Narnia to NC- an eventful week

Hello everyone!
Thanks for thinking of us.
Sorry for the delay.

We've had quite an eventful week. The past 7 days we've been hiking in rain and snow so our main goal has been staying warm, in addition to drying out.

Last Friday: after hiking all day, we had our first opportunity for a little sight seeing. We caught a cab with 3 other thru-hikers for $5 a head into Helen, GA. A small and kind of strange, quaint German town.





We walked the streets and found a small restaurant to eat some tasty German food.

It was nice to stay in a motel and enjoy the comforts of life. We both took 2 hot showers and slept for 12 hours. Not to mention the free breakfast that we took full advantage of! Our hiker appetites have kicked in and we can eat like we've never eaten before.

Another thru-hiker was staying at the same motel meeting his wife for the weekend and drove us back to the trailhead in the morning. We were thankful to get out of the rain for a night.

Saturday: we hiked up to Tray Mountain Shelter and had a great time telling stories around the campfire (in the rain) with other thru-hikers and weekend hikers.






Sunday: we hiked 12 miles and caught a ride to the Blueberry Patch Hostel. Garry ( thru-hiked 22 years ago with his son) and his wife Lenni run the hostel as a Christian Ministry. The hostel is operated off of donations and they even provide breakfast. We ate pancakes with their homemade blueberry sauce, hash browns, cheesy biscuits, scrambled eggs, sausage, OJ and hot coffee. Good food and fellowship!

Monday: Garry gave us a ride back to the trail where we had left off. We crossed the border from Georgia into North Carolina that evening and set up camp.





Making it back to North Carolina was our first big accomplishment. Georgia was great but we were ready to move on!

From Monday night until this morning blend together because all we were focused on was staying warm.

Tuesday: we woke up hearing the guy in his tent next to ours calling for emergency rescue because he thought he was freezing. It was pretty cold but he just needed to get up and start moving.
Gregg somehow started a fire with snowy twigs and asked him if there was anything we could do to help him.
He had already made up his mind that he needed to get out. So he and another guy - whom we thought was also not properly equipped with the right gear for the cold weather packed up their tents and headed off down the trail to meet the rescue squad on horses.

We ate our oatmeal by the fire, packed up camp and hiked on.

Thus, we entered into Narnia, a truly white and glittery magical world.






At times on the trail, the snow was between knee to waist deep. We followed the footsteps of the hikers who had started earlier in the day.





Although the cold has been a tough adjustment, we keep reminding ourselves that it is all a part of the adventure and we will gladly greet Spring with open arms!

Yesterday's camp, thankful for our cozy little tent and 20• degree down sleeping bags!





Today we reached the 100 mile mark! A happy moment for us as well as the sun coming out!

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Location:Just outside Franklin