North Carolina / Tennessee

"You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows."

Journal Entry 4.8.00
"It's 4pm and I'm at the Motel in Elk Park, NC. Yes, that's right, MOTEL. I hiked 12 miles today to Hughes Gap, and then got off the trail with Good Vibe, Special Agent, Frito, Salty, and Slow Ride. It was FREEZING cold and raining/snowing all day. At lunch we made the decision to bail and get a hotel for the night. Otherwise we would have been faced with Roan Mountain, at just over 6000', it's the coldest spot on the southern AT. No thank you. They are calling for 55 mph winds on the ridge tops and temperatures in the low 20's in the VALLEYS. I decided that I didn't want to freeze all night and I don't feel so bad seeing as I'm here with 5 guys who did the same. We hitched 3 rides to get here - 1rst hitch from a preacher's wife on her way to a funeral, 2nd hitch from 2 young locals with the 6 of us in the back of their pick-up (cold, cold, freezing cold), and 3rd hitch from 3 Mexicans in a van at the gas station (thanks for cranking up the heat and playing good Mexican music!)."

Journal Entry 4.10.00
"Today we picked up our mail drops in town and hiked 8 miles of out Elk Park, NC. Yesterday I hiked 17.5 miles from Hughes Gap to Apple House Shelter. It was a beautiful day of hiking through the snow covered trees and trail. But what a morning!! Special Agent, Good Vibe and I left the motel early to hitch a ride and got picked by Rene and her son Brian and it turned out to be quite an adventure. Some highlights - "It's colder than a witches tit", getting hot cocoas, car stalling once, car stalling twice, broken driver door, broken passenger door, going to the boyfriend's house to check the battery, hanging out in the garage for an hour, biscuits for breakfast, getting lost on the way back to the trail, and ice on the road… All said it took us two hours to get back to the trail."

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