Hiawassee, Georgia to Fontana Dam, North Carolina

You know you're a thru-hiker when... you accept a ride from a random stranger with mullet and a shot-gun across his lap driving a beat-up Chevy.

We will pick from where we ran out of internet time on our last post.

When we arrived in Hiawassee we found the motel where we had mailed our package of 'town essentials' was booked out. The owner clad in Moose patterned pajama pants at 2:30 in the afternoon offered us his bed. We offered to put up a tent in the motel gardens but he eventually managed to find us a bed (not a room) with another hiker named Hong Kong who looked like a bear and snored like a freight train. We awoke after a sleepless night to the sound of rain on the roof and decided that it was better to brave our tent in the storm than spend another night.

After a hearty breakfast, we'd been traveling for a few hours and were beginning to feel a bit hungry. We pulled out a pack of Tortillas and a couple of apples and began to munch away. Satisfied, we began walking again. After a couple of minutes walking we saw tents through the trees and could smell a barbecue cooking. When we reached the tents, we were asked, "are you thru-hikers?" Out of breath, we both managed to nod. At this, ice cold soft drinks were thrust into our hands quickly followed by a plate bulging with hamburgers and salads. We had met our first trail angels.

We'd come across the term 'trail angel' for the first time a few days before and were clueless as to its meaning. We were told that they were people who appeared when hikers were at their lowest and did something to lift their spirits. This group was made up of a few precious thru-hikers, a few of their friends and a gorgeous dog named Georgia-Maine. We stayed an hour before reluctantly resuming our day's planned hike. Just as our bodies had begun to digest our feast, we saw more tents in the distance. Jokingly we said to each other, "Wouldn't it be funny if there was more 'trail magic' up ahead?" Little did we know...

Three hotdogs and a couple of beers later we decided it was finally time to tackle the hill ahead. After stopping a few times to prevent throwing up, we eventually made it up the hill and on to our camp site for the night.

As we crossed the border into North Carolina on the third of April, a bolt of lightning lit up the sky. We hoped this wasn't a sign of things to come. A few days later and with no more signs of foul weather, we arrived in Franklin, North Carolina for a few well earned days off. We were picked up from the side of the trail by Crutch, another former thru-hiker turned trail angel and driven to our motel. We spent the day cruising the local food establishments before we eventually found our favourite; an all-you-can-eat steak buffet!

There are some curious liquor laws in the US. There are several dry counties. In other counties it's illegal to sell alcohol on a Sunday unless it is out of a restaurant. However it is still legal to buy a six-pack of beer over the counter, even if you don't have a meal. The most unusual liquor law we uncounted was in Franklin. Take-home alcohol was perfectly legal, however it was illegal to drink in public unless there were two tennis courts on the premises. It seemed to be a common trend to build a bar with a tennis court at each side and use them as car parks.

The only other event worthy of mention between Hiawassee and Fontana Dam occurred while we were sitting down to lunch where the trail crossed a highway. Two camouflaged figured emerged from the woods, rifles in hand, hopped into their car and drove away. We looked at each other and wondered if anyone had told them that the civil war ended a long time ago. We hadn't seen any wildlife big enough to kill with a rifle. Unless you include hikers...

Arriving at Fontana Dam, we prepared ourselves for the smokies with a steak dinner and a trip to the supermarket. We settled down for the night and dreamed of all the bears and other animals we would see over the next 70 miles.

We promise photos are coming eventually. We are having a few technical difficulties at the moment.

Springer Mountain to Hiawassee, Georgia

You know you're a thru-hiker when... you would rather walk half way across the country than get on another greyhound bus

Sorry it has been a while since our last post. Mobile phone reception is patchy at best and it's not always easy to find internet access in the woods. Although we've already done just over 250 miles (400km), we thought we'd start at the beginning.

From Atlanta we took our final Greyhound journey to Gainesville. We're happy to report that it was an uneventful trip, and it only lasted an hour:-)

On arriving in Gainesville we went to the Burger King for food. As we sat crammed into the booth surrounded by our packs, a local with a mullet approached us and said, "do y'all need a lift to the trail?" We quickly refused his offer, stating that we were being picked up the next morning by the owner of the 'Hiker Hostel' recommended by all the hiking guides.

We decided to walk from our room in Gainesville to the local supermarket and set off following vague directions from the motel clerk. After an our of walking with no supermarket in sight, we decided to stop off at a petrol station for directions. After asking the cashier about the location, she replied, "You have to keep in the right lane and..." We quickly informed her that we had no car. Looking a bit perplexed, she thoughtfully responded, "I don't think you can get there without a car..."

We were picked up by Josh from the hostel, an avid hiker who was able to give us heaps of advice and reassurance for the trail. He told us that there was a shuttle leaving the hostel later that night to one of the local bars for dinner. In the same breath he also gave us a lesson in Southern bar etiquette, "Don't stare at anyone and don't mess with anyone. We have carrying laws in these parts. People have guns."

We shared our dinner table with a few guys who'd been out on the trail for a few days. By the time dinner was finished, we were convinced that we wouldn't make it up the first mountain without full climbing equipment and snow gear. On returning to the hostel, we saw a seasoned thru-hiker stripping down someone's pack to the bare essentials. We were slightly confused; two pairs of undies, two pairs of socks, one jumper, if you were feeling strong maybe a rain jacket. A tent was considered a luxury.

We were dropped at the start of the trail, Springer Mountain on the 27th of March and began our trudge into the woods waiting intently for our first encounter with a mountain/bear/shotgun wielding hillbilly.

According to our map, we were supposed to be climbing over the craggy mountains that we'd been told about the night before. We were puzzled after we spent the first three days pleasantly zig-zagging over gently undulating hills. The only problem we did have after the first few days had to do with hanging our food in a tree each night. All those who have ever hiked in Australia will know that this is a big no-no as it will be eaten. Amid much swearing and "buggered-if-I-know"ing we eventually bumbled through the first few days and are now quite efficient at it.

We survived the first 50 miles and managed to get a ride into town with one of our fellow hikers walking only a section of the trail. Hiawassee was quaint, but it provided for all the essentials; steak, shower, shopping...

Unfortunately we're out of internet time, but we'll try to update the rest when we can...

2000 miles to go!

Mike: that guy thinks that we should put our toothbrush in our bear bag too.

Zan: isn't that a bit over the top?

Mike: i don't think so. What if the bear wants to brush his teeth after tea?

We've had trouble finding internet access to check our comments and update, but thought we'd do a quick update from the mobile phone. We've walked about eight percent of the trail - Only 2000 miles left! We've walked through three different states and we're currently dodging the american wildlife on the north carolina/ tennessee border in the smoky mountains. There's supposedly one bear for every two miles in the smokies. It'll probably be about 10 days before we can do a full update or check comments.

Atlanta

Bison steak - $16
Slice of pie - $5
Hotel Room - $267

The look on Mike's face when he got the hotel bill - Priceless.

Austin - The self proclaimed "live music" capital of the US.

Mike (ordering in a restaurant): I'll have the 16 ounce prime rib steak thanks.

Waiter: Sorry Sir, all out of beef steak but we do have chicken fried steak.

Mike: Okay I'll have that then.

Ten minutes later...

Zan: You look like someone just shot your dog.

Mike: I think I just ate the dog.


Mike and Zan:


You would think in Texas it would not be hard to get a good steak. You could not be more wrong. We spent 4 days trying to find an edible slice of beef with no luck. Mike did however manage to get food poisoning from the suspicious chicken-like substance mentioned in the above dialogue.

People in the hostel where we were staying raved to us about the great live music scene in Austin. Our only experience of this 'great live music' was a tone deaf twang during karaoke night at a local restaurant. We missed the city's great music festival South by South-West by three days :-(

Texas has changed hands a few times during its history and at one time it was actually an independent state. We took a tour of the Capital building (the equivalent of state Parliament House). The tour guide mentioned on several occasions that the Texas building was taller that the one in Washington D.C.

Unfortunately we have no pictures of Austin as they were locked in the dorm room of the hostel where we were staying. It was a bit like being a school with curfews, specific lights out times and a strict no fun after 11pm policy. Once you left the building in the morning (which had to be before 8am) you were not allowed back in until 5pm that night. On the up side the hostel was a lovely building on the edge of a lake and next to a park.

Boulder #2

Mike: So how late you planning on sleeping in tomorrow?

Zan: Until I bloody well get bedsores!

Mike: So about 7am then?!


Mike & Zan:

(This post is a little late but such is life. Check out the comments sections of the last post for answers to your comments.)

Lesson #8: Don't eat yellow snow.

Looking out our window to the snow capped mountains we could not resist taking a wander through them. Deciding to be educated hikers we approached the local park ranger asking for suggestions for walks. Armed with the name of a mountain, a newspaper clipping of a map and 'training packs' we were prepared to take on the Rockies. After a few hours of strolling through icy mud with a slight layer of brown and sometime pristine white snow we took a little traveled side trail to 'Bear Peak.' Somewhere in our conversation with the ranger he must have assumed that we knew something about hiking in the snow and what snow cloud actually looked like. As we parted ways with the locals on their mid afternoon autumn run we began a step ascent up a mountain with a two feet of snow covering the path. Where there was not snow there was a thick layer of slick ice. We got three quarters up and it began to snow. Between the two of us we can count on one hand how many times we have seen it snow and still have fingers to spare. Needless to say we decided to give Bear Peak a miss and head back to the safety of town. We discovered that the descending a snow/ice covered mountain is harder that it looks. But improvising a toboggan is extremely fun.

There's a bear in there...

Mike: Why did we have to come to a country with bears? I hate having to hang our food in a tree each night.

Zan: Do you think we have to hang our tea?

Mike: Of course! What if the bear wants to make a cup of tea?

Mike and Zan: Sorry we haven't posted in a while. We are 50 miles into our hike and just had our first town stop in Hiawassee. We will try to do a more complete post soon.