Day 9-10, 27-28 March 93.3 of 2184 miles complete

Day 9, 11.8 miles, Muskrat Creek Shelter, North Carolina! Goodbye Georgia, thank you for the memories and HELLO North Carolina!  The folks  is Hiawassee were great so happy I stopped there. I was able to send 6 pounds of stuff back... the big item was my fully functioning kitchen suite. I downsized to a stove and fuel system that weighs less than just my stove did so i am happy...more stuff coming your way Mom. :)  got on the trail at 1120am which is a bit late but had to wait for a ride back to the trailhead. The group is still pretty much together...a few have camped at different sites but we will meet up in the next few days. Today was pretty much all uphill. It was nice to cross into our second state but NC welcomes you with a 3 mile straight uphill climb to the shelter after you just did nearly 9...I guess she wants to make a statement...which she did. Beautiful views but you have to work for them. I've averaged 9 miles a day through Georgia which is a very comfortable start. I have met a few doing 20miles a day which I think is crazy. It's not a race and I'm just enjoying the walk and the company.  A few wildlife encounters i forgot to mention. The boys are doing great and sniff just about everything...except for the snake in the trail they walked over Which then slid under my boot. I think it was just a big garder snake but it got my attention. There have been a few bears in the camp but nothing serious. They one in our camp came up to the privy when one of the guys was using it. There was a scream and the bear took off. The guy said (paraphrasing) "thank goodness i was on the privy cause he scared the poop out of me!"...very very funny indeed.  With the dogs around our group doesn't even worry about it and so far so good. Plan for tomorrow is a 12+ mile day but looks like a little friendlier terrain...we shall see. :)

Day 10, 12.5 miles Carter Gap Shelter. The terrain was indeed much nicer today. Only one 2.5 mile gentle up hill section so seemed fairly easy compared to yesterday. Not much to report really so i will keep this short...wake up, break camp, walk, set up camp, cook, sleep...pretty simple day. :)