Days 178-180

Today is Day 180, which means I have officially been hiking on the Trail for over six months now. I've spent over half of 2015 living in the woods. Yowza!

The next day after Fontana Village, I hiked with Tao for a little while longer before he was seized by some pretty intense stomach pains. He got off Trail at the next road crossing in order to get to a doctor. He texted me later with an update. His suspicions were confirmed-- He had giardia. Eek. Not enough to call it quits, but enough to knock you off the Trail for a few days. He's about 20 miles behind me now, but he's a much faster hiker than myself, so I'm sure I'll see him again. 

I reached the Nantahala Outdoor Center the next day, which is a huge complex with two restaurants, lodging, and an outfitter. I asked if I can hang out and charge my phone for a bit, and they said "Sure! Also, we have some leftover pancakes and eggs from the army troop that just left for morning training, so feel free to help yourself!" Heck yes! 

Today was a very special day, because my good friend Justin came out to hike with me for a bit! Before the Trail, Justin was my go-to hiking partner for years. Every summer, we'd do a weekend trip up to Grandfather Mountain and get our asses kicked by the terrain up there. It was awesome to have him join me for part of my Appalachian Trail journey. We had fantastic 70 degree weather today, so it was a great day for him to join!

We started off by taking our traditional yearly adventure photo-- him taking a photo of me while I take a photo of him. We have at least one of these photos from every Spring Break we've been on, a few bachelor parties, weddings, and so forth and so on, dating back almost 9 years now. Now, we have one for the Trail!

Justin was a kick-ass Trail Angel. He brought lunch for us, and even carried my pack for a few miles. That's a great friend right there! We caught a good view about 4.5 miles up, and that's when Justin had to turn around and go back because he had plans later that evening in Asheville.

He was pretty beat by the end of it.

Thanks for joining me on the Trail, Justin! It really meant a lot for you to come out here and hike with me for a bit. See you and Sarah soon!

After Justin hiked back, I hiked another 9 miles to Cold Gap Shelter for the night. The next day was a solid day of hiking-- I actually got up around 6 AM, and was out on the Trail by 7:30 AM, which was one of the earliest times I've ever begun hiking-- typically I roll out of shelters around 9 AM. The sun was still creeping out through the trees when I began hiking.

M

I caught a spectacular view at the Wayah Bald Lookout Tower, built in memoriam of a local Forest Supervisor who had unfortunately died young. 

Mountains on mountains on mountains. 

Currently in Franklin, NC. I was just picked up in the rain by a wonderful woman named Peggy. She is a retired high school chemistry teacher, which is perfect because she completely reminded me of Ms. Frizzle from the Magic School Bus-- positive, exuberant, and full of life and energy. She was amazing! Thank you so much for the ride, Peggy!

Hanging out in Mcdonalds right now, waiting out the storm. This will be my second-to-last town stop. After tomorrow, I will have less than 100 miles to go!

But don't stop reading quite yet, because I'm sure there are many more adventures to come in this final week... including the return of Lightning!

Stay tuned!

-- Dirty Rotten Liar