Day 36

Hiked 19.4 miles on the AT today, from Erwin, TN to a stealth camp site. Also walked an additional mile this morning to get to the AT from where I spent the night.

I am not sure what I thought today was going to be like, but it turned out well. Sure it started out a little rough after spending some time in town. A little time off and the body yells at you a little when you start working hard again.

I started hiking in the low elevations and went up for about the next six miles. The higher I went, the more snow and frozen fog there was. At the max it was only an inch. With that said, the blue skies and snow made for some gorgeous scenery. As the sun came up, the frozen fog would fall of the trees and hit the soil and leaves on the forest floor. It almost sounded like rain. Seeing all of it falling was pretty enjoyable.

About halfway through the day a very nice couple was out doing Trail Magic at a remote dirt road. They lived in the area, but were not hikers. They just wanted to be nice and make the day better for the thru hikers. They had hot coffee, cocoa, lot of snacks, lots of pop, soup and McDonalds breakfast sandwiches. I thanked them and let them know how much they mean to thru hikers. There was also a local news reporter there talking with thru hikers for a story. I declined talking to the reporter this time, but others were interviewed.

Only planned on doing about 15 miles today, but went over that for some reason. Water was in short supply on this stretch, that was a factor. The feet were a little upset too at the end of the day, but they look ok.

Got to a good looking area to camp, got set up, ate, hung the food in a tree and got into the sleeping bag for the night.