Vista

Vista of a beautiful mountain lake.
Bunny that visited the camp site at the Tray Mountain Shelter. 

Swag of the Rattlesnake Jane

Photos below are of the Rattlesnake we ran into just past the Low Gap shelter on 4-17.  And swagging just a bit at the Swag of the Blue Ridge on 4-21. 

The Lollygaggers

Many people find themselves paced with a similar group of people when they begin hiking.  After a couple of days you get to know each other's names, a bit of everyone's story, and even maybe give out some trail names.  Well, the gang that we have found ourselves hanging around the camp fire with is an interesting group of characters of course.  Some of the characters include Chuckles, Cookey, Nobody and Katherine,  Mohawk, and NoRush.  After taking an afternoon off in Hiawassee,  they texted us to inform us that as a group, they were now known as "The Lollygaggers".
I thought that this was brilliant!  Many hikers are trying to put in as many miles a day as possible, waking up at first kight and booking it out of camp.  While the rest of us tend to take our time. 
Well, two days ago the Lollygaggers decided that Kris and I move slow enough to officially become one of The Lollygaggers!

One of the biggest tips that we have received from former thru-hikers has been to keep your milage low for the first three weeks or so while your feet toughen up.  Often times people drop out because of blisters or intensely sore feet from trying to push so many miles right out of the gate.  Not that we would even be able to do that yet, so no worries here.  A 7 or 8 mile day has been plenty for me and my baby legs so far.  This Florida girl is just starting to figure out what it means to climb a mountain with 40 pounds on her back.  It means blisters, bruises, and muscles so sore you refer to ibuprofen as "trail candy".  It also means an overwhelming sense of relief when you make it to the top, even more so when there is a view.

Today we hiked 9 miles from the Tray Mountain Shelter just below the peak of Tray Mt to the Vista campsite East of mile marker 67.1.  There is quite a nice view just a little down the blue blaze trail.  You can see some town around a lake nestled in the mountains.   Beautiful.   The hile today was a good one with a fair climb up Kelly Knob rising over 900 feet within a mile.  We powerhoused up listening to some heavy metal during the walk up.  After 35 minutes, we made it to the summit, caught out breath, silently fist bumped, and straight went onto the descent.  

After every mountain you conquer,  there is another one just North of that one waiting.   It is easy to get discouraged,  but that is normally when I take off my pack and have a snack.  Most of the time, the fuel is all you need to get back to kicking butt (even if it feels like your kicking your own butt). 

Tomorrow we are heading into town briefly to pick up some more food.   There is supposed to be a meteor storm late at night, so we are trying to figure out where we will camp so that we can have a good view.  Tray Mountain would have been spectacular,  but that is a tough mountain right between two more tough mountains,  so I doubt that we will be backtracking there, besides,  as long as we are movig forward, it doesn't matter the pace, we are doing all right.

Oh, by the way, the rest of the Lollygaggers are about a day ahead of us.  We are slowly trying to catch up, but its pretty bad when you are behind the group known for lollygagging.  

Eventually we will get it together

One would be surprised how much planning and stress happens when one takes off 6 months to go on a hike in the woods. 

Kris and I are getting ready to head back out after an unexpected zero day in Hiawassee.  He and I both mamaged to get sick after eating that nasty packaged chicken that kinda smells like tuna.  We hiked out and caught a shuttle into town to recoup.   We are feeling much better now and waiting for the shuttle back out.  Today we expect to climb 2 mountains over 4000 feet high for a 6 mile day.  Not many miles but that is a lot of elevation gain for some Florida kids.

Speaking of Florida, I would kill for a dive into a nice cold salt water wave. 

We have some beautiful weather coming up and that is extremely exciting!

So, we are going back in at mile marker 52 and we should be in NC by Friday!  No bears yet but we have seen a couple baby snakes.  When we left camp the other day, Kris spotted a large rattlesnake sunning right across the trail.   He immediately coiledmup and shook his rattle.   This had us held up like a traffic jam for a good 10 minutes until he settled down and we could pass by with a sizable stick between us.  Timing must have been just perfect because none of the other hikers saw him.  I managed to catch a good photo of him that everyone at camp was excited to see.  Because of the photo, they decided to call me "Rattlesnake Jane" haha.  We will see if that sticks.

But for now, we have to run.  No time for hanging around.  I promise a longer and more detailed post in a few days!  The shelters alone warrant their own book. 

Take it easy!

Fiddleheads!

Day 4:  Woody Gap quick break
Lunh on top of a mountain. 
Legs are screaming! 
Fiddleheads are popping up along the mountain sides!  So cute.
Man, I could use a cheese burger.  Miss you all!

Is it lunch time yet?

Today was day 2 on the trail.  I'm sure everyone is shocked, but we slept in... till 8.  By the time we woke up, most of the people at camp were gone.  The wind picked up a bit last night, but mostly the excitement of fresh air and zero cell reception kept me up.  The drive to the trail access was treacherous.   We did not hike the approach trail, but hiked a mile back to Springer Mountain,  mile marker 0.  As a Florida girl, in the backseat, with agreement from the driver, the road leading to this parking lot, is nerve wracking.   We made it to the Stover Creek Shelter and set up camp around 17:00 hours.  The only disaster of the day was when Iris's leg hair caught fire from a camp stove mishap.  Now, before any body freaks out, it was just some leg hair, all skin is right-as-rain, all camping equipment is fine, and Kris is just a little more aerodynamic; your welcome. 

Iris cooked breakfast and brewed coffee while I broke up the tent. We hit the trail at approximately 11:00.  The weather forecast said rain but it was a beautiful day, if you dont count the kitchen sink on your back or the bones that it is digging into.  Despite the almost soul crushing heavy pack, lunch was fantastic!  Peanut butter,  jelly,  honey, flour tortillas, and Long Creek Falls.

With our late start and threatening weather, we only made it to mile marker 8.1 tonight (which was the plan anyhow).  Tent camping at the Hawk Mountain Shelter, it is lightening and pouring rain but as long as I am dry, I am a very happy and still excited camper... although, the rain is pretty heavy. 

I can't wait for breakfast.   Tomorrow is going to be a tough day that, from the guide books doesn't seem like it will be very exciting in the way of views, but that will make camp that much more glorious. 

Good night. 

As a day three addendum,  the rain last night was brutal but the tent held up beautiully.  Sleep wasn't so pretty for me though.   We are gonna try out some hashbrowns for breakfast. 
The goal today is 7.7 miles.  Easier said than done with that blasted heavy pack.  Take care! 

Here we go Northbound

Well, finally.  Today Kris (Iris) and I (Jane) are finally moving forward. We have seen a couple set backs in preparing for this adventure including both of us getting pretty sick and the passing of my cousin Reid Fliehr.  It has been a tough few weeks but we are officially Northbound on the Appalachian Trail.  
Our packs are full to the brim.  We are both a bit hesitant about how much weight we have got.  With Kris's pack at almost 50 pounds and mine around 40 pounds, we should have waaaaaay more than we need to survive.  We have tried to cut as much as possible, but that will probably get a lot easier when we realize that half of that stuff we dont even need. 
Of the two most asked questions:  Where do you sleep?   We will be sleeping in either Kris's Kelty two person tent, a shelter, or maybe a hostel when we get to town.  How do you charge your phone?  We will be able to charge our phones and other electronic toys when we get to a town.  Otherwise, we really aren't that concerned about it :)
We have a five day food supply split between the two of us.  we should really only need 4 days, but just to be safe.  And dont worry... plenty of snacks!  Our next food supply is being shipped ahead for us to pick up when we get to the supply shop that the trail crosses through four or five days away at the Walasi-yi Center's Mountain Crossings store.
Well, that's it for now.  Stay tuned for more!