The Great Smoky Mountains, and in to Tennessee!

Hello again! At the moment I am in a very "Hiker Friendly" hotel, In a small part of Tennessee. The weather down here is beautiful, very hot and sunny! (Great for drying wet... everything) On Friday we woke up in our shelter with the rain coming down hard, and the fog thick. A classic Smoky Mt. experience for those of you who have had the opportunity to go up there! We walked all day in the rain/ fog to the Appalachian Trails highest point, Clingman's dome. But there is never a lot to see when your in the middle of a cloud.

On a better note, the 2 days previous in the park have been unreal! With some great views and huge mountains all around us it has been great so far!  Below is Mike on our first day in the park!

We also got to climb a very old fire tower that same day, it was a little sketchy, but worth the view!

 
Also we have met some really good people along the trail, and I wish I had time to tell all the stories! But here are a few of the great people we have met along the way...

We all hiked with Bob for a few days he has been section hiking for a number of years, and it was alot of fun hiking with him! (all the best Bob, and best wishes to your wife!)

Just before the Great Smoky National Park, we were in a little town, where we went and got a great lunch....

 

Right after Lunch we got some Tail Magic from a previous Thru Hiker "Rockefeller" He gave us a lift back to the trail head and some soda!

So that's all for now! and lots more to come we have just passed the 200 mile mark and we are all in good health, and having fun! Sunday morning we will be hitting the trail again, and going to Hot Springs! So we shall check in there, I hope! We miss you all and hope everyone is doing well! Feel free to send us an email, pete.mike.at@gmail.com We would love to hear from you! Take care.

Pete - Mike

N.C. and more!

We have made it into N.C. and well past the 100 mile mark! It feels great! We have seen many great views. Also we have met some really great people as well! We are still hiking with Ben and Matt from Arizona, Pete got a trail name and so did Matt. So Pete's new trail name is.....Can-Opener and Matt's is Kool-Aid. I got mine because I ripped open my blisters with a can-opener...and when they found out why I was yelling...well I got the name. Matt got his at the end of a really rough day, it was raining all day and spirits were down. To make things worse for him, his Kool-Aid (mixed in a bottle) was not shut all the way, so it leaked all over his gear....And thus Kool-Aid was born. Here is a pictures of the 2 brothers below. Ben is on the left and Kool-Aid on the right.  

Well thats all for now! It's another hot day here, and it's time to get some food! Miss you all!


Can-Opener and Mike!

Good Afternoon all from Hiawassee Georgia!

Wow the last two day were monsters! 18 and 16 mile days, needless to say we were beat. We made it to Dick's Creek Gap this morning around nine to catch the free shuttle into the Hiawassee Inn. We will be staying the night here, freshen up,clean up and wash things. We are sharing a room with Ben and Matt two brothers we met a few days ago, real good guys, and they are from Phoenix. Apparently there is an unreal buffet up at Dick's steakhouse for only 7.99 so clearly we are gonna check that out. Plan on leaving tomorrow around 11 or so and do a light 6-7 mile day to get to the next shelter. Bear activity in most of the areas has been pretty high so we always stay at shelters to hang our food. We will only be in Georgia for a few more days and then it's on to North Carolina. Next town we will probably see is Franklin, so we will shoot out another update then. Hope everyone has a great week and we miss everyone! Talk soon!!


Mike and Pete

Neels Gap - New boots.......

So today we made it into Neels Gap and the outfitting store there. One of the best outfitting store ever! Staff are beyond knowledgable and just completely helpful. (George (Thats the Girl)) Found out the blisters that were occurring on my heels and toes were from the fact that my(Mike) boots were almost a size too small... Pete got a pack shakedown to see what he could save for weight so we saved a few pounds. Looking forward to the next day with better footwear and lighter Packs!!!! Hope all is well with everyone else!

Mike and Pete

P.s. Also we have not acquired a trail name yet so any suggestions are welcomed, and should be some pictures in less than a week!

"And were off like a prom dress"

Hello all! We just woke up in Scranton P.A. It was our first day on the road, and it's getting warmer. Glad to be away from that brutal snow in Freddy. Today we will be going Knoxville Tennessee, then on Monday we will hit the trail. So that's all for now, Enjoy the weekend.


Pete, and Mike.

Official Start

We are officially leaving for the trail on Friday April 1st. Pete's dad, Dave, has decided he will drive us down to Georgia, which we are quite grateful. My dad may also be taking the trip down to see us off. We have started an email pete.mike.at@gmail.com. You can reach us there and while on the trail we will try and keep in touch as much as possible. We are also planning on getting together with everyone before we leave so we will keep you posted and hope to see everyone before we head out!

Mike

Getting Ready!

Well this the first post, and thats all.....ttyl.