Clingman's Dome to Hot Springs, NC

Reached Hot Springs, NC yesterday! Checkpoint. Saved game.

Doc told me to keep my mileage at ten a day to see how my leg feels. Mileage round up for the last five days of hiking were 10.7, 12.6, 18.4, 15.1, and 18. Oops. Leg is ok. Mostly annoying. It could still get bad, but it's holding up well at the moment. I have a thirteen day push to Damascus, VA from here with only one resupply. It's going to be long, hot, and hard.... *looks around mischieviously*

So, for people roundup: hiked quite a bit with Shaman and Let's Party. Good chats about ex's, our lives, and the future. We caught up with Pete and Jason (you might remember them from when Travis and I almost died of hypothermia) and had plenty of laughs with them. Rojo is along as well, always with a laugh and his boisterous snoring that wakes me up even with my ear plugs in. Met four new hikers that I have since spent a great deal of time with: Tangy (marketing wiz from Michigan with a great voice for singing and a love of quick wit and sarcasm), Sir Stooge (his actual trail name is much longer but I can never remember it. Awesome dude from South Jersey and a great conversationalist), Raven (duder from Meso, AZ who is quiet but hilarious and really smart), and Strider (a college guy heading to Harpers Ferry who has had terrible luck with finding a good book to read. I bought him a romance novel so we can have nightly readings).

After getting out of the Smokies, we stayed at Standing Bear Hostel and had some beers with Rocket,  the caretaker. It was a rough morning for some, but an awesome hostel for sure. Hand washed my clothes, which only made them smell worse. I decided to see how my leg would hold and push for Hot Springs in two days (not too bad, but decent climbs up and down on either end.) Raven, Strider, and I pushed past Max Patch, an amazing bald in NC, to Roaring Fork Shelter. Tangy and Sir Stooge stayed at the Patch for sunset and sunrise photos. Kind of wish I had done the same. Rojo, Shaman, and Party stayed longer at Standing Bear, but showed up today on our zero in Hot Springs.

When I got into Hot Springs, Dreamcatcher and Fiddlehead were here! Fiddlehead owed me some money, so instead of giving me the money, they bought me a plastic flask with Jameson in it. In a dry county. Needless to say, I have been generous with all our hiker trash friends and we have all enjoyed the beauty that is Jameson. We also went into the Hot Springs. Veeeeeeery relaxing.

We all stumbled into Smoky Mountain Diner and ate the Hungry Hiker,  a twelve ounce burger with any multitude of sides. I got wedges the size of my arm. After destroying the burger, we settled into the Sunnybank Inn which is run by 1975 thru hiker Elmer and two other thru hikers who help him out. It is an historic building, dating back to 1840. Amazing place, amazing food, and a gracious host. We had beers and pizza at the Spring Creek Tavern and watched the Red Wings game. Enjoyable. Breakfast this morning, prepared by Elmer himself, was a vegetarian delight. I took a photo for your viewing pleasure. Did laundry, still have to resupply, and have tried to relax as much as possible.

I have a wedding on June 15th. I am going to try to oush past mile 500 before then. Shouldn't be too bad, just not going to be as relaxing as it has been. Thirteen days without a zero and only one place to shower and laundry! Woot!

To those no longer with us on the trail, we miss you and love you. This includes, and is not limited to, Shamwow, my man Ellis, and Trav. I hope all of you are well and all those ahead or behind me are well.

Oh yeah, all I saw in the Smokies were three turkeys, three deer, squirrels, and chipmunks. I could've stayed home. Stupid weather blocking every good view in the Smokies except one or two! I will reconquer you another time.

I hope everyone is having a beautiful day! Check out YouTube for videos soon

Cheers!

Jupiter

Fontana Dam to Clingman's Dome

We got a man down dude.

Updates... Travis has a muscle that tore off his bone. He is down and out. Called the medics. If he isn't healed in six weeks, he may have to get surgery. I can honestly say I have experienced a sense of deep sadness and depression about the lose of the other king. Life throws curves and ya just have to keep rolling, rolling, rolling.

Update on my leg.... came off the trail for three days and four nights. I had swelling in my right shin and ankle for seven days before getting off the trail. I made it to Urgent Care in Gatlinburg, TN, and the doctor says I have inflammation in a compartment in my leg. AKA, I have the beginnings of compartment syndrome. I knew two guys that were medically discharged from the Army for the same issue in their legs. Let's hope the doctor is wrong. I got a steroid shot in my tush, steroid pills, and a "take as much ibuprofen as you can handle" from the doctor. Starting tomorrow, so hopefully my leg hold's up.

Keep the Two Kings in your hopes and dreams.

From Fontana Dam, the mileage roll up is 16.7 from Fontana Dam to Spence Field Shelter, 6.3 from Spence to Derrick Knob Shelter, and 10.3 from Derrick to Clingman's Dome.

The first day into the Smokies was great. A loooong day with a looooong climb. I left Travis that day and it made it even harder. Fiddlehead and I walked together most of the day. There are pictures of a deer we got four feet from. We met our first southbounder. He started September 23 last year. Sherpa, I hope you finish this Saturday and havr your party with your friends and family. Carl, the first Ridgerunner we encountered, advised us of an easy hike to Spense Field, so we pushed through for a long day. Met The Texans (college buddies thag went to U of Texas out for a section hike), a Marine Vietnam Vet and his friend, and Crash (another thru hiker). The Texans shred food with us after a night of rain and crappy weather. Good luck to The Texans and their families!

I finally realized on day six I needed medical attention while climbing Derrick Knob. I stepped and got sharp pain shots up my shin and later that day my feet and toes went numb. Trey, a Ridgerunner (someone who stays along the trail to assist in the park and hikers) was an EMT and advised me to get off. Fiddlehead and Dreamcatcher left me behind and carried on. I already miss them dearly. A young man from Seattle, who shall remain nameless, almost had the Ridgerunner kick him out of the shelter. So far, everyone on the trail have been decent, kind folks, but this young man leaves a trail of disaster wherever he falls. I wish him good luck and that he makes it to Maine,  but I told him I hope our paths never cross again. He had some interesting comments on how he feels that the military is bullshit and he will sit in the US and let other people die so he can drink beer and smoke pot. Interesting cat.

The next morning, Trey and Seattle continued to argue and everyone at the shelter had enough of Seattle. The swelling had subsided, so I let Trey know I was pushing to Clingman's and getting a ride to Gatlinburg. I bid ado to my fellow hikers and begrudgingly said bye to Seattle, hoping I wouldn't see him again. I made it Clingman's with little incident. Pain of course, but manageable and nothing to write home about. Upon the Dome, which the pictures of the fog are of, paint a picture of the highest point on the AT without any visibility. A park volunteer named Dixie offered to give me a ride if I waited until her shift was done. I was perfectly fine with waiting. I climbed the Dome, ate some chocolate, and talked to other park employees. I shout out to Dixie for your trail magic! She even gave me an apple! Highlight of my day.

I made it into Gatlinburg and am staying at the Grand Prix Motel. Perfect for hikers. Just about as dirty as we are when we get off the trail, but the beds are amazing and showers.  Showers.

In an attempt to keep my Gatlinburg experiencr short.... I spent too much money, drank with my fellow thru hikers and my new friends Marianne and Mike (great people from outside of Chicago! Hope our paths cross again!). Thru hikers Bibs, Rojo Baggins, Shaman, and an assortment of others are all here. Seattle and I bumped into each other for a minute. He was not happy to see me. I smiled and wished him happy trails with earnest.... then cursed him under my breath. Not the best of manners, but I am only human.

Let's Party showed up tonight! We are all heading back to the trail tomorrow. It's weird to see Party without Easy, her dog, but it is always good for the heart to see her smiling face and have her awesome sense of humor back in the mix.

Shout outs to my home skillets Dreamcatcher and Fiddlehead. Hope you left us some nice notes in the registers. Ellis, my man, you are missed! Shamwow, I hope you are well and had a nice time with the family!

If you could, please keep my grandfather, my dad's dad, in your thoughts. He is not doing very well.

Ok, the post is too long. Also, I don't know how to end this anymore. And I ate three 16 ounce sirloins while I was in town. And did the free moonshine tasting. Twice.

Cheers!

Jupiter... Two Kings.... I dunno....

Rock Gap to Fontana Dam

Ok. Going to give the miles per day break down. Rock Gap to Wayah Bald Shelter 14.8. Wayah Bald to A. Rufus Morgan Shelter 15.5. Rufus Morgan to Nantahala Outdoor Center and a stay in The Cabin In The Woods 1 single mile. Nantahala to Brown Fork Gap Shelter 15.8. Brown Fork to Fontana 11.5 plus a 1.1 mile hike to the Fontana Hilton later today.

So, people we have met so far.... Trav and I are hiking with Let's Party and Bottom's Up,  Fiddlehead (Liz), and Dteamcatcher (Kieran). We have met Sam and Ron (who gave us guava and green tea on top of Silver Bald) Rabbit, John from Alabama, Loon (a four time thru hiker on his fifth attempt this year), Uncle Nasty, Bibs (NC guy who wear Carhartt overalls), Fuel and Eric (two young guys on break from college), Mosey, Mapman and Spark Plug's Auntie, and the Frat Guys. All unique and interesting people to meet.

A sidenote, the Frat Guys and Loon were favorites of mine. Loon was such an inspiration to see him on his fifth thru hike. The Frat Guys are so named because of their demeanor and their propensity to laugh at my stupid jokes. Their names were Burgess, Drew, and Reid. Reid is a thru hiker named "Cliffnote". Burgess and Drew were accompanying him to Fontana Dam for moral support. Because I have a terrible time with names, I called Burgess "City Boy" because he was wearing jeans. Drew I named "Hair" because of his almost, but not quite,  Justin Bieber hair cut. It is a shame they jumped ahead. I gave them so much shit, and they took it with laughs all around. Great guys. I wish the best of luck to everyone, but especially Loon, Sam and Ron, and the Frat Guys.

It has been nice spending time with Party, Fiddlehead, and Dreamcatcher. Good company. We stayed at The Cabin In The Woods near Stecoah Gap. Amazing cabins run by a lovely woman named Donna. Check it out! Cheap prices and an amazing place to stay! We even watched two movies!

The immensity of the trail hit me today. Interesting thoughts during todays hike. Dreamcatcher is losing his mind. Fiddlehead is like a leech, sucking money from me every time we go into town. Party is nowhere to be seen. Ellis has died apparently.  He is sorely missed. Shamwow is all washed up.

In all seriousness, Trav's right shin and ankle is messed up. Bad. I dunno what we are going to do yet. Should be starting the Smokies tomorrow.

As far as the trail is concerned, it has been hard. Long climbs and long descents. It kicked all of our asses.

Time to resupply and head to the shelter. Miss ya'll! Please donate to my cause and keep it real home dawgs.

Cheers!

Two Kings

Dick's Creek Gap to Rock Gap (Franklin, NC)

Short blog post.

Finishing day ten. Travis has an infected toe. Took a zero today. Nantahala Outdoor Center in two or three days and the Smokies in five hopefully.

Got some trail magic yesterday. Free ride into Franklin and a free steak dinner! Michael Jordan and Turtle were most gracious and we truly appreciate their kindness. We will have to pay it forward. I hope that happy trails find their way for their immrnse kindness to Travis and I!

Besides that, North Carolina is much better then Georgia. Amazing views, better trail, and better weather. Looking forward to getting back on the trail.

Check out the pictures and my videod on YouTube. 

Cheers!

Two Kings

Neels Gap to Dick's Creek Gap

Where to begin.... the first five days in Georgia sucked. Rain, high winds, cold temperatures.  Finally, on day six, we saw the sun and views from three mountains we climbed. To pick off from where we left off...

On our fourth morning, Trav and I set off early with a new friend. Her name is Lindsey (in the pics) and whose trail name is Sham Wow (she carries one with her at all times). She is from Denver. We made it in about a half mile and she realized shr forgot her cellphone. She turned back and Trav and I carried on. 11.5 miles to Low Gap Shelter. To describe our trek, one needs only watch the scene from Lord of The Rings when the Fellowship is trying to go over the Misty Mountains and Aragorn shouting "We need to get off the mountain!" High winds, rain pelting us in the face, freezing rain at one point, and fear of hypothermia had us moving at quite a pace to get to Low Gap Shelter.  Most hikers we knew were either staying put in their shelters or hiking a short distance back to Neels so they could have a dryer and a hot shower. For Trav and I.... it took us four hours to bring our core temperatures up back to normal. We stumbled into Low Gap to meet Pete, Jason, and Michael "Lover Boy". They took a zero and were nice and warm when we arrived soaked and chilled to the bone. We were worried about Lindsey earlier and I ran up two ridges to see if she was ok, to which I was unsuccessful. Luckily, about an hour and a half after we got to Low Gap, Sham Wow came stumbling in much like we did to the shelter. We had a nice stay at Low Gap and met Claire from Washington when she showed up cold and disheartened in the dark.

Day five brought us wet clothes and a now six person group heading 9.7 miles into Unicoi Gap and getting a shuttle to Hiawassee, Georgia. We got a motel room, ordered pizza, and did laundry. Oh, and warmed up.  We decided at Low Gap we would "slack pack" between Unicoi Gap and Dicks Creek Gap today. Slack packing is where you having someone drop you off in the morning and you leave most of your gear behind. All I had was a water filter, water, food, rain gear, and the trail guidebook. Hiawassee had a decent buffet for us and I drank a tall Dos Equis!

Today was beautiful.  We climbed three mountains and saw the sun for the first time! We climbed over 3,500 feet of elevation changed and descended even more. It was a long 16.7 mile day, but the light pack was nice. We bought groceries and ate a six inch sub from Subway and ate two Diuble Cheeseburgers from DQ. We are going to head out in the morning and hike from Dicks Creek Gap to Nantahala Outdoor Center in NC. Tomorrow, we will finish Georgia. One state almost done! It will take us five or six days to get to Nantahala with no resupplies. Looking forward to it. I might take a zero at NOC, but we will see. Trav will move on to make up for lost time later when he has to hop off the trail.

Looking forward to Let's Party catching up and more exciting times with all our friends! I'm especially excited to be out of Georgia. SCREW Georgia!

Cheers!

Two Kings

Wet and Bloody Mountain

No pictures today because all there was to see was rain, trees, and no views because we were in the clouds. Cool in it's own right.

Three days now, and we have only seen one okay view. Blood Mountain is the highest point on the AT in Georgia and all we saw was clouds, rain spray in the face, and wind. Rather disappointing. Tomorrow it's calling for at least two inches of rain. We hiked 10.7 today and are going for a 11.5 tomorrow. Should be interesting, windy, and soaking rain all day long.

Georgia has been a rainy, windy mess. Looking forward to nicer weather.

Hope everyone is well! Staying in a hostel tonight at Neel's Gap. Got to shower. It felt real sexy like. Let's Party can't stay with us because Bottoms Up is outta control drunk.... I mean is too busy being a dog, which they don't allow here. She is staying where we stayed last night and will continue with us tomorrow.

Cheers!

Two Kings

Two days down to Suches, GA.

Hola people of the real world! We are currently staying at Wolfpen Hostel in Suches, GA. Update from the first two days.

Day one began with a one mile hike to the top of Springer Mountain. After driving from WV to GA through the night, we made our way to the top... of fog. Kind of disappointing to not have a view, but still cool nonetheless. On our way up and a few miles down, we passed a young lady with a Jack Russell Terrier. This is how we met Let's Party and her dog, Bottoms Up. She is an ECT (Eastern Continental Trail) hiker, which runs from Key West to Newfoundland. She has been hiking since January 5th. While at Hawk Mountain Shelter at 8.1 miles in, we met Raven, from Germany in a town near Hanover, and was convinced by Let's Party to hike an additional 7.7 miles to Gooch's Shelter at 15.8 miles, giving us a total of 16.8 for the day. Along the way, we met Rojo Baggins and were passed by an older gentlemen we named Terminator. He started at Springer at noon and hiked 15.8 miles in less than seven hours. Jerk! Just kidding!

Once we got to Gooch's Shelter, we met So Far So Good and Fireman, solo thru hikers of a hilarious sort. Dinner was awesome and we decided, due to bad weather, to hike 5.2 miles today and get into a hostel. We will hike to Neel's Gap tomorrow in the rain and stay there. It's one of the most well known spots on the trail that many people take at least from three to five days to reach here and ship literally tons of gear back home every year. Many people take this opportunity to quit their thru hikes after they realize hiking isn't for them.

From what we hear, Saturday is going to dump over an inch and Sunday is going to dump two iches of rain. Trav and I might take a zero (a zero is a day in which you don't hike any miles),  on Sunday, but we will play it by ear and how the weather turns out.

So far, it has been interesting. Tiring would be what I describe of it so far. That could be because of two nights of little sleep before I even started. Only one real view in the first 21 miles, as we were in the fog on top of every mountain or only have views between trees. Amazing so far, hard but rewarding!

Cheers!

Two Kings