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.