We got a late start on the trail today stepping off from Hot Springs around 1:30pm. The trail went right through town with AT markers on the sidewalk . At the edge of town, the trail crossed over the French Broad river then ran down along side of it for a while. Then...

Slept in after the rain storm, getting up around 9am and hit the trail an hour or so later. After a couple miles we stopped to get water at a spring fed steam about 300 yards down hill from the trail. In the afternoon, the trail crossed a road, with a small “store”...

Woke up to about 22 degrees and a 30mph wind that drove us into single digits. The cold wind caught us off guard a bit. Not in a dangerous way though, more of a “I don’t want to get out of the sleeping bag” kind of way. For breakfast, I tried out a new concept, a...

Started the day pretty rough.  We went right into a climb, and I could not shift past second gear. I’m blaming the mashed potatoes from the night before. I switched up from ramen and won’t make that mistake again! We were treated to another break in the woods when we...

Started the day a little earlier than we have been, waking up at 7:30 to ready and get ready for the 11 mile hike down into Irwin. The first part of the morning brought us through stands of dead pine trees that had been killed by an invasive beetle from Japan.  It was...

Woke up to rain, so we took the hostel’s shuttle into to town for breakfast and ate at Huddle house. By the time we finished eating, the rain had lifted and the sun was trying to poke through. We packed up at the Hostel and headed back to the trail.  As we were...

Started the day with a goal of getting to the Roan Mountain shelter (22 miles) which was the highest shelter on the AT, at over 6200ft. The morning was nearly windless and foggy. The first part of the hike was through a really cool pine forest. The trail was covered...

Woke up to rain and heavy fog so we sat around the shelter for a bit. Eventually the rain slowed, so we stepped off.  It was still pretty foggy though. It had been very windy over the last several days and we came across a bunch of fallen trees. This one had recently...

Got a decent start in the morning.  Hanging the hammock in the barn, meant less to break down and pack up. The trail immediately brought us up to the first of many balds that make up Bald Mountain. It was a fairly steep trail, but the views were great It was a clear...

Woke up before sunrise so I could break camp and have time to fish before heading down the trail. After striking out the day before, I tried to find some worms to use for bait.  I must have flipped over a dozen logs and twice as many rocks, but only found one worm....

With rain falling until noon, we decided to take a zero at the hostel to set up our two day, 50+ mile sprint to Damascus. We napped, fished the trout stream out front, ate and watched movies in the common area. It ended up being a good rest day before a long two day...

Got an early start this morning from the hostel.  Before leaving we watched them push a broken down golf cart across the parking lot, but not before Arlo decided he wanted to ride! From left to right, Seeker, Dingo, Purge (me), Hooch and the hostel dog Arlo. The first...

Woke up at 3:30am to get an early start on our trek to Damascus. We packed and left Vandeventer Shelter a little after 4am. We hiked a couple hours in the dark before stopping for breakfast before heading on. After coming off a ridgeline, we crossed a cattle pasture...

Took a zero day to recover from our 33 mile trek into Damascus. Spent the day eating, watching movies then did a little shooting and fishing by the river. Shot up some cans and caught a nice Brown trout Glad we were not on the trail today, as we caught a pretty good...

Stayed in Damascus for another day.  We all had to go to REI to exchange gear. I swapped out my shoes. Went with Altra, Lone Peaks 3.0. Hopefully these give me more miles than the Brooks Cascadias. And they have a cool footprint! After getting back, Seeker brought out...

Started the day walking through the other half of Damascus. Its always neat to have the trail go right through a town. Seeker, Hooch and Dingo decided to slack pack and went on ahead to do a 22 mile day then get picked up and brought back to town. I packed a normal...

After waiting out a brief rainstorm during breakfast, I hit the trail and hiked up towards the Grayson Highlands. As I gained elevation, it became cold, windy and foggy. Once over 5000ft, the weather really got cold, the wind picked up to over 40mph with gusts of...

We woke up to wind, cold temps and some snow that had blown through the openings in the tarp. We were all trying to put on our frozen shoes and clothing when a group of ponies wandered up to the shelter. We spent the morning walking through more wind and snow.  The...

What a difference a day makes! We woke up to cold temps, but sunshine that quickly warmed things up on the trail. The trail crossed a grassy field before taking us back into the woods.  Aside from a couple minor climbs, the trail stayed mild. Eventually we worked our...

Hiked off on my own, Seeker needed to stay home for a day to take: care of a few things. The weather was perfect, clear skies, 70s and for once, no wind. It was an easy start to the day as the trail wound through old farm fields, flat stretches of forest and crossed...

Got an early start to the day, leaving just as it was getting light out. Ended up hiking with Peace Walker after hitting the trail. She is a thru hiker from France and is hiking to raise money for a non profit, Oxfam. The link to her page is listed below, check it out...

Hit the trail with Peacewalker right about sunrise. Had a pretty easy walk to start the day.  Gradually sloping trails as we walked towards Bland. A little before 9am we found a sign on the side of the trail…Trail Magic! It was all the motivation we needed to hurry up...

The rain was just letting up as we broke down camp early, and hit the trail at 5:30am with plans to stop at Trent's Grocery for breakfast and a small resupply. The trail crossed multiple streams and rivers throughout the morning including one with a really cool wooden...

We started the day with a great breakfast at the hostel.  Eggs, French toast, sausage, coffee and juice. Today was a short day, just 10 miles or so into Pearisburg to resupply. Trail was still pretty rocky though, and made for some rough trekking. The tree line opened...

Started the day a little late leaving Pearisburg around 10:30. The trail would be full of different scenery today. After leaving town it started off full of green vegetation and wildflowers that covered the forest floor carpet. Once I started climbing back into the...

After zip lining back across the stream we hit the trail again. Everyone kind of spread out at their own pace, though we would see each other throughout the day. Saw/heard chipmunks all over the forest floor for the first couple hours of the day.  It was nice to see...

Started off the day passing by the Keffer Oak, the largest tree in the south. Over 18ft wide trunk! Its branches were thicker than most trees we have seen so far. It was hard to get a really good picture that really gives a sense of the tree’s massive size. The Oak...

Today was a 25 mile day full of great views and a lot of wildlife. Started off the day by taking the Dragon Wagon from the Four Pines Hostel, back to the trail. The trail started with a nice section along a stream before crossing through an active pasture As we...

After the long day/night, I decided to take a zero to rest and resupply in Dalesville. Started off the morning  by destroying the free breakfast at the hotel. Laundry was next on the list before running out to town to resupply. I stopped at the outfitters first to get...

After doing some more damage to the hotels all you can eat breakfast, I headed back out on the trail. It started as a nice day, full of greenery (still can’t get over how fast the forest turned!) But within the first hour, rain and fog rolled in and would stay all...