Day 35-36 The Ice Storm Hit-eth!

22 Apr, Day 35, 10.5 miles, Low Gap at AT mm 321.1. So we had a bit of change of plan. I took a break at a shelter 5 miles from our campsite and actually had phone service for the first time time in 8 days or so which was nice. After I txt Vicki and posted the blog I checked the weather and saw these cozy little warnings.... Number 1 Local Severe Weather Alert for location Wind Advisory in effect from 8PM EDT SUN until 8AM EDT TUE ... WIND ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 8 PM THIS EVENING TO 8 AM EDT  TUESDAY... THE WIND ADVISORY IS FOR THE NORTHERN PARTS OF THE  CUMBERLAND PLATEAU... SMOKY MOUNTAINS... NORTHEAST TENNESSEE AND  SOUTHWESTERN VIRGINIA.  * EVENT... AN AREA OF LOW PRESSURE BRINGS STRONG AND GUSTY NORTHWEST  WINDS TO THE REGION.  * TIMING... NORTHWEST WINDS OF 15 TO 30 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 40 MPH  WILL DEVELOP THIS EVENING... AND CONTINUE THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT.  * IMPACTS... WINDS THIS STRONG LOOSE OUTDOOR OBJECTS MAY NEED TO BE SECURED OR PLACED INDOORS.  A WIND ADVISORY MEANS THAT WINDS OF 26 TO 39 MPH AND/OR GUSTS OF  40 TO 57 MPH ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. So securing outdoor items means putting in all 8 tent pegs. If the wind wasn't bad enough, a few minutes later we got this bit of good news. Number 2 ... STRONG NORTHWEST WINDS AND MUCH COLDER TEMPERATURES TONIGHT ...TEMPERATURES WILL FALL TO WELL BELOW NORMAL WITH READINGS IN THE  30S COMMON BY MONDAY MORNING. WIND CHILL READINGS WILL BE AT OR  BELOW FREEZING AROUND DAYBREAK MONDAY. THE COLD TEMPERATURES WILL  CONTINUE WITH POSSIBLE FROST OR FREEZES BY TUESDAY  MORNING... ESPECIALLY ACROSS NORTHEAST TENNESSEE AND SOUTHWEST  VIRGINIA.  RAIN SHOWERS WILL CHANGE OVER TO SNOW SHOWERS ACROSS THE HIGHER  ELEVATIONS OF SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA AND NORTHEAST TENNESSEE INCLUDING  THE SMOKYS TONIGHT. THE SNOW FALL WILL BE HEAVY AND MAY RESULT IN  SOME TREE DAMAGE. SOME ACCUMULATION IS EXPECTED ABOVE 3000 FEET. Our plan was to do 15 miles today and head to Bald Mountain Shelter.  Well, "bald" means no trees and shrubs...basically an open top mountain...makes sense. Issue number 2 is that you cross over big bald at 5516 feet and the shelter is at 5100 feet. Neither of those sound appealing based on the weather. So some of us opted to stop at Low Gap at 4300 feet and ride this thing out. So i got here at 3pm in the rain with the forecast calling for clear skies by 4. Yedi, Atlas, and Cheeks showed up shortly after and we started gathering wood for The fire...we thought that was better than standing in the rain and once it cleared up we would be ready. So 4pm came and went and the wind picked up and the rain did not stop. We tried to start a fire as we were all very wet and very cold but to no avail. So i set up my tent in the rain...in record time which is not bad considering I was shivering and could not feel my fingers. :). Anyway, got everything in, including two very wet golden retrievers, changed into my dry winter gear and crawled into my sleeping bag. I can't say it was the coldest I've ever been but it certainly was not comfortable. It is now 6:20 pm, it's rain/hailing outside and very windy. Dinner may be a few trail bars tonight. We really cannot complain as we have gone 34 days with really great wether for the most part. We all knew it was only a matter of time so it's all part of the journey. With that said, some of our group opted to get rides into Erwin and slack pack this bit tomorrow. I was already set up in my sleeping bag 4 miles from the road when one of our folks came into camp and told us that...right now that sounded like a very good option. :). I will let you all know how the night went tomorrow. 23 Apr, Day 36, 14.6 miles, No Business Knob Shelter at AT mm 335.7.  There are now two reasons for me to remember this date. First and foremost, it is my nieces birthday...Happy Birthday Mattie!!!  The second is this is the date I woke up with about a centimeter of ice covering my tent...The weather warnings were accurate. I woke up around 1:30am listen to the storm and notice the tent seemed smaller. I turned on Headlamp to see ice pressing around the tent. I went to knock it off then realized it was warm in the tent so it was acting as pretty goo insulation so I left it there. This morning was a bit of a chore knocking all the ice off to pack it when it was still sleeting/freezing rain but I got there in the end. The poles were frozen together so I tried thawing them with a lighter but it was to windy so I just used my hand/body temperature to melt the ice. On a three man tent that's a lot of sections. To give you an idea of the cold and wind. I have been hiking every day in shorts and a T-shirt. Today I wore long pants (you heard that right...long pants), my cold weather under armor top, another long sleeve UA top, my fleece, my rain coat with the hood up and a hat a gloves. I wore that for all 14.6 miles...it was a cold day. The Bald that I mentioned was downright challenging. 20 yards visibility, Wind gusts to 50mph, freezing rain and sleet and cold! I'm currently 225, plus clothes plus a 50 pound pack and I was being pushed around. I wish I had thought to video some of it as it I am sure it was comical. :)  most of the day was in trees so not as windy at times. After lunch we started coming down a bit and the sun broke out so it ended up being an ok day. A very challenging start but it's all part of the journey. I got to this shelter an decided to stay. Some walked the extra six miles into down just to get out of the cold and some hitched a ride at a road 3 miles back. So I found myself sitting in the shelter by myself for the first time on the trip. It was kind of strange but cool. I made a fire and hung up my tent and clothes to dry and thought I would have my first night solo when "No Tech" walked in at 6:45pm. Very nice guy so we chatted around the campfire until I crawled in my tent at 8:30. So a challenging but rewarding day so I feel great! An easy 6 miles into Erwin tomorrow so I will be there by lunch and spend the rest of the day doing town stuff and giving the rest of the wolf pack  LOADs of grief for leaving the trail during a storm...Ole Papa Wolf is the lone survivor. :). On the upside they do have a room ready for me so I'll give them that.

Day 32-34

19 Apr, Day 32, 8.2 miles, Rich Mountain Fire Tower at AT mm 282.1. Hot Springs was a great little town for a zero day. Only .6 miles long but nice people, great food and hospitality. Tiffany and her Mom at Spring Brook Cottages were great! Thank you ladies for an excellent two days. It was nice to get back on the trail though. Trucker thought it would be cool to camp by the fire tower so we did a short 8 miles today. Not going to say it was easy as we always head uphill out of towns...which makes sense if you think about it, but with a day off and our "hiker legs" coming to form, it was a nice relaxing hike. It was also very tropical with lots of plant life and loads of water so it was like walking through a jungle so an interesting hike today. Tomorrow we plan on picking up our pace so we have a 14 miler planed for tomorrow. We hope to get into Erwin on Mon or tues...a big storm is forecast for sat and sunday so the less nights we have to sleep in the rain or wet, the better. I had Internet at the fire tower so you may have seen the photo of the sunset on facebook, but I do not have anything down in our campsite approx 200 yards away so I will send this when I can. 20 Apr, Day 33, 14 miles, Jones Meadow at AT mm 296.1. We awoke In a cloud so things were pretty damp when we broke camp. We need to get used to that as we know the rain is coming. The sun burned it all off soon enough so we lucked out with another nice day. The boys and I were in the "go mode" for some reason so we knocked out the 14 miles with only one break. Not sure why I did as we are not in a hurry, but we felt good so just kept on plugging away...it felt great. I did miss some quality trail magic though. I saw the sign but decided not to walk the 350 yards out of the way. Those that went were treated to waffles, pork stew, home made bread, sodas and about six different desserts with ice cream...I should have taken the detour. :). Oh well, no big deal. Trucker did bring me a coke...thanks Trucker!!! So i had that for dinner which was awesome. I know that sounds weird but  it is amazing how good that sugary can of deliciousness tastes after a few days. Once again we are not at a shelter which is great. Not sure if I mentioned this, but I decided that instead of using the bear cables for my food bag, which we don't have at campsites anyway, I'm going with the theory that with two dogs in the tent, no bear is coming close to my tent. That theory has caught on and I now have 12-15 food bags under my vestibule...which makes for some quality midnight snack'n. The theory has held true for the last few weeks so so far so good. :) The 14 miler was a fairly big success today. There was a few hills with a killer 1.3 mile straight uphill at the end, stairs and all, but all but four have made it without issue. Those that didn't make it was by choice so we have decided that 14 miles will now be our minimum mileage to shoot for from here on out.  Tomorrow there is a cascade/waterfall at 14.5 miles we at going to try to camp at. If not we will go 16+ to the next campsite. Th terrain is becoming a bit more hiker friendly so should not be a big deal...famous last words.  I may edit this before I post it if tomorrow kicks my butt. :)   21 Apr, Day 34, 14.5 miles, the cascades at AT mm 310.6.  Well we made it to the cascades as planned, but do not believe the topography graphics on your AT maps. :). They have actually been really great, but they do not give the terrain you will be walking over. For example, today was a unique combination. It started with a lot of big and little rocks which I tend to slow down over. I took another video on top of a ridge line which I will post on Facebook, it may give you an idea but not really. I certainly do not want to turn an ankle rushing over slippery loose rocks so slow and steady is my mantra. Right after I took the video I came across my first rock face which required a hand over fist climb down. Skye jumped the 6 feet without thinking twice which was both impressive and a bit scary. He wasn't hurt or fazed in the least...wish I had that on video. Once I took the pack off Mojo he found his way down without much trouble. After the rocks we hit a bit of pasture near the top of a mountain which was a nice change, then we actually followed a dirt road/ATV trail for a mile and a bit so I felt right at home.:)  We hit a shelter around mile 10 just as it started raining so we squeezed 12 or so of us in a 6 man shelter for a late lunch. The look of despair on the faces of the poor four older folks when the came around the corner and saw us all was quite cute/funny, but the look of delight when we told them we were all leaving when the rain stopped and the shelter was all theirs was priceless. :). So after a one hour forty minute lunch break, the weather broke and we did the last 4.5 without any issues. We setup camp, made a fire and dinner, and crawled in bed...two minutes later it started raining again so I think someone is looking out for us. The cascades is not really a campsite so we have had to be creative with our tent sites. I'm on a bit of a slope so we'll see if Mojo, Skye and I all end up in the corner of the tent by morning. Tomorrows plan is a 15 miler to a shelter but we have been told there is a tricky up and down rocky bit in approx 5 miles that may slow us down. We would like to get into Erwin, TN by Monday night but that means a 15 and 17 mile day. Tuesday will work as well, just looking for a shower and an all you can eat buffet sooner rather than later. :)

Day 30-31, let Month two begin!

17 Apr, Day 30, 10.6 miles, Hot Springs NC at AT mm 273.9. Today was another nice day for a pretty easy, mainly downhill walk as we headed Into another trail town. This town is a bit different as the AT actually runs through this half mile town. There are AT symbols in the sidewalk through the town which is pretty cool. Walk-n-Eats got a cabin for his birthday but it is six miles out of town. Again, with Mojo and Skye, hitch hiking that far is a bit of a pain so I got a "cabin" in town with Damn Yankee and Kentucky. It's a great location...the town is only a half mile long so there really isn't a bad location. Showered then laundry just 100 yards down the road followed by an excellent ribeye dinner.  There is a great outfitters here so we poked around there a bit.  They have a scale in the shop which they say is acute so I now officially weigh 225 pounds for those keeping track :).  We were going to head out tonight but the rest of the pack had a hard time hitching out to the other cabin so never made It back into town. Probably a good idea as they might never had made it back after the bars closed. So us crazy 40+ers came back after dinner and just hung out in the room. The plan is to meet up tomorrow and see what this town has to offer for our zero day. 18 Apr, Day 31, 0 miles.  We could not have picked a better day to take a zero. It rained all night and day so we were very happy to be in a room. The folks who came hiking into town today were very wet indeed. Not a lot going on today. We went for breakfast, resupplied at the dollar general and outfitters and had the same ribeye dinner as last night...need to get the steak when we can. :). We saw the rest of the pack doing their chores so met up with them for a bit, but really had a relaxing day chilling out. I guess that is the idea of a zero so we relaxed. Tomorrow is one month that I have been on the trail. As a quick recap, I have hiked nearly 274 miles, averaging just over 9 miles a day which really isn't that much at all. That average will pick up a lot as we get out of the mountains and into Virginia. We have only had two zero days. I've slept in my tent 20  nights, a shelter 3 nights and "under a roof", meaning a hostel or hotel, 8 nights. I think I've lost around 20 pounds so far and the hair and beard are looking ridiculously awesome. I've lost one big toenail and the "scar of Serpico" is settling in nicely. Ive gotten into a good routine as far a setting up, tearing down camp and packing my backpack. I could not have asked for a better group of folks to hike with, Mojo and Skye seem to be doing great so all in all, I would say it has been a very good month. Tomorrow we hit the trail again. It looks like five or six days to Erwin TN so based on past performance in this part if the country, I may not have cell coverage until then so will post when I can.

In Hot Springs NC.

Currently in hot Springs. No Cell phone or Internet at the hotel so sending this from the restaurant. All is well. 14 Apr, Day 27, 10.6 mile, Standing Bear Hostel at AT mm 241.0. Last day in the Smokeys was excellent! Mainly downhill and a  beautiful sunny day so was a great way to say goodbye. The last mile I was high-fiving the Leaves and trees saying thanks for such a great week...perhaps I have been in the woods too long. The hostel we stayed at was great fun. Food and some beer, campfire and good company. It was Walk-n-Eats birthday so we had something to celebrate. I gave him a rock for his bday present in the morning...not sure if he still has it. So it was a good evening. Thanks Curtis for your hospitality...if you are still googling the wolf pack. :). Lida brought Mojo and Skye in around 6pm so they, and all of us, were very excited to see each other. It was nice having them in the tent with me again. I think they slept on top of me most of the night but that was ok with me...we were very cozy indeed. 15 Apr, Day 28, 9.6 miles, Brown Gap at AT mm 250.6. Up pretty early today but had to organize the boys packs again so it took awhile to Break camp. I love having them with me but they are a bit extra work to say the least. It is worth it though so anyone wanting to hike the AT with their dog..Do it. We are only 30 miles from Hot Springs so we only did just under 10 today...but it was hard. The first 4.2 and last 2.5 miles were uphill. The boys did great and seemed very happy to be back on the trail, but it was a long 10 miles for me. We are going to take our second zero day in hot springs and I think I need it. All is going great but never hurts to give the body a rest day. By the way, For those in the "pool", I started the AT weighing around 245 pounds. According to a fairly dodgy scale at the Hostel, I have lost around 15 pounds so am now hovering around the 230  pound mark...Not bad for 27 days. I will update as I progress and get a better scale. :) 16 Apr, Day 29, 12.6 miles, unnamed camp site near the summit of Bluff Mountain at AT mm 263.2. While we were in the Smokeys we were required to stay at the shelters. We discovered with our big group we prefer staying at campsites when we can. We are going to try to rename this one the Wolf Pack Gap campsite as it really is in the guide book as "unnamed campsite"...that's not very original so we thought we tried to help out the AT conservancy. We actually have most of the wolf pack here tonight. With the exception of VW and two others, we have 16 at the campsite.  Today's hike was great. Still beautiful weather and fairly easy terrain. We actually passed some farm land and walked through a field which was a bit different after spending 28 days in mountains and Forrest. I forgot what it was like to walk on grass...it was a nice change of scenery. Tomorrow we head into Hot Springs which is suppose to be a great trail town do we are looking forward to that. Only 10 miles down hill so we hope to get an early start and get in by lunch.  We shall see...although we do get up around 7 every morning, early starts are not normally the thing. :)

Days 24-26 The Smokies

Day 24, 10.9 miles, Icewater Spring Shelter at AT mile marker 209.8.  After an interesting, but very fun day and night in Gatlinberg it was back to the trail...not soon enough. We've decided we like the trail better then the towns...which worries us a bit. :) Thanks to Spams Mom we got a ride back to Clingmans Dome. We decided its kind of ironic that we get a lot of funny stares, questions and folks calling us nuts from a group of people that vacation in Gatlinberg...sorry, Had to have one last jab.  It was 26 degrees last night and when we got dropped of at 1230 there was still ice on the rocks. It was a beautiful sunny day but very windy and cold. I've decided hiking cold improves your endurance as we did the nearly 11 miles in record time. Lots of ice and cold wind but a great day to hike. Plus we passed the 200 mile marker so thats always a good day.  It's suppose to be colder tonight so its appropriate we are at the Icewater Spring Shelter.  It is very windy but as I write this I am tucked under my sleeping bag In my tent and am snug as a bug...let's hope I can say that in the morning. :). One bit of sad news. Valasiwolf had to get of the trail and head back to Boston for a family emergency so our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family. Hopefully he will be able to rejoin the Wayah Pack shortly but it's never fun saying goodbye to a member. Tomorrows plan is a 12ish mile day so hopefully the sunny weather holds. Day 25, 12.6miles at Tri Corner Knob Shelter at AT mile marker 222.4. Yes it was very cold and windy last night. We awoke to frozen water bottles, bladders and ice on our tents. One Ranger said it got down to 19 degrees but we don't think it was that cold. Happy to report all equipment worked as advertised so I was warm as could be. We have absolutely lucked out with the weather as we had another beautiful sunny day. We passed a place called "Charlie's Bunion" which was amazing. I will post the photos on Facebook when I can...probably just after I post this. Beautiful rock outcropping...a bit "festive" as it was quite a drop, but you could see for miles and a cool photo op. the rest of the day was just amazing view after amazing view and we are now at the remotest shelter in the Smokey Mountain National Park...which is great. Horses are aloud in the park so we had four of them come in to drink which gave us something to do other than eat and stare at the fire. :). It is a bit warmer tonight and no wind so it feels down right tropical. We have an easy 8 mile day tomorrow followed by a 10ish on Saturday into the hostel where I will pick up the boys...can not wait. Day 26, 7.7 miles, Cosby Knob Shelter at AT mm 230.1. Our second to last day in the Smokey's...they have been great to us. A bit cold but sunny and beautiful views. We've talked to folks who have done this section in rain and snow and they say it is miserable...so thank you Smokeys for a great week. The rules of the park say you have to stay at a shelter.  As much as i want to get Mojo and Skye back as soon as possible, my options were a 7.7 mile day or an 18.3 mile day to get out if the park. The boys are in good hands so Today was a short day for us. As we are coming out of the Smokeys we are doing a lot more downhill which is a nice change. It also allowed for of our wolf pack to catch up before we head into Standing Bear Farm Hostel tomorrow.   It appears we are somehow making a name for ourselves...not intentionally.  Most people seem to have heard of the "Wolf Pack" by now. Some silly rumors but mainly good things about Atlas's music and how much fun we are having. South Bounders today were asking if we were part of the pack, giving us high fives, etc. One guy called Atlas a legend so he was happy and that made our day. Also, One of our guys called the hostel we are staying at tomorrow and they asked him "do you know when the wolf pack is getting here, cant wait to meet them". Who knows, maybe they'll jack up their prices but they seemed excited we'll be there tomorrow. :)  So this has been fun. So an easy 10.6er tomorrow, in nice weather, downhill to finish off the beautiful Smokeys, stay in a hostel and get my boys...should be a good day!!

Day 22-23

Day 22, 7.2 miles, Double Spring Gap Shelter at AT mile marker 196.0.  After chatting with everyone last night around the campfire, we decided the last 5 miles yesterday took there toll on some of us. We had a rolled  ankle, couple soar knees, shin splints and just plain tired. So instead of the 13.5 planed today, then only 4 into Newfound gap where we are all hitching into Gatlinberg, we decided on an easy 7.5miles today then only 10 tomorrow getting us to Gatlinberg in the early afternoon. The current plan is that we are getting up at 4:30, hiking the 3 miles to Clingmans Dome And catching the sunrise at the highest point on the AT. It's all uphill and will be in the dark but we have a group so should be fun. Will see if we actually do it but it sounds good right now. Gatlinberg was not in my schedule but numerous folks have said you will love it or hate it, but whatever you do, don't miss it...so I'm going for the night with everyone to see what the fuss is all about. :). Day 23, a whooping 3 miles, Gatlinberg TN. Well....we did not get up at 4:30 to see the sunrise. :) I heard the alarm go off and was waiting for someone in the shelter to make a move. It was very windy outside so was in no rush to get out if my sleeping bag. After 15 mins I rolled over and went back to sleep.  Everyone else had the same idea. It was an easy, but chilly, walk up to Clingmans Dome. It was a beautiful day and I got there by 1000. We decides to hike into town from there and do a 10 mile day tomorrow. By the time I got to the dome Dame Yankee and Valasiwolf had already got us a ride...which was great. We were checked in by 1125 and you may have seen the rest of the day on Facebook. :) Gatlinburg is interesting to say the least. It's like a hillbillie Disney world without the giant mouse and pantless duck. We had a fun day but I do not need to come back anytime soon...no offense to those who come here. :). Tomorrow we will hitch a ride back to the dome and continue on our way. 10 miles is scheduled which I will do as I need to pick up the boys on Friday.  In case you missed it, i posted a short video on Facebook I took walking along to give you an idea of what it is like walking along the trail. See you all soon. 

Here is the latest blog from Scott. As you can read he is now in one of the remotest parts of the trail and doing so well. I am so proud of him although I miss him and the furry monsters alot! I can't wait to join them!! Hoping for a June start for myself! Am going to ring the kennel and check in on the boys - hope they are enjoying their down time and not being naughty!! Thanks to everyone for supporting us and donating to these very worthy causes for our troops! And to those of you on the trail with Scott I cannot wait to join you all - looks like you are all having an amazing adventure! Happy Easter to everyone and happy trails to those on the AT  and enjoy hope you all enjoy these latests blogs from Scott! Vicki x

Day 20, 12.5 miles, Mollies Ridge Shelter at AT mile marker 173.2. So my first day without the boys with me...I missed them a lot! I know they are in good hands but I sure do miss their company. I am sleeping in a shelter for only the second time as I figured no sense setting up a 3 man tent for myself. Not sure I will do this again though as I prefer the tent to sleeping with 12 other folks. The wolf pack is here but we have a few randoms in the shelter so I think those in the tents made the right decision. The walk into the smokeys was a long climb up hill. It was made a bit worse as I did not realize how much stuff the boys were carrying for me. Throw the first aid kit, a leather man and a few others items into my pack, along with a six day food supply and my pack weight went up 10-12 pounds....it was heavy. I did not weigh it but if it was under 60 pounds I would be surprised...so it was a long 12.5 miles. It only gets lighter and easier from here so the hard part is over. It was a beautiful day and is a clear night so its pretty cold...probably in the 30's.  So time to Zip up the sleeping bag a try to sleep listening to 4 people snore. Definitely doing the tent from now on. :).

Day 21, 12 miles, Derrick Knob Shelter at AT mile marker 188.8. Happy Easter everyone. I had an excellent Easter in the Smokies hiking along during a beautiful day. There is a family hiking, which is very cool, and their 9 year old son gave away his Easter basket to everyone at the shelter which was very much appreciated...what a great little kid. Today we got above 5500 feet at Thunderhead Peak and tomorrow we cross the highest point on the AT...Clingmans Dome at 6643 feet. We are also now under 2000 miles to go so almost there. :).
I have just finished my 3rd week and thought I would give a status update. All the equipment we have has been great. I did find a small tear in the tent fly but that was easy to fix. I get a bit of ribbing carrying a 3 man tent but it works great for me and the boys and will be perfect when Vicki joins me  The sleeping bag is kicking butt in these 30 degree nights so no issue there. The backpack is also great but if you are ever looking to tie down two golden retrievers, do not use a 50 pound backpack. Yes it does get dragged across the parking lot as they follow you...minor repairs have been made. My left big toe nail as been wanting to leave home since day 3 but is still holding on for some reason. I had a blister the size of my pinky toe on my right pinky toe...I named it "Serpico". We had a nurse traveling with us and her professional medical opinion was "that's raunchy!". :) anyway, Serpico left us a week ago but it's taking a bit to heal so we may have the return of Serpico or some Serpico scar when we finish the AT. None of it hurts so all is good. Everything else is working as advertised, and the boys are doing great with just minor issues, so after 3 weeks I would say we are in good shape. A big 13.5 day tomorrow over the highest point so looking forward to that. As soon as I get a blooming signal I will post some photos and a short video I took just to show you all what the trail is like.

Days 17-19

Sorry took so long for these updates. I had no signal. Heading into the smokies so may not see you all for a few days. :). Day 17, 10.5 Miles, Locust Cove Gap at AT mile marker 147.6. The NOC was a great place to stay and worked out well for me and the boys. The rest of the wolf pack stayed at a friends cabin but it was a few miles down the road and I figured with two wet dogs I'd just get a room...easier than hitching a ride. The room was made out of plywood but there were was a bunk bed and i had it to myself so Mojo, Skye and I were perfectly comfortable.  Turns out there were 22 folks in the cabin so I chose wisely. :)  i gat an early start as we knew today started with a 6 mile uphill section that was fairly tiring. We coordinated to stay at this campsite (meaning it has enough flat space for about four tents and a water source) last night with everyone. Because I stayed at the NOC I was the first out and got here in about 6 hours. 6 of the folks showed up later and my guess is the rest stopped at the shelter 3 miles back. All in all a very good but uneventful day...which is not a bad thing. Day 18, 11.5 at Cable Gap Shelter at AT mile marker 159.2. Not trying to sound boring, but today was just a good walking day. It did rain for a couple of hours and being in a thunderstorm on top of a mountain is pretty cool...despite the hail bouncing of your head and the fact that you are carrying to walking sticks made of medal.:) it's interesting watching the mojo and Skye react. For those that do not know Mojo is approx 85 pounds and Skye is approx 65 pounds. Mojo normally takes the lead on things but I have found if there is a narrow bridge to cross or a difficult section to cross, mojo hesitates and Skye takes the lead without thinking twice. When the storms hit mojo is trying to hide under my legs while Skye just keeps trucking on. It's great having them with me. Tomorrow will be a sad day as we hit the beginning of the smokey mountain national forest and dogs are not allowed. I have a very nice kennel who will pick them up at Fontana dam and drop them off on the north side of The park. It's a great service but means being without the boys for 6 days. Anyway, the hike was good and it stopped raining by The time i set up camp so had a dry nite. All of the wolf pack made it to camp so good nite around the bonfire. I asked for my name to be modified to Papa Wolf vs Papa Bear...we are the wolf pack after all. Besides, lots of trail names have "bear" in them so I want to be a bit more original. That was approved. Our pack is up to approx 20 now so we keep growing. :).   Day 19, an easy 5.5 miles, Fontana Dam Lodge, NC at AT mile marker 164.7. Second mattress and two showers in four nights...I'm living large! Nice day to walk into this beautiful little village. The Fontana Dam is the apparently the largest dam east of the Mississippi. Most of the pack are staying at the shelter a mile out of town. I got a room with a friend at the lodge which is very nice. Lida, the very nice lady taking the boys met me at our designated spot and drove me into town. We past some of the pack so I waved going by as they were hitch hiking. :). Lida dropped me and the boys off and went back and got everyone which was great. So Mojo and Skye got off safe and sound and then we all met for lunch. Nice mellow afternoon getting ready for the big climb into the smokes tomorrow. We reach our highest point on the AT in the smokeys which will be great, but that also means much colder temperatures and possible snow. It's suppose to be a beautiful 6 days so maybe no snow but clear skies and very cold temps...which is much better than warm rain. I'm meeting everyone at the shelter at 0930 and off we go. I am expecting very little cell phone coverage, like the last few days, so do not panic if I do not update the blog for a few days. If there is a signal, I'll update.

Day 15-16. 2-3 Apr. 136 of 2184 complete

Day 15, Burningtown Gap, 10 miles. So we had an excellent night on Siler Bald and awoke to a beautiful day. The plan was to go 11.2 miles but after a relatively easy hiking day we wondered into Burningtown Gap...  Well, you have heard me talk of trail magic with Gatorade and cakes...at the gap we ran into the king daddy of trail Magic...Mr Grits and Mr Possum. We come down the bill to find a massive tent set up and an awning with Grits cooking sloppy joes with cheese and buns, bags of chips and coolers of soda. We could not pass that up. THEN...possum pulls out a 1.75 ltr of Capt Morgan. Grits was in the Air Force and Possum had a dog name Zip so it would have been just rude to not have a little tipple of the Capt. So after an awesome meal we at an after dinner drink...at 2:30 in the afternoon. Well no points for guessing what happened next. Yep...an hour later the bottle was gone, money was collected a Possum and another friend headed into town for "resupplies". We set up our tents right there and continued the festivities. :) I went to bed at 1030pm and we had gone through another entire 1.75 ltr bottle Of Capt Morgan and approx 92 beers...there by explaining why I did not write a blog Entry last night. :) the trail magic was in full swing and Grits did say after 3 years of doing this it was the best night he had had. But that is not the end of the trail magic...BirdShooter you will not believe this one... Day 16, Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC), 12.7. Thanks to fresh mountain air and a bit of rain I awoke at 0745 feeling very good indeed...considering. We all help clean up the camp and then Grits lights up the grill and made us all blueberry pancakes. Then he says "I need to go resupply so will be happy to take all your packs to the NOC so you can slack pack the next 13 miles"...what a legend! So we threw all our packs into his truck and we got to walk the 12.7 miles with just a water bottle and some snacks in my pocket. Even Mojo and Skye got to slack pack so the we're loving it. after waking for two weeks with a 50 lb pack, you feel like a super hero going up these mountains when you're not carrying anything. An added bonus was the we now all walked the same pace so we all walked together most of the day which was great. Our friend Damn Yankee...an excellent dude who retired from the army a day before I retired from the air force, rode with the bags and was waiting for us when we arrived. So that is trail magic that will be very tough to beat.  We had a massive thunderstorm 10 minutes before we go to the NOC and got soaked just before we got here  it's suppose to rain The next two days so I think the trail is making us pay for having such a good time. :)  I'm all showered, fed and laundered in a room at the NOC so will think about the rain tomorrow...and walk anyway:)  By the way, Zip is still my trail name but a few of the guys are starting to call my Papa Bear...yes Czach I am twice as old as most of these guys. :) Damn Yankee is a few years younger than me  so he is becoming Uncle Yankee.  We'll see how long that lasts. Good night for now. 

Day 14, 1 Apr 2012, 114.4 of 2184 complete

Day 14, 4.6 miles Siler Bald Mountain. Had a excellent zero day yesterday...it seemed to go on forever just relaxing around the cabin. Thanks everyone for all your comments and good wishes. They are great and make my day. I apologize for not answering everyone individually but I would run our of time and power on my phone. :) but please keep them coming as I love hearing from everyone...especially about my ridiculous hair. It's funny as I show the crew I'm with what I "normally" look like and they all say "no way dude, your totally rockin the long hair and beard, we would not know you without it"...so it makes me laugh. About a week ago we started howling as a joke and as a way to find out where each other are on the trail. That's kind of evolved a bit and other folks on the trail and in town are referring to us as the "wolf pack" which is great. we added another 5 to our pack thi weekend so our band of merry travelers continues to expand. Today we got a shuttle from the hotel to the trail head. We were going to go approx 11 miles but BirdShooter and a few of the trail "legends" at the bash this weekend said we need to see Siler Bald Mountain...only approx 5 miles into the day. One guy said it is one of the four top views on the entire AT. So we came here and decided to camp. It is amazing! I will upload some photos into Facebook but there is no way to capture the unbelievable 360 degree view. We have approx 15 folks camping up here and we all sat and watched the sunset in relative silence...then we all howled. :)  the plan is to get up for the sunrise but we will see if I do I will post those photos as well. Plan for tomorrow us to get back into it and do about 11 miles.