Blue Ridge Mountains

Hey everyone! I'm in Hot Springs, NC after 4 days of hiking from Greasy Creek Gap. The views have been great since then, and the trail great as well. The peak color change has come and gone I think, and now the forest floor is covered in leaves. Sometimes it's a little hard to see the trail with so many leaves on the ground. I'm enjoying the change of seasons though! You can see through the trees more and more each day to the surrounding ridge lines. I snapped a great picture yesterday of the ridges; one of those classic blue ridge mountain shots where there are 7 or 8 ridges that fade away into the sky. There have been a lot of fantastic views like that lately. One of my favorite times to hike is around dusk. The mountains look much more dramatic in color as the sun sets.

There are parts of the trail through Tennessee and North Carolina that are bald. They are awesome mountain tops with no trees; not above treeline, but just a mountaintop without anything on it but a big grassy meadow. The part of the trail I am hiking now is where most of them are. Sunday I hiked out of Uncle Johnny's Hostel at the Nolichucky River near Erwin. The hike was mostly uphill for 16 miles that day. It was a cruddy way to start the day, and at the time all I could think about was being done. Well, 16 miles later I summitted 'Big Bald.' The view was incredible; 360 degrees of mountains in every direction! AND guess who else was up there...the Griswolds! It was so nice to see them again! I'd heard they were in front of me, and had been looking for them all that day. It was a big lift for the spirits to have great company again. I've been hiking with Dan and Summer and their dog Otis since then!

Yesterday we hit some unreal trail magic! At Allen Gap, we saw a sign that read "Trail Magic: Belgian Waffles, Piccola, Beef Stew, Chili, Ice Cream. From 8A to 6P 10/18 & 10/19." Dan and I looked at each other in amazement. It was one of those things that is too good to be true. What are the odds that it would be this day? So, we followed the directions to this house 300 yards down the highway, and found the place. It was a super nice log cabin with a super nice couple that had thru-hiked in 1999. They lived in Missouri, but missed the trail so much after hiking it that they had to move closer! Now they do trail magic for hikers all the time. We had root beer floats, waffles, a Cuban rice dish and a banana split! It was too good for words! I just happened to be short on food that day as well. Wow!

I'm trying to think of what else. After staying at Greasy Creek Hostel, I got to see Bo on Saturday! It was awesome to see another friend on the trail. Thanks for coming up dude! My merino wool hiking shirt looks like it went through a shredder; something I'm pretty proud of. It is super nice to have new socks; I got them in Damascus. The end is really close, and I'm getting pretty anxious! It is 271.8 miles from Hot Springs, and I have hiked 1907.3 miles total. I will enter the Great Smokey Mountain National Park tomorrow, and pass over Max Patch as well! I have food for 3 days, and the only place to resupply is in Gatlinburg (15m off the trail). I'll be in Gatlinburg (or trying to hitch in) late Friday afternoon or early Saturday, so hit me up all you Knoxville folk if you want to do something in the Mountains this weekend! I ought to have good cell coverage on the ridge line the next few days. I'll make sure to check it. Thank yall so much for following! I look forward to seeing you soon!

-The Kid