Farewell, Georgia!

It has been quite an adventure through the beautiful mountains of Georgia. I’ve had short days, long days, and easy days consisting of slackpacking. Slackpacking is when a hostel keeps your heavy hiking pack for the day and loans you a small pack so you can hike with the necessities of a day hike without all the weight. Some call it cheating, but I call it brilliant. I did not slackpack during my 2015 hike until Katahdin so it’s a nice change.

I also had another first that I never had during my 2015 hike and that’s sleeping in a shelter. The weather called for a pretty rough thunderstorm one night, so I decided it was the perfect night for my first shelter experience. I slept in my tent in 2015 due to mice, snoring, and the need for an attitude adjustment. It was a great experience and the mice did not bother me and neither did a snorer! I’ll give shelters chances from now on when there is space available.

I’m still not moving fast and am very aware when my body tells me it’s time to stop. I did not listen to my body on my first hike which made for a very painful knee. 

Good news, though! I managed to catch up to my tramily I had met during my first 3 days. I squealed with delight once I saw them at Hostel Around the Bend. We had a great taco night and it was nice to catch up.

Finally, I made it to the ever so beautiful, yet difficult, North Carolina. I forgot how big of a slap in the face the climb to and past the border is. Even the fast and stronger hikers were struggling.

I’m going to leave this blog short and sweet for now, but will have plenty of updates prior to starting the Smokies. Happy trails, for now!