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. :)