3/23-3/27 Dicks Creek Gap to Franklin, North Carolina

3/23 I planned on taking a zero day here in Hiwassee, but my friend Sarah had school stuff to do. I had her drop me off back at Dicks Creek Gap at like 6:30 pm. My plan was to hike only 1 mile in and camp. That didn't happen it was way to windy on the ridge and my hammock almost blew away when I tried I set it up. I decided to just hike 4 more miles to the next shelter. That's when it started.... My knee that I injured last May started hurting. This wasn't a small pain, on a scale of 1-10 it was a good 12. I couldn't stop because it was dark and I had to make it to the shelter. I hobbled in around 9 pm and went straight to bed.

3/24 I woke up and my knee felt fantastic. I started hiking and had a little pain but that went away quickly. After about 4 miles I came accross this tree. On this tree had a small wooden sign. On this sign it said Ga/Nc border!!!!!! I have finally gone through my first state!! It was the best feeling on the trail so far. Since I was excited I dumbly decided to hike 9 more miles, which was a complete mistake. My knee started hurting worse than before. I basically hopped on one foot for the last mile to the shelter.

                   At the state line!!

              Famous tree at Bly Gap

3/25 After a good nights sleep, I woke up to this strange white substance on the ground.. In the night it snowed a couple of inches. Seeing as this is the first time I have seen real snow, you can tell I was pretty ecstatic. I decided to take an easy day to let my knee get better. I arrived at the next shelter 7 miles later around 12 pm. It started snowing again and started to get cold so I went and my sleeping bag.

3/26 Last night got down in the teens. I didn't budge from my sleeping bag until about 12pm. I pretty much didn't leave the sleeping bag for 24 hours, which in turn helped my knee a lot. The plan for the day was to make it 8 miles to the next shelter. Instead I went 4 more to the shelter after that. When I arrived a church group was up there and the bought us all Burger King. We arranged times with him to pick us up at the gap the next morning  to go into Franklin. Oh and by the way I passed the 100 mile marker today!!!!

            Albert Mountain fire tower

3/27 When I woke up there was more Burger King at the shelter from Manny and the church. I hiked 3.5 miles to the gap where Manny picked me and all the other hikers up to go into Franklin. He dropped all 8 of us off at the outfitter. When I got there I went straight to the shoes. I needed a new pair of shoes since mine were all torn up and were way to small. I sat down with the owner who knows a lot about feet,shoe sizing and fitting. After about 3 hours I finally found a show that fit!! After wearing the shoe around town, I realized I have never felt a shoe fit me so well. As I was getting my shoes my buddy Tom got us a hotel room. We were 2 rooms down from the other group of hikers. That's when the hiker party started. It was I great night!

                       Bojangles!!!

Well I am feeling great now. My knee isn't hurting at all anymore. Everyday is a good day no matter what. It is so beautiful out here. I feel like everyone needs to experience this. If you can't at least go outside and enjoy this earth God has given us it is amazing!!!

On another note snow is fun to hike in for a day. After that it's just a pain in the ass...

Happy Trails!!!

Lucas "Smokie" Varnadore