Oceanic Wilderness

*originally scheduled, didn’t post for some reason*

The best thing is coming up on Trail Magic. A hot dog or a hamburger, or even a coke. Ahhhh, it is so nice. These ladies were our first Trail Magic…hot dogs right after breakfast. Don’t pass up any Trail Magic! *originally scheduled for a few days ago, didn’t seem to post.*

We’re sitting in the library in Hot Springs, NC for the afternoon. Yesterday we did about 17 miles from Max Patch Bald summit, where we’d camped the night before (amazing, awesome, you should do it) and stayed about a mile or so before Hot Springs at a random campsite which was nice. This morning we rolled into the town by 8am for some breakfast at the Smoky Mountain Diner. Ahhhh, coffee (a rare treat for me) and a huge breakfast that we couldn’t finish. Yes, I know, we’re calorie starved and I couldn’t finish my meal. Since we’d stayed past the shelter we were some of the first to come…

Whew…five days in the Smokies. We decided to hit a hostel just outside the park today instead of staying at a campsite. Although, we are still camping anyway—we got here too late. But a shower is nice and we ran into a lot of people we’d been hiking with earlier last week. First, thank you for all your comments and thank you to my old work colleagues who have commented! I appreciate it and I hope you are all having fun with the upcoming Everglades Study! 😉 What can I say about the Smokies??? They weren’t as bad as I thought but there was a lot more snow than was…

Worth hiking up if you drop your back and go to the top.

Ahhh, our first state change! On the side of a hill in the middle of a forest. Some of that pudge is gone. The belly is flattening out…slowly.

Nickie asked a few posts ago what our greatest hardship has been so far. After thinking about it for awhile, mine has to be homesickness. It’s incredibly crazy, but I do get more homesick than I have in a long while. Even more than when I was at sea for two months between high school and college. I think it will ease up as time goes on, but the little stays in town do not help much. I also think it will help the more that spring comes around and there are things to focus on. Rainy days actually aren’t as bad as the sunny days. It has been so…

We are in Cherokee, NC for the day. Since we left off here last week from Bryson City, I’ll catch you up since then. It hasn’t been that long…. We hitched a ride into Bryson City and couldn’t figure out how to get back other than hitching. Then I remembered I knew people who worked for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and knew one of them was in that vicinity so I dropped him an email and he was kind enough to give us a ride back to the Nantahala Outdoor Center. Thanks so much Mike if you are reading this! Luckily that day ended up being very sunny,…