Day ✌️

Second day on the Appalachian Trail! And as it turns out our first night camping on the Appalachian Trail has come to a close. It was not exactly a quiet evening as the secluded campsite that we found was certainly beautiful, but had serious Northwest exposure. The winds that we encountered during the night were definitely disturbing and quite powerful. We would hear the sound of a freight train coming and which then resulted in our tent blowing in the wind, and thankfully the structure held up and did not topple. We didn’t sleep well. I was anxious one of the many tall/surrounding trees could potentially fall. We found out in the morning when we started hiking that someone who was about a half mile up the trail was not so fortunate as their tent got blown over.  Morning started with breakfast to go and a cold coffee blend in my dad’s nalgene bottle for him. I don’t drink coffee and this has especially been convenient for me on the trail. Coffee was compliments of Ellie Hall and certainly tasty even though my dad is not a cold coffee person. Once again, Georgia did not disappoint as the trails were beautiful and well-maintained. Both my dad and I had the same physical issues which included IT band problems on our right legs. Didn’t really slow us down, but certainly was something that we were monitoring. Overall, our feet were good and we felt strong physically. Today we met my friend Alexi Deering who thru hiked AT in 2021 and CDT 2024. She brought us trail magic (Hiker charcuterie, beer and wine for my dad, soda for me) and joined us for an overnight camp somewhere near Lance Creek area. I also consider her golden retriever Tuck “High Life” trail magic as well. We were actually able to meet her near Woody Gap as she parked there and joined us about 15 minutes up the trail. We had a nice hike and a very pleasant evening with Alexi and High Life. It was great to have a golden retriever join us for the evening especially a well seasoned hiker like him. Alexi gave us great tips on thru hiking and camping that we really appreciated. We were hoping to be able to make a fire, but there was a red flag warning for the evening as was told to us by a ridge runner that came by. Therefore, we had a quick dinner and we all migrated to our tents as it was very cold outside. Fortunately, we have the proper cold weather gear to stay warm in the low teens which we were expecting. The ridge runner had asked us if we had proper cold weather gear. We told them we were all set but we greatly appreciated the check in! Well, our second day in the books and it was once again wonderful. Met lots of people on trail. Still not many thru hikers as many have yet to start, and there were several hundred ahead of us. Also quick side note, still very happy to have sunglasses.😎