NC / TN

We have been going back and forth from North Carolina to Tennessee for weeks now. The trail mostly follows the state line. Some days we don't even know what state we are in. 
4/28/17 Day 37

• Miles hiked: 12.9
• Shelter: tent at Lick Rock Gap mile 312.9

One of the best things about being a hiker is that you get to be outside for every single one of the beautiful days. (Glass half full right? You also get to be outside for the not so beautiful ones too.)


We had a great lazy hiker day. We hikes at a slow pace. We weren't in any hurry. We came across a camper where Osesus (trail name meaning useful) gave us a beer and an ice cream sandwich.

It was glorious. We laid around, rested and soaked up the sun. We then we headed up and over the next mountain.

As we crossed the next dirt road we saw a sign for pizza and drinks. Of course we followed the sign. What we came upon was a constructed shed with bunks and a covered picnic area. The owner wasn't there but the sign said help yourself and we will be back. So we did. Helped ourselves to drinks and snacks. The owner arrived and was very nice but something was a bit off.
He grilled us some frozen pizzas and we drank at a good price. The environment of this place was very... um... rural. Everyone from the neighboring homes (which we couldn't see from our vantage point) drove up on 4 wheelers and seemed to be dealing something... one guy brought ramps (like onions) and another came up asking about ginseng. It was a very peculiar place. But the pizza was delicious and so were the drinks so after we rested for a bit, we headed up the mountain. We found a beautiful spot between two peaks and settled in for the night.
Trail

View out the front


View out the back

It was a good day.
Day 38 4/29/17

• Miles:15.9
• Shelter: tentsite at mile 328.1 

It was a very long but rewarding day. The miles didn't seem get us, it was the terrain.
The weather was in our favor today. Another sunny beautiful day.

We went up and down, up and down. Big Flat, Rice Gap, and High Rock. All that means up and down.  We crossed I-26 at Sam's Gap and headed back up.

Through meadows and the forest floor covered in wild flowers.

Eventually we reached the largest climb of the day up the Big Bald Mountain. It was 80° and after all the climbing we did that day the last 1000 ft were tough but the pay off was worth it!

Bunch of tired but happy hikers!

We even received trail magic in the form of beers from a CLEMSON TIGER FAN. We gave him the trail name of Tiger. He and his family live in Seneca SC and own a mountain home in the Wolf Laurel community. He comes and treats the hikers quite frequently and we thanked him for that.

After all that we headed down the mountain exhausted and looking for a place to camp. It took a while, kind of like looking for a parking spot in a field at a festival or something. Is it big enough? Is it flat? We finally settled in a spot 3 miles further than we wanted. We were exhausted but happy to be there.
We believe Jelly Bean and Papa Bean came in late and camped with us but they were still in their tents when we left so there is no real way of knowing who was in those tents.