Day 8- No Reservations, No Problems

Day 8 could not be bothered by trials or tribulations. It rained overnight, no worries. I had ear plugs in, couldn’t be bothered. Sleep came fairly decent in the tent for once. I couldn’t get reservations into Around The Bend, nbd. Camped at Dicks Creek instead. Didn’t know anyone hiking with me today, made a friend and kept it moving. I’m also feeling better and better about my prospects of finishing this thing.

Which is bold considering I’m not even out of the first state yet. But in the next couple days I will be. This came as a surprise because I’ve only been planning one day (max 2 days) ahead. Buttt, I was informed the next resupply is 40 miles away and I only had enough food left for 1 day.

The day started off with a nice hazy fog in the woods that gave off real Sleepy Hallow vibes. My plan all day was to get to Dicks Creek Gap, 11 miles away and head to town for a resupply, food, and shelter if possible. 2 out of 3 ain’t bad. I hiked all day with Morgan, a new friend I made on the trail from NY. He’s section hiking for 2 weeks and we’ve crossed paths a couple times since then but had yet to formally meet. We made good time and covered about 12 total hilly miles in  under 7 hours (breaks included).

Dicks Creek Gap was a dead zone for cell service. There was a shuttle service coming in an hour but we tried our had at hitchhiking and after about 30 minutes, got picked up by a fellow section hiker from VA.

We rode the 15 minutes into the town of Hiawassee, GA. A quaint lakeside town bordered on all sides by undulating, tree lined mountains. We stopped in at Daniel’s Steakhouse, an All You Can Eat (AYCE) Buffet I found in another trek article. The food was pretty good and the 13$ price was even better.

I had a nice phone conversation with my mom and my GF. She just got back from a Taylor Swift concert. The concert was part of a bribe to allow me to thru-hike the AT (Read about it here).

After we walked a few minutes down the road to a grocery store named Ingels. While I’m glad to have stocked up on food for the next 4 days, I’m not looking forward to additional weight I’ll have to carry. Tuna packets and protein bars be THICC.

We walked a few more miles to Hiawassee Brew to have a beer while we waited for our shuttle back. The view of the lake was idyllic and makes one consider living in a place like this. I would have preferred to linger longer but our driver arrived shortly after sitting down.  We quickly finished our beers. The ride back was informative and has me excited for North Carolina in the upcoming days.

Morgan and I arrived back shortly before sunset. We collected water, set up our tents and made friends with a couple locals who were camping nearby and had made a fire. We chatted with them and had s’mores until I retired to my tent around 10. The stars are bright and owls hoot in the background.

Despite things not going exactly to plan the day was a success. Looking forward to the challenge of being solo the next 4 days into Franklin where I may take my first zero day.

Thanks for listening and stow away for day 9 on the Appalachian Trail.