We walked out of the Smoky Mountains not too long ago, stopped at Standing Bear Farms (a small hostel) right outside of the park to eat a HOT PIZZA and use the internet.  The Smokies definitely kicked our butts, the most difficult hiking that we have done so far.  We experienced all weather conditions, from hot and sunny to freezing cold and snowing to windy and rainy.  We had 2 days of gorgeous weather in the park, which were much appreciated.  The snow throughout most of the park was pretty deep, it was mostly packed down on the trail but we were still often post-holing and/or falling down.  We summited CLingman's Dome (the highest peak on the trail) in terrible cold, windy, wintry mix weather and it was ROUGH.  Of course the visibility was next to nothing due to all the fog, but we still got some excellent views in the park nonetheless.  Hiking up from Newfound Gap over Charlie's Bunion was definitely a highlight of the trip as well as some ridge walking we did that same day.  We feel that getting through the Smokies was a huge accomplishment and we're ready for whatever the Trail will offer next!  For those of you who were wondering, we will be crossing over Max Patch tomorrow (3/31)...sorry it's such late notice.  We Will be in Hot SPrings April 1st and we will be taking a much needed ZERO day!! About the pictures, well this computer is kind of busted so not gonna happen here.  We are also still having some technical difficulties with the pictures but we here there is a deluxe library in Hot Springs so look for more pictres and videos soon.  Hope everyone is well....we are doing great...take care!!

We just got into Fontana, NC today after a short (6.6 mile) day.  We plan to stay at the Fontana Dam Shelter (aka Fontana Hilton) tonight, which has the luxury of hot showers, which are much needed by both of us at this point.  We are heading into the Smoky Mountains tomorrow and plan to take about 10 days to get to Hot Springs, NC.  We have just resupplied with a bunch of candy bars and similar nutritious foods to last us until we get there, and our packs are freaking heavy!!  The past few days have been windy and snowy for the most part, today the weather cleared up and the sun came out late morning.  We have been runnning with the same crew for the last few days, great people and great company.  Brian's knee is doing better with lots of ibuprofen and Robin's feet are also much better.  We are feeling really good about heading through the park.  We spoke with a ridgerunner today who told us that conditions were not too bad at all and the entire park is definitely passable.  We probably will not be able to  contact anyone until we get to Hot Springs and there is no cell service here, so don't expect to hear from us for about 10 days.  Hope everyone is well...we are thinking of all of you and wishing you were here with us...we are having a blast!! 

We are having technical difficulties with the photos, or I think we are just not computer savvvy.  It may have something to do with this damn Mac that we are using...clueless.  But we got some pics up, hopefully there will be many more to come.  Also, internet has not been as easily obtainable as we had expected, so other folks may be updating the website over the phone.  Take care y'all!

Hello everyone. We are here at the Nantahala outdoor center near Bryson City NC....we now have 135 mies under our beltWe are taking a zero mileage day today to rest our bodies and enjoy some good beer by the river. The weather last week was excellent. We made some decent mileage, about 12-15 miles a day, and had a lot of excellent views. At the GA/NC state line the terrain became a lot more difficult. It was really bizzare how sudden the transition was. We have been fortunate enough to make it into shelters every night since Hiawasee GA, and have met a lot of new people. Everyone has been really kind and I can already see the trail community building. We stayed at the hostel here last night and got to know some new faces. There are no severe ailments right now. Robin's feet are swollen and sore, no blisters though, and I am having a little problem with my left knee but we have been wrapping it with an ACE bandage and we have been taking plenty of Vitamin I (ibuprofen). I think it's just overuse and it's feeling better, this zero day should do both of us pretty good. I don't think that our trail names were put in the last post, but I am Moonshine, because I had some moonshine with me when I started the trail (it didn't last very long) and Robin is Terrapin because when we started she hiked so slow...now she has nearly doubled her pace, last night someone suggested that she needs a new trail name, we shall see. We plan to leave here tomorrow, and we will arrive at Fontana Dam on Tuesday afternoon, which is the southern terminus of the Smoky Mountains. We heard the Smokies were passable now with 6 inches of packed snow on the trail, but don't have any official info. Just word of mouth.   When we started we had heard that there was 4-5 feet of snow in parts of the Smokies with 7 foot drifts.  We may be calling up some of you Knoxville folk for a place to stay if we can't get through, but this sunshine should be melting off a lot of it.  We definitely want to thank everyone who came out to see us, helped us pack, helped us move, fed us, all that good stuff....can't say how much we appreciate it and we miss everyone already!!  We have been fortunate enough to have come across a good amount of trail magic, which is just people doing good deeds for hikers.  We have gotten free rides, sandwiches, hamburgers, Cokes, beers, oreos, even moonshine!!  Hope everyone is doing well out there in the real world, we are having a blast, the time of our lives out here!!  Until next time, happy trails...

Well we are finally on the trail and have completed week 1. We were fortunate to have good weather the first two days, but that was short lived. The last 4 days have been a mix of rain, sleet, or snow depending on the elevation; overall, it has been a wet four days, but our spirits are not dampened. 

Robin was stricken with a stomach virus for the first two days of the trip, but fortunately, that has cleared up, and she is back to feeling good.

We arrived in Hiawassee, Georgia, our first stopping point, on yesterday (Saturday, March 13).  So, we feel really good about that. We have witnessed some  who have already given up and headed home. But, the trail is still heavily travelled. Each shelter has been packed, and it is not uncommon to see 20-30 people surplus at the shelters. We anticipate, though, that there will be more fall off as people get into the Smokies.

Today, we are up and ready to continue on our journey. We will pass into North Carolina tomorrow and will end the upcoming week in Bryson City, NC on Friday. We understand they have internet widely available so we will be able to write a little more and upload pictures.

Happy Trails!

Brian and Robin