The First 100

I’m laying across a bed at the Saphire Inn in Franklin, NC. It’s awesome. My hair is clean, my clothes are dry, and I ate an amazing pancake breakfast courtesy of the First Baptist Church in town. Legendary.

 

Please excuse the typos I am sure are making this post unreadable. I thought I was a pro at the iPhone keyboard but it kinda sucks to use! Oh well…

imageIts snowed a little, it’s rained a little, but most important of all we’ve made it 100 miles! (If you want to be precise, and believe me, I do, we’ve now made it 109.8 miles which surpasses the longest backpacking trip any of my siblings has done by 2 miles. So there)

Everything is ~radical~ and ~groovy~ though my boyfriend (Lil’ Santa) keeps sliding downhill in our tent and getting his sleeping bag wet. He also keeps trying to steal my sleeping pad on the middle of the night because apperently, one is not enough.

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Taking a nap on his trash bag because pushing me off my pad all night is tough work. Ain’t no rest for the wicked

 

I havent et gotten a hang of how much food I actually need, so my food bag remains the heaviest thing in my pack. But I have discovered that not all packaged tuna is bad (Lil Santa disagrees) and that the Cheddar Broccoli Pasta side is my current favorite.

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Im also feeling stronger and more mighty every day! Yesterday we decided we wanted to get to town so we hiked 16 miles! And we hiked it like it ain’t no thang! Even though I’ve never hiked that far ever in my life all at once! It was awesome!

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Can’t get this to rotate but how adorable and happy am I!?

Also: trail Angels are going buck wild  it’s outta control! (Not that I’m complaining) lets just say I’ve had some of the best food and amazing kindness from strangers on this trip. And the memory of pulled pork and baked beans followed by omlettes and sandwiches the next morning will live on in my memory as the most disgustingly full and happy I’ve ever been. If you’re thru hiking in 2017 I RECCOMEND being in Deep Gap (NC, not GA) for Easter, Tarheel and his omlette Angels will take darn good car of you.

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Sorry I can’t get these to rotate. But see, they aren’t messin around.

 

Anyway, if you’re thru hiking right now or about to start, know that it DOES get easier after Georgia (except that first climb in NC kills) at least so far. And make sure if you stop in Hiawassee you go to the Bear Meadow Grill. It’s not in AWOL but they have good beer on draft and amazing half pound burgers. It’s just a little further down from the AYCE place and well worth the extra .25 miles in my opinion.

 

I e also really been using the guthook app a lot (I got a copy of it for free, though was never asked for a review) I would purchase it for sure! we look at our AWOL guide for planning but mostly use guthook during the day.

 

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And it’s super fun to see what you walked over at the end of the day. I screenshot each day and save it with my journal, which I’ve been writing in Evernote!

Aright folks, I’m off to eat some food and drink some beer! Peace! Can’t wait for the next 100!

 

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CHEERS!

 

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Comments 10

  • Mike Mayfield : Mar 29th

    Hey, I will be starting my hike on Thursday, thanks for the advice about the burger joint in Hiawassee,GA. Will have to check it out. I purchased the full Guthook App, and it is wonderful. Best of luck to the both of you, and stay strong.. you will make it to katahdin

    Reply
    • Mike Kelly : Mar 30th

      Happy Hiking!

      Reply
  • TBR : Mar 29th

    16 miles is big timber that early in a thru hike. You guys are moving.

    Reply
    • Kira thirnley : Mar 30th

      Would probably be wise to slow down, but we wanted beer and we were almost out of tp

      Reply
  • Kestrelchick : Mar 30th

    are you happy with the guthook app? I just looked it up and saw the price for the whole thru-hike as being $60…we plan on bringing the book with us on our thruhike next year and had not heard of this app but it looks cool – is it worth the $60?

    Reply
    • Kira Thornley : Mar 30th

      I use it pretty much constantly throughout the day. I would definitely pay for it… But it depends on your budget 🙂

      Reply
    • Kira thirnley : Mar 30th

      Also, I wouldn’t RECCOMEND JUST using the app. Phones die, etc. but it’s very nice to have

      Reply
  • More Whimsy : Mar 30th

    Enjoying the heck out of your posts! Continue to have a fun journey.

    Reply
  • Anthony Paletta : Apr 4th

    Hey we sat next to you on our way back from the pancake breakfast. We were section hiking and finished at
    Fontana Dam on Saturday. Good luck and hope you have an amazing hike!

    Reply
  • Jennifer Williams : Apr 12th

    If you haven’t figured out how to rotate the pics, let me know. It took me a minute to figure it out but I’m now a pro. Good luck!

    Reply

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