to helping the purists complete the trail. Purists have to step on every spot on the trail and can’t go around blow downs. They have to walk through them. It was kinda funny. This felt great and was very inspiring. Just like anything else, you go the extra distance if you truely love it. Most of the time you don’t even notice you are doing it. The view on top of Blood was amazing. Pictures don’t do mountain landscapes justice. 5 Star, Angry Bird and I stood on top embracing its beauty, resting and signing in at the shelters notebook. We all hiked down separately. I was the last to leave and was debating on staying up for sunset of not. It was about 4 or 5pm and I had 3 hours to kill so I opted out of catching sunset due to being alone in solitude. I also figured I’d do some blogs when I got down. Instead I cooked up some camp pizza at the bottom, hung out had some beer and settled in to talking to some people. Low and behold the crew from the night before who i though was not going to make it came down and started raving about how beautiful sunset was from the top of Blood. So jealous, but many more days to come. Now I am going to make it a point to see a few in the next month/week/days. Met some other dudes from Alaska who were shocked of people leaving trash around shelters and some mirco trash on the trail. I haven’t stayed at a shelter so I wouldn’t know. So far this trip has been awesome. Over and Out. Oh just got hooked up with a  free yuengling and  an amazing tuna burrito from Baltimore Jack, an awesome hostel host who work part time. Angry Bird came back from hitching to down with some beers and gave me one too. What a day.

By the way this bloging takes a long time and is only convenient to type at computers so the might all be posted only when I get to towns. Also for my readers let me know the types of information you like oout of my post so i can condense them down and it won’t seem like a toll to do. Its 12:30 now and i am trying to get to 10-13 miles done. aka huge inconvenience but I like doing it if you guys are going to join me out here. Thanks and peace.

April 8th, 2014

Day 2:

Weather: Sunny

Camp Site: Gooch Gap, Total milage 17.2

Miles Hiked: 12.5

Surprized myself today and did around 12.5 miles to Gooch Gap. The surprise was it wasn’t that bad and that I met 4 cool dudes from south Florida and a South bound hiker(SoBo)named “Flying Squirrel” … weird thing is he just started. What he is doing is very unconventional. He has 2 cars and leaves one at a south point and drives the other to his north point for the day and hikes back to his south car. He is an older dude witha replaced knee from Vietnam and a bad back. He carries a back with water, food for lunch, and rain gear that weighs no more than 10lbs. I am hiking with a close to 50lbs. pack. Brought way too much food and am eating like a king so far. I met Flying Squirrel at Gooch Gap where he traveled down to a hostel bought us pizza and mountain dew. We had a camp fire going by the time he got back and I had already eaten my pizza beagles dinner. I still grabbed a slice from him though. He played us some awesome tunes on the guitar (some pink floyd and old classics). The four cool dudes I met at this gap are called “Just Greg”, “Black Beard”, “Brother Nature” (originally from Egg Harbor Township NJ), and “Walkin’withWhiskey”. I met them right at camp after catching up to them. One of them dropped gloves on the trail and were very happy to see them even though he didn’t know he dropped them. I think they were “just greg’s” because he lost his tent to a storm 2 nights prior. All his cloths were soaked except for the ones he was wearing. Lucky for him some guy the first night on the trail said f*ck this and just got up and left leaving all his expensive gear behind. He scored his tent while another group of people took some eblankets and a sleeping bag. I told him there is a weird saying about this trail. What you don’t have the trail will provide. The trail gods have a way of providing. I gave him a fresh pair of dry wool socks to keep his feet in good condition. All these dudes were awesome “walkswithwhiskey”  shared his whiskey with me, “brother nature” carried a guitar with him, “black beard” has an awesome black beard and was amazed by the generosity of the people out here, and just greg was just greg keeping on through the trials of  temporary misery. These people were just what I needed, guitar, campfire, campfire talk, and good songs. As much as I thought I would want to be camping alone the first couple days this was a good social pickmeup. It appears “Solitude” is going to stick as my trail name. They hike at a slower rate than I do so I am going to have to leave them behind. Neel’s Gap is tomorrows destination.

Day started off with eggs and oatmeal, a farewell goodbye to my good friend Groce, and some beautiful waterfalls. I ran into “Cabbage” on . a climb where he took a picture of me in a hollowed out tree. The trail name cabbage refers to someone who has gone through Cardiac Arrest double Bypass surgery. He was a very impressive man who gave me good vibes and a good feeling for the rest of the day. I am kicking myself for not taking his picture. Told me a story of “Grandma” who has hiked the trail 3 times, once in the 60’s and once last year at age 72. She carries flour, beans, rice, a wool quilt, and a homemade napsack. Unbelieveable! He also told me of a man who hiked it at age 92, looks like I will be able to summit a mountain on my 89th birthday as long as i take care of my body better. Lunch was 2 granola bars and trail mix. Dinner was  3 pizza beagles and 1 slice of pizza. Well off to bed now trying for a 14.2 mile hike. Highest elevation is Blood Mountain at 4,461 ft and lowest 2880 ft 5 miles before it.Check you tomorrow.

April 7th, 2014

Day 1
Weather: overcast/light rain
Camp Site: Three Forks 4.7 miles

Woke up late, what else is new. Need to we that city life out of me. The woods means crashing early and waking up a dawn. Took us a while to get out of Boone due to web complications and starting up the gofundme site. We left around noon and made it down to Springer Mountain at 5pm. I had to pass on hiking the approach trail due to ride convenience and spending a wonderful night with my brethren Matt Groce. Would not want it any other way, especially when it rained cats and dogs that whole day and night prior. Plus the awesome tacos with carrots, cheese, black beans, fake cheese wiz stuff in between a hard shell and soft shell taco. At the top of Springer Mountain I signed in and saw the first signs of trail magic, a beer sitting in the deposit box we found the sign in book. I decided not to embrace it and leave it for someone else due to not having hiked the 8.8 mile approach trail. The thought is “leave good fortune for the ones who earned it. I need to earn my keep before benefiting from others.” This though got me to thinking about all the donations given already. If I don’t finish the trail I am going to refund the donations given. It is the just and right thing to do. Groce has the bug from driving me down and hiking in the first night. We even came up with a plan. If he has a grand in his bank account already, then he saves for a month and plays ketchup with me or joins and flip flops to finish. The goal is to make it to Boone by May 10th where I will be heading to Hangout Music festival. Other options is staying on the trail and going to a hikers parade in Demarcus Va that weekend. It’s a tough call. Maybe I will throw out a poll. One step at a time first though. Notice battery on phone will need to be conserved in airplane mode so photos won’t have geographical tags. Updates will be sparadic, need to fix gps messages and denote one camp site and one photo location. Blog will have to wait till towns where I have access to a computer or infinity battery supply for my phone like I am doing now. Phone updates take a lot of time and it’s a lot better to chill with the crew, crack jokes, and tell stories. Loretta ( Groce’s Appalachian Laborhog) had a fine day and passed out one a towel bed in the rain. What a trooper, protected our food all night. Donate to Groce’s hike if can, would be awesome to have permanent trail buddy. I’ll throw a link in later. A.T. Here we go!! You got to go to know.

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