Appalachian Trail - Section Hike 2 --- Prep & Training

Greenwich, CT to Fontana Village Resort

The travel day to camp and to the Fontana Dam trail head...

Well this trip just won't be the same without my trusty sidekick...

With 12 of the 14 days ahead predicting thunderstorms and rain, with the lack of training, with the 20 extra lbs on me, with the pack for 1 that seems to have grown larger than the pack for two and with no ride, no hotel and bears a plenty all ahead of me ... needles to say i am nauseously panicking about this section hike...shhhhh, don't tell the others!

Appalachian Trail --- Section Hike 1 --- Day 14

Yellow Creek Mountain to Fontana Dam Visitor Center
7.9 miles (seemed like 79...)
Yay we made it!
Amicaola Falls to Fontana Dam in 14 days...

175 miles of the AT --- Not for the faint of heart --- can't imagine being on the trail for 6 months straight for 2200 miles
Section Hike 1, for us, was a 
Test of endurance both physically and mentally. 
Test of human faith, both of oneself and of your fellow humans

Appalachian Trail - Section Hike 1 --- Day 13

Sassafras Gap to Yellow Creek Mtn. Road
14 miles
Surprise, surprise...rain...
100% love Lonnie @ Stecoah Wolf Creek Hostel
To put life in perspective - when we arrived at the hostel my 13 year old thought it was a castle!!!

More trail magic - the man that owns riverside barber shop bought us dinner!!!!

Appalachian Trail --- Section Hike 1 --- Day 12

The Jump Off to Sassafras Gap
11 miles
Big day!!!
3000 feet down then 3000 feet back up
Highlights - 
Nantahala Outdoor Center ... candy reload
Walking through the devastated remains of December 2016 forest fires
And...more rain!!!

Appalachian Trail --- Section Hike 1 --- Day 11

Wayah Gap Road to The Jumpoff
17.3 miles

Appalachian Trail --- Section Hike 1 --- Day 10

Day 10
Glassmine Gap to Wayah Gap Road
12.4 miles

We are a bit weary, self admittedly, at least I am.

Lots of elevation ups and downs. 

Someone up there must have known our spirits were trailing...

There is nothing better than an act of kindness...Trail angel and trail magic from David Waters was a welcomed surprise as we sat by the road for a break.

Two oranges. 

May not sound like much to you, but to us these oranges symbolized hope, kindness, care, fresh food, thirst quenching goodness, we didn't lick the juices running down our arms...but we could have!

If you ever get inspired to pick up an AT hiker, leave some sodas or food or even take them to dinner...thank you! Its hard to convey the deepest gratitude we experience.

Siler Bald is a bit of a side trip up...but worth it! The views were amazing.

On another note...stay in your tent, a shelter or a reputable motel/hotel in Wayah Gap surrounds...we were traumatized at the end of the day here...

I purposely left out a piece of this experience for fear of retribution. But I will leave it at this, ONLY stay at motels/hotels in this area if you need to take a break. I feel like this area exploited the hikers. Over priced dinner, we were left at the side of the road for two hours in pouring rain waiting for paid ride into town to show...the list goes on.

Our worst experience on the trail by far! We were thinking of taking a zero day, but were so freaked out, we got up and ran out the next day. Ran is an overstatement, had to pay $80 to get a ride back to the trail and get the hell out of there.

YUCK! Don't stop here, period.

Run past this stop...we couldn't get out of this town and the people fast enough...

Siler Bald, amazing views in between the rain drops

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Trail angel laying some fresh oranges on us...in a moment a need!

Left for two hours...waiting for our "ride"...this is right before the 1.5 hours of deluge we waited through... :(

Appalachian Trail --- Section Hike 1 --- Day 9

Day 9 

Standing Indian Summit to Glassmine Gap
15.5 miles
Today marks our 100th mile!

Well who said popping a tent on the top of a bald with no protection was a good idea??? We were wondering why the other campers were off to the side snuggled into the woods...we thought we scored the ultimate sunset views...little did we know that we would hardly (or at least I would hardly) sleep a wink because the winds were so forceful at any given moment i thought the tent would upstate itself and take flight...with that said though the morning sunrise was just as stunning as the sunset. Full confession, I may do the same thing all over again.

Although its rained everyday the views we do sneak are awing. The fact that this is all in our great country makes one humble. 

Happy Father's Day to Roberto and all Dad's out there.

We were fast on the move today. Didn't stop for breakfast until 5 miles in. My eyes, I know I keep complaining, but...are almost officially closed, damn sodium! 

The scramble up Albert Mountain was challenging, then topping off was the climb up the fire tower. The history, the winds, the views...the rain. :) All worth it. As you can see from the smiles on our faces. 

Getting water

Fire Tower

Another day comes to an end...keep on smiling girls!