Day 11-13 First 100 complete!

Day 11, 12.1 miles, Rock Gap Shelter.  Big day today as we crossed our 100 mile mark. It was of course at the top of a steep incline on top of Albert Mountain. The fire tower on top was at mile marker 100.1. Beautiful 360 degree views so an excellent place for lunch and to celebrate our first 100. I've posted a few photos on facebook if interested. It was then a relatively easy 6 miles to the shelter. Approx 1 mile from the shelter we were surprised with a bit more trail magic..."Ginger Snap" had rigged a storage container full of cakes and cookies hanging from a tree over the trail. It was an excellent surprise...thank you Ginger Snap! We are only doing four miles tomorrow and then heading into Franklin NC. As we are so close to town "30 Pack" , "Trucker", and "Mac" hiked into town and brought back burgers, hotdogs and beer for dinner followed by a bonfire and the band was in full swing. Good warm up for what should be an excellent weekend as Franklin is hosting the 8th annual Hikers Bash. Thanks to a bit of planning I was able to make reservations at the hotel hosting the party. I now have a full room and so far only two on the floor...we will probably add a few when we get there. :)  Planning our first "zero" day on Saturday to rest the body, heal the blisters and enjoy the hiker bash weekend.   Day 12, 3.8 miles, Franklin NC. Easy peasy morning walking to the road. Got a shuttle into Franklin and checked into the hotel. Almost an issue when I got here...as you can imagine I was pretty through planning this trip. I made reservations a month ago and tried calling a few days ago to confirm. You guessed it...no reservation when I got here. It's their big weekend so no rooms. I pulled out my notes and gave them the name, date and time I called. It was the lady behind the counter so she apologized and I got the "cabin" over looking the parking lot. We had 12 in the living room last night playing guitars and having a great time before we went to a bar down the road. I have no idea how many slept in here but it was no less than seven...so it worked out well. :)  Day 13, Zero Day. Still in Franklin. Did laundry and resupplied with food. We are all now just relaxing and figuring out what to do with ourselves. Its kind of strange not doing anything. Most things revolve around when we will eat next so we are waiting for meal time. :) the humane society came by while I was doing laundry and gave the boys some food and treats. It was very nice but not sure what to do with all the food. We will hit the trail in the AM so will send the next update somewhere in the woods.