Sandra and I are hitting our stride in the way we hike together. She is just faster than I am, but I am OK with that. We stop and rest together and catch up with each other.

The trail, cut right through a log

Lovely pink trilliums

Today is drizzly. Might sound weird but there is something really special about walking in the rain as long as it isn’t pouring. And the birds are amazing. I am having to deal with accepting that I can fully enjoy their songs, but just don’t see well enough to enjoy them by sight. One bird landed on the trail some ways in front of us. Sandra said it was beautiful with lots of whites, yellows and greys but all I could see was the shape of a grey bird! Maybe some hike I’ll be able to feel as if I can carry my binoculars so I can see them better, but for now enjoying their songs will have to do.

Sometimes the trees have fallen above the trail!

Humor on the AT!

Lots of ups and downs today again, the trademark of the AT. We passed “Wild Woman” on the trail, and then slowed down to talk to her. She was hiking with a friend and was so discouraged about not being able to keep up with her friend that she had made the decision to go home. A shuttle was waiting for her at the next trail intersection, she was just trying to make it there.

Turned out she was an angel in disguise for us, encouraging us as well, coming along just when we needed it. Funny how God does that on the AT. She is from Minnesota and knew about, and had traveled on the Boundary Waters (where I am going later this summer), had been to Nerstrand to visit the little church where my Norwegian grandfather had been a minister, and knew about Mercy Ships because she was on the mission committee at her church, which supports MS in some way. Pretty amazing! The last miles to the trail crossing passed quickly with so much to talk about.

About a mile before the trail crossing a man came along with no pack looking for Wild Woman. He and his wife were set up at the crossing as trail angels for the day. They are birders, traveling in a van from farther north, to look for birds migrating through this area. Wild Woman’s friend had stopped to wait for her at the trail crossing and told them that she was behind her, struggling. He decided that he would really be a trail angel, came looking for her, took her pack and carried it for her to the trail crossing! What a blessing.

Wild Woman (L) and her hiking friend.

The birding couple, set up as Trail Angels for the day. They had hotdogs and burritos, fresh water and snacks to give to passing hikers. And lots of smiles and encouragement. Trail Angels are always a blessing!

Relaxing after eating and refilling our water with our new AT friends. We so enjoyed Wild Woman and were sorry to see her leave the trail.

After saying our good-buys to Wild Woman, her friend and the lovely Trail Angels, we headed up again, to cross Max Patch.

Max Patch is a bald mountain on the North Carolina/Tennessee border, a major landmark along the TN/NC section of the AT. It is flat on top with beautiful views. People use to camp up there, but per the norm it seems for humans, they pretty much trashed the place so now it is closed to camping. The trail across is easy, a lovely part of the hike with beautiful views after walking through so much forest.

The Trail across Max Patch

Survey markers on the top of every mountain.

Sandra and I enjoyed the walk, and then headed down hill towards the next shelter.

Roaring Fork Shelter was a lovely place, with lots of little streams coming together. It drizzled some while we were setting up. I had a difficult time finding a good place to hang my hammock, ended up hanging it right over a downed log covered with lovely moss. It made a great footstool for getting out of the hammock in the morning. We heard thunder for awhile after dark, but it moved away, not towards us, and we didn’t have any downpour during the night. Not many people in this camping area, several guys at the shelter, and one friend who caught up with them late who camped outside the shelter. Sandra and I picked spots away and pretty private, but with a short walk to the privy. Beautiful, deep moss here. The beauty of these mountains is unbelievable.

Sandra, setting up.

My moss covered log.

Beautiful day for hiking today.

Sometimes the trail crosses over a stream and sometimes…….

The trail is the stream!

Beech Gap is a beautiful, huge camp site and for the first time we are completely alone. There is a lovely stream running through a stand of huge rhododendrons, not difficult to find just the perfect ones to accommodate our hammocks.

After setting up, Michelle went down to the stream to get our water and her water filter broke. We learned a hard lesson. There is lots of popular gear advertised and touted on youTube for the hiker/backpacker crowd. But what works great for someone else might just not be so great for you. At REI, the sales staff had convinced me that one water system was the way to go, but it ended up being difficult and frustrating for me. Michelle had a system that she had used faithfully for years and was incredibly easy to use so I had just thrown mine away at Dick’s Gap and intended to replace mine with one like hers at the next Outfitter stop. When hers broke, we had no back up. We boiled water so we could eat and have water to hike tomorrow, but used up almost all our fuel. Michelle had no doubt that tomorrow evening someone would share their water filter so we could make it into Franklin, the next resupply spot, where there is also an outfitter.

The hiker community is incredibly diverse, but everyone helps everyone else. A hiker is a hiker. One gentleman doing a thru hike told us one of the reasons he loves being on the AT is because “humanity still exists on the trail”. He told us of another hiker whose tent had broken down in a wind storm. The next morning his entire system had been replaced by other hikers without a word being spoken about money, only that everything worked, he was safe and could continue his hike.

A lot of smaller ups and downs today. We decided to hike a shorter distance so we could go slower and have some time in camp together before we climbed into our hammocks. Today is our last night together.

Another day of stunning wildflowers, and for the first time we saw huge magnolias among the trees.

I think this is one of the funniest flowers I ever saw! I can’t find what it is.

Pink Ladies’ Slippers. At home these are protected.

A lovely surprise. A little bird hopped onto the trail from the steep bank alongside where we were hiking. Michelle said often they made nests in the leaves on a hillside. I looked, and there it was!

It was quite a bit warmer today. The bugs are out more, and once again, I remember why I wanted to hike earlier in the spring, rather than the summer. We passed a pretty little stream close to the trail leading to the shelter so I took the opportunity, once again, to wash my hair. I love this!

At the campsite, we hiked quite a way down the hill from the shelter and the privy to find a site with trees that would work for our hammocks. Looks like the trail maintenance teams haven’t made it here yet because there are lots of dead trees, which means we have to choose carefully, both for strength of what we attach to, and to make sure if the wind comes up in the night that we don’t have a tree falling our way.

Where we ended up hanging our hammocks was right next to a beautiful little stream so I soaked my feet. It felt great!

A really nice, slow-paced day. I like this kind of hiking better.

Dear All, There is always so much to tell you but I am always so tired at night that I just barely answer a message and I am asleep. Tonight I am praying Jesus helps me stay awake so I can share

Today I had a glorious day!!! We left the mountain top about 10, after a wonderful, warm night’s sleep. I love my new sleeping bag. I was so comfy I didn’t even have to wear socks!

While we were packing up a young woman hiking with her dog stopped and visited with us. She said he is her hiking companion and has hiked over 600 miles with her.

Hiking with a dog takes a special commitment because your hike is no longer just about you. A dog needs the right kind of food to sustain their activity level, which is often not available at a resupply. One hiker we spoke with was feeding his dog sandwiches from a convenience store because it became too much weight to carry his food! You need to carry extra water for your dog because regular water sources can’t be counted on and water is the heaviest item in your pack. People drink between water sources, a dog needs to do that, too. Their paws need special care. And because most trails in the US, and the entire Appalachian Trail require that a dog be on a leash, they must be well trained to a leash that is attached at the hiker’s waist.

There are so many additional dangers to hiking with a dog. Because many people don’t obey the rules of “dogs on a leash” there is always the danger of dogs attacking dogs on the trail. And snake bites. My guide, Michelle, says both of those things happened to her while hiking with her dog, so she no longer takes her dog along but she misses the companionship when she hikes. Then there is poison ivy. If your dog veers to the edge of the trail to sniff something interesting, as Jake would be sure to do, those poison ivy covered stretches would mean that he couldn’t come into my tent at night because his coat would be covered with urushiol oil from the plants. I would love to hike with him, and it’s one of the main reasons why I got him, but he needs more training, more maturity, and the right place for me to have him along. Luckily there are lots of dog-friendly trails in New Hampshire, so we will definitely be out hiking together this summer.

When we finished packing up, we hiked down to the first shelter, where we met two young men hikers. When I asked, they both said this was difficult for them, too. Not that I want others to struggle but it helps to know that I’m not alone out here having a difficult time getting up these long inclines. The one young man was limping and doctoring his feet. When I inquired, he shared that this was his 3rd thru-hike. He had recently had surgery on his foot and sustained nerve damage which left him with no feeling on one side of his right foot along with some deformity. But he was determined to overcome the difficulties and was hiking quite a few more miles a day that I am!

We filled our water. Leaving the shelter meant heading up again to a beautiful overlook. A the overlook we met two Dads hiking with their adult sons. I was asked by one of the Dads if I would do a video for him to show his wife because he was trying to find a way to encourage her to come out and hike, too. I politely declined!

I and another young man stopped to put on knee supports for the 4 mile steep down into Stecoah Gap. Part of the way down we took a turn on a swtchback and I could only gasp. The entire side of the mountain-was covered with flowers, white trillium that glowed against the green leaves, violets, yellow bells – it truly looked like a fairyland and went on swtchback after swtchback for miles. I started to say it looked almost like someone planted a glorious garden and then laughed with the delightful thought that God planted that garden, just to give joy to whomever happened to pass by and just because He creates beauty for beauties’ sake.I tried to take photos but could never do it justice, it was so beautiful. Then I remembered this poem and shared it with Fyrfly.

The kiss of the sun for pardon,
The songs of the birds for mirth,
One is nearer God’s heart in a garden
Than anywhere else on earth.

Today I saw one of God’s gardens!!!

Pink Ladies; Slippers, at home these are protected.

When we got to the bottom of the mountain there was a little parking area with 2 picnic tables and 2 trash cans! And a plastic bin filled with trail magic, clementines and a vast assortment of candy bars.

We needed water and would have a had to walk 250 yards downhill away from the AT to get it, but a woman saw us going that direction and stopped us, offering us fresh water she had in her car. I know she was an angel because I was dreading walking down that hill and having to hike up again. Turns out she did a solo hike of the AT last year and this year is supporting her daughter’s thru-hike by bringing her good food at road junctions.

We had already done 9 miles but decided to try to make the next shelter area. I asked the water angel what the next stretch was like. She said, “ You don’t want to know, just do it!” When I climbed Albert Mountain, I remember thinking because of all the hiker’s comments and reactions that it must be “the” difficult mountain for the south. How naive I was. Every day has a difficult mountain! This one is called Jacob’s Ladder because it has so many straight up sections that when it was built they put in lots of steps so the trail didn’t wash away. I didn’t think it would ever end. About 2/3 of the way up we met an older gentleman coming down who was spry, chipper and fresh as a daisy (compared to me who was breathing heavily and sweating profusely and probably looked like I was dying!) I asked him if he had climbed the mountain today. He chuckled and said he climbed it every day. He said he has climbed over 340,000 feet in elevation. I was so overwhelmed I missed in how many years he said he did it. He said all the young folks are always talking about how many miles they hike but anyone can walk miles. “Tell me how much elevation you’ve climbed!” Well, now I have to figure that out because I don’t know.

Fyrefly and I said good-bye and continued on trying to make it to the next shelter before dark. As we looked back at our new gentleman acquaintance he was going down the mountain backward! We made it to the shelter, I made it up that mountain, I passed the 150 mile mark today, and I got my hammock tent up in the dark, am all snug and warm and it hasn’t fallen down yet! Love you guys, Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Solace picked us up at the hotel in the morning to shuttle us to Wayah Bald, where we had ended our hike on Friday. Tradition on the trail is that long distance hikers have a trail name, and not one they pick for themselves. It has to be given. I knew this was probably the last time I would see Solace so worked up enough courage to ask him how he got his name. Turns out that Solace is from New Hampshire and hiked all the 4000 footers by the time he was 11. He also has a twin brother, who wrote him a letter while he was in college and mentioned several times how he was aware of how much “solace”, Solace found while he was hiking. The name stuck. I asked him what his brother’s trail name was – KTR, which stands for Kick the Rock. His brother also hiked the mountains to work off his own struggles. Solace said that every time he began a trail his brother would kick a rock, and do the same at the end of the trail, thus Kick the Rock or KTR. I wondered what it was, as boys, that they so much needed to hike off on those mountains….

No rain today, and a perfect day for hiking. When we arrived at the parking area – Trail Magic! Three ladies who live on the side of the mountain came up for the morning with all kind of things they had prepared – to bless the hikers and to visit. Interestingly enough, I’ve been told that most Trail Magic happens in the south, it’s happening peters out the farther north one hikes. These ladies had plastic tubs filled with high protein cookies, doughnuts, clementines, celery stuffed with peanut butter and raisens, twizzlers, peanut butter crackers and apples. Along with hot coffee, juice and water. Always so fun to have Trail Magic and to visit with those who are offering it. And to tell others as you progress down the trail that there is Trail Magic ahead. The excitement level is palpable!

Trail Magic at the Wayah Bald Parking Area. Michelle says this is one of her favorite places to car camp.

Saying “good-bye” to Solace

Wayah Bald has a fire tower, which we visited. Beautiful views of the mountains. It is also the site of a previous fire so the trees and rhododendrons all around the immediate area are burned and dead.

The AT starts up again on the far side of the tower.

Since the tower is all stone, the builders left this for those who just have to carve their name into something!

Today was just a perfectly beautiful day/. And the day we discovered the Fairy Houses!

Of course, Michelle spied the door and ladder before I did!

This little guy was tucked into the base of a tree at one of the view points.

We learned later that there were others that we missed. Hikers were reporting them all along this section of the trail.

From Rocky Bald

This was the view from Rocky Bald. Michelle had us climb it, even though it was uphill and off trail, at the end of the day, hoping that we could find a nice, tucked into private campsite. There was one there but someone had already set-up. This was one of the problems with starting out late morning and hiking into the evening. We usually got out of camp about 10, and hiked until 7. Michelle told me multiple times that she wasn’t a morning person. But most hikers started early and stopped early, so the premium camp sites were usually taken by the time we had made the miles we needed to stop and set up camp

This stuff was fascinating. It was all over the rocks going up Rocky Bald. It looked like some kind of moss, big heaps of something super soft. When I first saw it, I imagined it to be like the piles of moss you read about in old books that woodsman or Native Americans slept on in the woods. Then I touched it, it shattered like glass!

We kept going, but not too far. A little ways down the mountain was a campsite with a stream right along the trail. Perfect, and just in time as it was beginning to get dark. Tonight I learned to hang the bear bag. And learned how to use the new water filter system. And…I hung my hammock all by myself over sloped ground, and it stayed up all night!! Progress.

As we were setting up…looking one direction the sun was setting.

When I turned around, the moon was rising. The day birds are saying “Good-night” as the owls begin their nightly calls.

In the morning I had another shower and packed up my tent. By the time our ride was awake, we were ready to go. I shopped at the Outfitter for odds and ends of equipment I wanted to replace, and took items out of my pack to leave in the hiker box. Rule of thumb – don’t add weight without taking some out. And I was already adding weight with the heavier sleeping bag. We also stocked up on food at the convenience store. Michelle was better at this than me. By the time we got to a new resupply, she was almost always down to nothing. Since I was always hungry, I always bought too much food, and paid for it dearly by carrying the extra weight.

As soon as we were done shopping, we headed across the river and up the hill.

Before we started up the steep climb, we saw yellow swallowtail butterflies feeding!

Today was a short but steep climb. And today for the first time we saw red wildflowers, and mountain laurel beginning to open. As we head north in North Carolina more and more mountain laurel are mixed in with the rhododendrons. By the first week of June the mountains will be ablaze with them both.

Fire Pink or Catchfly

Mountain Laurel

One of several memorial markers along the trail.

We set up for the evening right alongside the trail and had it to ourselves for about 2 hours. Right around dusk others came along and set up near. About midnight, several hikers passed calling out loudly, “Night Hike, Night Hike!”. There is such a thing as trail etiquette, but just like in any situation, not everyone follows it.

Standing on the trail, taking this photo.

Our view right before sunset.

Have to say the weathermen here are more accurate than at home. It was cold and poured down rain all day. A great day to catch up somewhat on my blog. There is so much I don’t want to forget.

We had great reception most nights in camp in Georgia but that has changed since we crossed into North Carolina. We only have reception once in awhile when we stop for a break on a mountainside during the day, hardly ever at night anymore. The hotel had a computer in the lobby, and a hiker box! Michelle and I spent part of the afternoon going through the hiker box and organizing it, using bags to separate food, gear, clothing, miscellaneous. That will probably last a day as most people just toss in what they don’t want. Worth it though, Michelle got a sleeping pad, I picked up a small stuff sac to use when hanging a bear bag.

Fyrefly, Solace and I had dinner together at Fatz.. They told story after story about the AT over the years. About “Pirate” a mutiple thru-hiker who hiked at least 5 miles down a mountain road to resupply at a local gas station where all they had was pickled eggs. That old timers carried 60-70 lbs of food and gear, none of this “ultra-light” stuff.

Fyrefly and Solace did lots of connecting over special sections of the trail for both of them, and places they miss because the trail has been rerouted. Solace talked about a section of the trail that was created by the government “buying” private land, and the local residents in retaliation hanging fish hooks at eye level before it was all resolved. No one was hurt, but shows how over the years emotions have run high over creation of the trail.

Solace shared some funny stories about what he has seen people bring for their hike. One woman brought an industrial hair dryer because she thought there were outlets in every shelter. And then there was the young man hiking in a group that Solace was a part of, who carried a box covered in plastic. He never opened it, they assuming it was extra food. When they got to Neel’s Gap, he said that he thought that he would get rid of some extra weight, They finally asked him about the box and he sheepishly unwrapped it. It was a 12” square television run by 12 D batteries. He was a sports fan and thought he would watch sports every evening!

They both talked a lot about the changes. I asked, “ What do you see as the chief cause of those changes?”. Solace picked up his phone. “This”. He said social media, along with phone apps, has changed the way the trail is hiked, for good and bad. Gut Hook, a hiker’s app is useful for getting information about shelters and stretches of trail ahead, such as info about bears frequenting a shelter area or water sources that are dried up, so a hiker has more accurate information about how long they can go without filling up. But young people especially get dependent on it and there isn’t always great service on the trail.

The flip side is that every sales person we talked to bemoaned the advent of hikers using youTube. Because it can be used to earn money, misinformation abounds. Many people make videos who have little experience on the trail and pass on poor information. Watchers aren’t always discerning about what they watch and who they take advice from. Sales of items at the Outfitters are driven by their popularity on-line, by the most popular youTube presenters and their following, not necessarily because that item is the best. Or it is not represented accurately so it is difficult to make an informed decision. That’s what happened with my water system. All the plusses of the system were touted again and again. And I didn’t know enough about using one to know what to ask about the cons. For some people, it is a good system, but for me, it was difficult and a source of frustration.

Another example is the popularity of trail runners, light weight sneakers. Solace said that before they became popular, when people wore boots that gave support, the Outfitters never saw anyone coming in with foot injuries. Now they see it all the time.

And last….they both bemoaned the fact that the trail has become for many, not what, they believe, it was intended to be. The founder of the trail, Benton MacKaye, an avid hiker, saw the trail as a way to regenerate the human spirit. Today for many it’s all about miles and time.

As I walked, I marveled over and over again at the beauty, the silences, the ancient forest, the birds. Yet many times a day, most often a younger person, would go flying by me with earbuds in their ears, never hearing the sounds around them, and seeming not to notice any of the beauty. One young man we spoke with at a shelter told us of a hiker who went past him as he was admiring a view. He called out to him, “Aren’t you going to stop and see the view?” To which the other hiker replied, “It takes too much time”. The first young man said he felt like pushing him off the cliff!

And I learned a new word…puds. For those hikers who still stop to admire the views, or go out of the way to hike to a view site, puds stands for pointless ups and downs….in other words, lots of ups and downs with no view that is worth it.

A great evening…tomorrow we don packs again and head out.

Resupply day is busy. We headed to the Outfitters first where we met “Solace”, the gentleman I spoke with on the phone when we were in Helen, about my shoulder straps. My shoulders have been getting stronger and I am learning how to adjust my pack as I am wearing it, but added padding will still be a plus. He remembered our conversation and proceeded to take quite a bit of time to see how my pack fit me, and figure out what kind of padding I needed and then applied foam and tape to my shoulder straps.

Turns out that Solace and Fyrefly have met before on the trail. They are both “old timers” having been on the trail for more than 20 years. It was pretty interesting listening to them trade stories and news about people they knew from the trail and changes on the AT and hiking.

We spent the rest of the day doing laundry, and grocery shopping along with another trip to the Outfitters for more supplies, and a new water filter system (!). Then dinner and bed.

Not too many exciting photos of our day in town. But I have been taking photos of trees, I thought I would share. Fyrefly has such an imagination. She is always pointing out interesting trees (since she knows I am mostly looking at my feet!) and then asking me, “What do you see?”

So….What do you see?

This one is mine. I bent over to take a picture of the little Squawroot growing at the base of this tree. When I looked really closely, it made me smile. I have so little imagination, but can you see the little man sitting on the great big elephant?

Today we climb Albert Mountain ( 5213 ft) I’ve been hearing hikers talk about this for days. Seems this is the mountain that gets you ready for the White Mountains of NH. (NH and ME are supposed to be the most difficult section of the trail!) And we’ll reach the 100 mile mark. I don’t think I ever believed this would really happen!

One of the last rock climbs before we reached the top.

So interesting…this section of the mountains has been a living laboratory since 1934. Some of the sections of forest below have never been disturbed by hikers or vehicles, only scientists studying how man and forest management practices affect the surroundings.

Almost immediately coming down from the top – 100 miles!!

After the top and our stop to take a photo, we tried to pick up speed. We had a lot of downhill and wanted to make it to Rock Gap before the last town shuttle, so we didn’t have to hire a private one. Tonight we are going into Franklin, NC, Mile 110 on the AT and a town that fully supports AT hikers.

I was pretty tired at the end of the day and fell as we were coming down the mountain. I don’t even remember tripping or slipping or anything, just going down. Michelle, who was a former firefighter, is so strong. She ran back and picked me up by the top of my backpack just like a mother cat would pick up a kitten by the scruff of the neck. Really glad I don’t have a picture of that!

We actually made it to the shuttle stop with time to spare. Franklin, NC has a special shuttle that stops at 3 gaps, 3 times a day for hikers who are coming into town.

Lots of hikers coming into town tonight. The temps for the next two nights are supposed to be in the low 20’s in the mountains. Guess I’m not the only one who is cold. We met two gentleman at the shuttle stop, a NH Veteran who is hiking with his service dog for the first time (more about him in a later post) and his hiking buddy for the time being, a young man who started his Thru-hike on the Florida Trail in Key West. Come to find out that a number of trails string together to make the Eastern Continental Trail, a distance of 5400 miles and goes from Florida to Newfoundland. I’m discovering that if you like hiking, you could hike forever and not repeat a mile!

When everyone is coming into town, if you don’t think ahead, it becomes difficult to find a room. We were able to get a room at the Microtel which is within close walking distance of several places to eat, the laundromat and the Outfitters.

Dinner tonight is at the recommended FATZ, once again great food. And we saw the group of young people we have been leap frogging with. We had a great conversation with them and they bought Fyrefly a beer to say thanks for all her help. She is so knowledgable about the trail, and she helps everyone along the way.

I’m not sure I look as happy as I feel because I am so tired, but this is an amazing adventure. My grateful list is longer than I have energy to post. Off to bed as tomorrow is resupply day, lots of work to get ready for the next section. Someone told me that if you need to rest and recover, you need to take two zero days because the first one used for taking care of everything is just as tiring as hiking!

Today we say good-bye to Sharon. I will miss her. It’s been fun to get to know her and to struggle up these mountains together! And very special seeing her share this time with her son. Luke is going to stay an extra day with her before they say good-bye. We will see him again, as we know he will pass us on his way tomorrow.

We visited the Dollar Store for resupply, giving us a chance to see a little more of this cute Bavarian town in the daylight. Even the birdhouses fit the theme!

Fyrfly made reservations with “Rhu”, our shuttle driver from yesterday, to pick us up at 11 today. She is a former thru-hiker. The AT seems to get in one’s blood, many former thru-hikers have done repeat hikes, like my guide who has done it 3 times, or have found a way to make a living being around AT hikers, like Rhu , who shuttles and Fyrfly, who guides.

This is a difficult day hiking. Two mountains ahead, which we’ve heard many hikers discuss with trepidation. Of the Triple Crown of Trails in the US, the Pacific Crest Trail, the Continental Divide Trail and the AT, the AT is known for being difficult because of all the ups and downs. Today is going to be one of those days. Rocky Mountain followed by Tray Mountain. Not a lot of miles, but a lot of work with a 35 pound pack!

At the bottom of Rocky Mountain, trail magic! Someone left a trash bag, a bag full of electrolyte powder, water, and cookies with a note saying that hikers were welcome to take whatever they liked, and leave their trash, which would be picked up later. We stopped here for lunch. So fun to feel welcomed!

We left our lunch spot about 1 and arrived at Tray Mountain Shelter about 6. The climbs are really difficult for me, in that I have to stop so often to breathe. I continue to be grateful that I am having no problems with my feet and legs. My shoulder bothers me off and on, and I am learning how to shift my pack in ways that will make it better. Also, ibuprofen, along with prayer is this hikers best friend!

The Tray Mountain shelter is high on the mountain side. The wind came up with a roar about the middle of the night and everyone froze. I have to admit that the cold and lack of sleep is making it difficult for me to fight off being crabby as well. I’m still slow at setting up my hammock, wish I had paid more attention to knot tying when I had the opportunity. I’m learning that everything that one gets exposed to in life, the Lord has a purpose for!

The plant life of the Appalachians is incredibly diverse and amazing!