Two down. Twelve to go.

       Two down. Twelve to go.

       During my stay at Standing Bear Farm (241.3), it was brought to my attention that one of the teeth I had work done on previous to my departure was abscessed & was becoming increasingly painful. I was also the new owner of a particularly nasty bloody, infected blister the size of China. After many phone calls... many, I had very spotted service at Standing Bear. I got scripted medicine for the infection & made an appointment for a root canal, which meant I needed to get to Ashville, fast.

       A kid my age, named Bryden who attempted to thru a few years past was kind enough to drive me to Hot Springs (274.4) so I could get a ride into Ashville & bought me a juicy hamburger! That night I stayed at Laughing Heart Hostel where a fellow hiker named Bluegrass returned my lost knife (he'd been carrying it for over a week) & I painted in Skippers journal.

What the inside of my tent usually looks like when i'm packing up camp.

Skippers Journal.

 Me, Yogi.

       Queen Diva at Hiker Ridge Ministry as well as Sunny in hot Springs helped me get to & from my dentist appointment in Ashville! My molar ended up being cracked and had to be extracted rather than getting a root canal. The upside is dentist let me keep my tooth! (Yes, I'm carrying it to Katahdin)

Goodbye Tooth...

       During our stay in Hot Springs our hotel room got robbed. I won't go into much detail but it's safe to say it left a sour taste in our mouths & I was happy to get back on the trail.

 Ginger Tea, Me, Patches, Tarzan.
Swimming in the French Broad River.

 Patches organizing her stuff.

      Michelle & Xander came to visit Paper Clip in Hot Springs! We took them up to Max Patch for a good view and hung out around town! She brought me a knee brace and new AWOL guide. Thank you again Michelle, you're wonderful!

 Xander.

Michelle.

       Spent a lot of time with Hay, who's father was in town to drive her back to Texas! Mr.Hay was awesome & bought everyone dinner multiple times (THANKS AGAIN MR.HAY!), as well as put on some trail magic & let everyone use the car to resupply!

 Me, Hay.

 Paper Clip eating a "AT Burger".

 Me, Hay.

Goodman.

 Yogi.

Scout & his Dandelion.

 Scout outside of Queen Bees.

Llamas are awesome.

       Hiking out of Hot Springs me & Paper Clip camped in a beautiful location behind a boxed pond (279.6). The water at this location wasn't safe to drink, it was green & smelled like sulfer. We woke up to rain showers, that subsided into fog and moisture. We hiked into Hemlock Hollow (290.7) & did some work for stay, missing a 24 hour down pour!

I got into my tent to find a frog on my sleeping pad and a daddy long leg running laps.

       Paperclip helped me get some dreads going. I've been crocheting and palm rolling them in my free time.

      We're at mile 300.8, packing up camp. Slept in between a sea of hammocks last night, played cards & let my mind wander like it does so often on these mountains. Met New Age & Poofy. Poofy is Papers rock. He came night hiking with us. During our night adventure we saw a huge pair of eyes in the dark & can only speculate what mammal they could've possibly belong too. Stealth camped around mile 315.

 Packing up camping.

 New Age.

 Poofy.

       Ms.Janet & picked me, Paper Clip & Poofy up at Sam's Gap (318.4) where Fozzies parents were doing some trail magic! We stayed with Kaiti (Ms.Janets daughter), CJ & Daniel who slacked (Slack Packing: hiking long distance miles without a full pack, usually carrying only a headlamp, cellphone, water & snacks) us the distance from Sam's Gap (318.4) to Indian Graves (351.3). In between slacks we played Magic the Gathering, watched "Tank Girl", and did our stinky laundry.

 Ms.Janets Van.

Fozzie & his parents.

       Im sitting in a foreign hammock on a porch with a bunch of hiker trash, talking about everything & nothing. Watching the traffic go by because for the past month it's been mainly trees. We've already compared blisters, knee pains, gear, what kind of outrageous things we are craving, who has more armpit hair, trail stories, the miles, the time, privy subjects & resupply. We are bubbly over the fact that there's a 20 sided die, a poker table & a Nintendo on the premise. My hair is being dreaded, I've never smelled worse, and I'm far out numbered by testosterone. It's time to go play poker for a honeybun. I am happy & I hope everyone else is too.

 Poofy, Me, CJ.

Short Bus next to a short bus.

Yes, that is a Python.

Yogi.

       After Erwin I did some solo hiking, meeting up with my group at camp that night (360). The spruce forest at the to of Unaka Mountain was magical and thankfully windless! That night consisted of Techno strobe lights in my tent. More magic cards. Learning the cotton eyed joe dance. Rain. My camelbak leaking a liter of water into my tent & more rain. It dropped below freezing for the first time in a while, making the next morning difficult to crawl out of my down sleeping bag but forward progress is necessary to advance.

Me and Paper Clip walked down to Hughes Gap (372.4) to find some amazing trail magic hosted by a past thru hiker named Apollo! We camped at the gap with HoBo, Trail Mom, Cyclops, Frosty, Fireball, Dabs, Chesapeak & Horse. Woke up to a warm fire and tender, fire cooked beef for breakfast! Apollo was a sweet heart and provided us with a good night & the best trail breakfast yet!

Hiking up Roan Mountain was just the beginning of a beautiful day filled with extraordinary views. After Roan we hiked across several Balds including Round Bald where we took a lunch break. Pushing on to Overmountain Shelter (384.6) which is probably one of the most photographed shelters along the trail. Spent the evening watercoloring the view, playing a german card game with Still Phil, Breakless, Fire Bear, Muddy Duck & a guy from Texas. As well as playing Dungeons & Dragons with Paper Clip, Poofy & Fair Enough as our DM!

       Woke up to fog rolling over the mountains. Climbing out of the valley and over Hump Mountain (388.4) was difficult. There were points I was sure that the only thing holding me on the mountain was my 30 + pound pack. My shoes were filled with muddy water and the fog was relentless. The saying No Pain, No Rain, No Maine kept ringing in my head! The sun cleared as we reached the border for North Carolina & Tennessee. A snack bag later & an epic foam sword fight later I said my goodbyes to another state and trucked on to US 19E (393.8) where we set up camp with the same group we camped with at Huges Gap. The night was spent attempting to tip over a widow maker, carving canoes out of sticks & eating our food bags.

Hobo Vs. Poofy. - Hobo won.

       A few days back it was brought to my attention that ANOTHER one of my teeth was abscessed. I made an appointment in Johnson City. Rob Bird (a local trail angel that use to own a hiker hostel) took me under his wing and i'm spending time at his with Bluegrass while I get another root canal and rest till i'm ready to play catch up with my group. In case anyone is wondering about my dental hell here's the list of what i've gotten done over the past two and a half months. Four fillings. Two root canals & one extraction.