Hot Springs, NC to Erwin, TN. 4/27/18 – 5/5/18

Mind over blazes…that’s how it’s been feeling the last few days. We have white blazes that mark the trail that we follow the whole way from Georgia to Maine…(hence the name mind over blazes). I feel that it’s shifting from being so physically challenging to being more mentally challenging. It’s definitely still very hard physically but the mental part of it is probably the hardest part. Whether it’s the weather, terrain, food, or amount of miles we want to accomplish, there’s often something in the day that comes up that changes things or isn’t how we planned. Some days go better than planned and we have our pace and we knock out miles. The next day we look at the terrain and it looks easy but we are stepping over rocks instead of a smooth trail the whole day. This is what makes it worth it though. In the midst of it being so challenging there’s so much beauty and happiness out here and I am excited for the mental resilience it will build in us.

One of the best things about this past week was all the SUNSHINE we got to enjoy! After quite a few rainy days in a row we enjoyed hiking into Hot Springs last weekend and enjoying the sunny spring weather and all the pretty flowers popping up.

In Hot Springs we set up our tent at Laughing Heart Hostel and had showers included and were able to do laundry there too. We enjoyed some good food at the Smokey Mountain Diner a few times before we resupplied and headed out in the morning. We also bought burgers at the store and brought them back where we were staying and Lance grilled up some good burgers for dinner!

Yummy burgers Lance grilled for our dinner!

There was a cat where we stayed that I thought was so cute…made me miss my cats.

SPRINGTIME!!!!

Here’s some pictures from the last week or so …..

300 MILES!!!!!!

We climbed a fire tower and watched this gorgeous sunset!

We also got to see another bear…our first one ‘on trail’ while hiking. It was a bit more close-up than we would have liked but he took off running and after stopping to watch us a bit he walked off into the woods.

This part of the trail was so pretty with leaves on the trees and everything so green. Usually we hike in higher elevation where the trees are still bare and there’s not much green.

Hiking into Erwin, TN! Almost there!

Our yummy lunch…a chicken with mashed potato and gravy and also salad that’s not pictured.

Enjoying my morning cup of coffee by the water. We also camped by this river while we stayed in town in Erwin.

So impressed by this little swing Lance built for me with his rope and a large stick. One of the things with being out here is there is never anywhere to sit. He is such a good woodsman and always figures out a solution to any problem out here!

One of the best things about being out here is the hiking community. We usually hike alone during the day but in the evenings when we get to the shelter we all cook up our food and sit around the campfire and hang out. It’s been so good getting to know some of the people out here…we were with a group of people for awhile till some got off trail and hiking speeds started to be different and then we meet new people. It’s starting to thin out more though so for the most part the people we are with every night we are getting to know.

There has been some sickness going around out here. Fiji, one of the guys out here, was sick the past few days so he plans to stay in town a few days. A lot of hikers get neurovirus from all the germs from other hikers with the lack of hygiene so we use hand sanitizer out here ALL the time. If someone gets Neurovirus they mostly are just sick for 2 days and it’s over so as much as we want to avoid getting it, it’s definitely not the worse thing to catch out here.

So far we are staying healthy and safe and I feel so excited and happy that we made it this far!

-Marlisa