Memaw's View

Dan has been carrying a small vial of Robin's late mother's ashes since he left Springer.  Today, at sunrise on Robin's birthday, he scattered them in one of his Grandmother's favorite places on earth - The Great Smoky Mountains.  He sent these photo's entitled "Memaw's View."

Memaw's View at Sunrise

Memaw's Morning View

Doris Wallace and our family in the Smokies
several years ago.  One of her favorite places.

Smokey Mountains in Beautiful Weather !

Dan is hitting his stride now, doing about 40 miles over the past 2 days.  He's in the middle of the Smokies and enjoying some beautiful weather and scenery.  He'll pass by Clingman's Dome and the 200 mile mark probably late today or tomorrow.  Here's a few pic's of the views he's enjoying:

Sunrise over Fontana Lake from my campsite

Smokies from Shuckstack

Fontana Lake from Shuckstack Tower

Report from Dan 4.4.13

Dan reported this evening:

"Bad conditions up high, everything froze and branches are falling like crazy.  We're rolling 14 or 15 deep in Sassafras Shelter getting warm. Planning on 15 tomorrow and passing through Fontana Saturday and starting the Smokies."

Here are some pics from yesterday and today

Silas Bald

Silas Bald from Wayah Bald Tower

Nantahala Outdoor Center

NOC

Pig Pen sees the Dr. and returns to the trail

Just a brief update to let everyone know that yesterday we took Dan to see Dr. Easley, a sports orthopedic specialist who has helped both Dan and Taylor get through their sports careers.  Dr. confirmed that it is just an overuse knee sprain much like those he suffered through during some of his running years.  There is not much he can do if he is going to keep hiking except take Naproxen and keep a sleeve on it, both of which he was doing already.

So, I took him back to Franklin and dropped him off today and  he is limping his way on up the trail.  He also got some new trekking poles which should help him on the downhills.

For those of you who saw his "important update" in the last post, I think I have decided to commit to a long section hike beginning in mid May.  After a couple of weeks, if I'm feeling good, the home life is in good order, and I'm not slowing him down too much, then I might just decide to go all the way and do a flip-flop thru hike.  We'll see.  Thanks for the encouragement.

Brian

Town time and *Important Update*

Hey all!

I'm currently spending the weekend in Hendersonville with Kaity. I have made it about 119 miles, so I have about 2065 miles to go! My friend Tyler who is also thru hiking made it to Hot Springs Wednesday and is in Asheville with another college friend of ours so we are planning on meeting up tonight for some pizza. I have an appointment to get my knee looked at on Monday. I am currently thinking that a good knee brace will make a big difference, and I just bought a new pair of trekking poles to help take the load off of my knees on the downhills. I'm enjoying the rest and spending time with Kaity, but I am already itching to be back on the trail (especially now that the weather is warming up).

***Also, Dad and I were having a conversation recently about gear and he made a statement along the lines of "If I were to start a thru hike right now, I don't think I'd need to buy anything." and I responded with "Well, do it then!". He hesitated and I could tell that he actually considered the idea. I've talked to him a little bit more about it since then, and I think it would be awesome if Pops jumped on the trail with me soon and went all the way to Maine with me. If he wanted to make it a genuine thru-hike, he would just jump from Maine to wherever he joins me and then hike south to Springer Mtn around September.

If you think Dad should join me, let him know by providing support in the comment box below! Thanks for your continued support, this has already been an incredible journey and I can't wait to continue the hike!

-Dan

SNOW !

Dan has had quite an adventurous couple of days in the snow!  Yesterday and today have both been cold, blustery, gloomy, snowy, dead of winter type days.  After taking the later shuttle from the motel back to the trail yesterday morning, he hiked in snow all day.  In places where the trail was on the wind facing side of the mountain, the drifts were knee high at times.  He made his way up and out of GA and crossed the NC line at Bly Gap. 

Dan at GA / NC Line





He and a fellow hiker arrived about 5:00 at Muskrat Creek shelter in the snow only to find it overflowing with hikers and no space available.  The next shelter was 5 miles further down the trail.  This is where I would have just laid down and said hypothermia go ahead and take me, but Dan just plowed on down to the next shelter.  Arriving just ahead of dark, he found the shelter was 1.) facing into the wind and the floor covered with snow, and 2.) two other hikers had actually set up their tents inside the shelter taking up all the space.  So after walking the extra 5 miles, he had to set up his tent in about 6 inches of snow.  Wait........ it gets better.   When he woke up this morning his shoes and socks were frozen solid.  Couldn't bend his shoes, so he boiled water and poured it in his shoes to thaw them out, then put them on wet and started hiking in snow again!   He made it 17 miles yesterday and 7 more today and secured a spot in a shelter for tonight.  Seems as though most of the hikers are sitting tight and taking a break through the snow storms, so space in the shelters is at a premium.  Tomorrow, he plans to hike 16 miles into Franklin NC, where he will take a couple of days off to rest his knee and visit Kaity, his girlfriend.

Where's the white blaze?

Snow!

The knarly oak at Bly Gap as Dan saw it yesterday and as I saw it on a section hike this summer.



  





 

Trail Magic Karma

I spoke to Dan today and he reports that he has made it to Dick's Creek Gap near Hiawassee GA.   His knee is still bothering him some, but is better thanks to some trail magic karma he received from a very generous hiker.  One of the hikers we spoke with at our "trail magic" station on Friday was a section hiker who happened to bump into Dan near the end of his hike.  We had told him about Dan's knee ailment and he offered Dan his knee brace.  Dan says it has helped a lot!   The kindness and generosity of the hikers on the trail is a huge part of the enjoyment of the trip.  Thanks to the brace, he was able to complete over 15 miles today even with the bum knee. 

The forecast for tonight is 24 and chance of snow, so several of the hikers (including Dan) took advantage of the proximity to Hiawassee and shuttled into town for a hotel room.  He went and lowered the inventory at a mexican restaraunt and also the inventory of Naproxen at the local pharmacy.   Below are some pictures of what a wet hikers room looks like when he gets a chance to dry out!



Dan -  "This pretty much sums up how the trail was today.  It was the muddiest trail I've ever hiked."