PICTURES!

1. Nantahala Outdoor Center
2. Naptime view
3. Sunset on Wayah Bald

Burgundee

Johnny Thunder OR Beyonce?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1Wjzeu5rHA

100 Miles

On Wednesday we reached the 100 mile mark and crossed the NC border, trail success continues. Since last week we've been doing 10-16 mile days thanks to lots of awesome weather, getting into the trail rhythm, and our trusty ibuprofen.

All of our campsites are pretty evenly spaced out, which makes the daily planning easy and has allowed us to meet and hike with many of the same vagabonds. Enjoying and living in the AT community at its finest.

For those of you who aren't as familiar, hitchhiking is the best and most efficient way to get to and from town. We've so far had two successful rides both marked with friendly drivers and even better stories.

The good weather stretch ended last night with the craziest thunder/lighting storm any of us have experienced.. Naturally, we all stayed dry except for Jason, who decided to gather his own lake in his tent to better conserve water.

We are now nearing the end of a day off to resupply and consume local goodness! Resuming the 9-5 life in the woods in the morning, more soon.

Sara

Observations of a (new) long distance hiker

A jar of peanut better doesn't last more than six days. Other peanut butter facts: bagels, bread and tortillas aren't necessary. Just spoon out a glob and eat it plain. Five times a day. Or ten.

People are nice. Trail magic is everywhere. Fruit. Baby wipes. Cinnamon roles. Car rides. Jokes.

Hikers want five things: fed, to be dry, to be horizontal, spinach and to have booze.

In other news, two of us have new trail names. I'm Burgundee. No, not like the color. Like Ron. That story might slip out later but for now, I have chores. Like planning out the food I'm going to consume today. And getting clean pants. And watching stuff dry. And washing the filth from my every crevice. And eating pizza.

Jason also has a new name. He'll tell you.

Hiking's hard.

Mara

A JOHNNY SANDWICH

FIRETOASTEDBAGELSPINACHARTICHOKEHUMMUSSPINACHSPINACHARTICHOKEHUMMUSSQUASHTHREEPEPPERHUMMUSPEPPERJACKCHEESETHREEPEPPERHUMMUSFIRETOASTEDBAGEL. CAMPFOOD. WHAT!?!

Cruella DeMara

It was a dark and not stormy night. Then we woke up and went into the shelter to have some breakfast. It was our first time at a shelter on this trip, and it was crowded, so we met many fine citizens of the world, one of which was puking Gatorade because he appeared to be dying. He wasn't all that fun. But we met a very kind-hearted older man who called himself 'Turtle' on account of being all self-conscious about going slow. So Mara is sitting at the table with him, concentrating with all of her foggy just-got-out-of-bed brainpower on eating her granola. Johnny and I were just milling about, being awesome, per usual. God knows where Sara was. She is irrelevant, really. And Turtle is hanging out, talking, because Turtle was a talker. Again, Mara: face in granola; the intensity was inspiring. So Turtle starts talking about lots of stuff. All the things, really. And then he starts telling us about his family. And he tells us how, you know, the life you'd like for your kids just sometimes doesn't work out the way a parent wishes it would. Then he pauses, seems to get a bit lost in his thoughts, and says, 'Oh am I giving you guys too much information?' and gives a half hearted chuckle. So Johnny and I sort of shuffle our feet and stare off into the middle distance. And Mara, face still firmly in granola, with complete confidence and a strong voice, says,

'YEP.'

Johnny and I are mortified. Mara is enjoying granola. Johnny and I start to slowly back away. Turtle gets a little quiet, 'Yeah I'm definitely guilty of TMI, I guess,' he says. Mara is confused by everything except granola at this point. She thinks we're moving away because we can't understand what Turtle is talking about, either. So she just chuckles and says, 'haha, yeah.' Johnny and I leave the shelter. We pack up and get the hell out of dodge. We later inform Mara that she is the cruelest woman in the planet. She is then the one who is mortified. Her new mission is to find Turtle and apologize. She really isn't the worst person on the planet. Just don't talk to her while she's eating breakfast, or she will destroy your soul.

On Trail.

We have officially been on the trail for 4 days! Despite minor sunburns and a few sore muscles, the team is in high spirits. We've just gotten to where we'll take a rest day tomorrow, have just inhaled glorious pasta, found a box of free food, and now using the allotted time for cabin naps.

Here's a recap of the past few days:

A heavy rainstorm on day 1, but took care of the wet gear by spreading it over and hanging out in sunny field the next morning.

Walking about 10 miles each day, eating foods, and hitting the tents around 8 pm every night. SLEEEEP.

John and Jason finding amusement in Mara and Sara's attempts at hanging bear bags.

Laughing, walking, meeting the hiker community, and being the coolest group of people in the woods ever.

Overall, off to a great start.

Sara