Day 21: Cody Gap, 156.0

Hey everyone it's Breeze.

Well, after talking to the few thru hikers that stayed out on the mountain last night, I think it's safe to say that we made a good decision to go into Robbinsville. Apparently the entire forest froze over, and they could hear limbs and trees falling all around the shelter. Yikes! One thru hiker, Saint Nick, said that he hung his wet clothes up to dry last night. Once in a while he would go and give his clothes a nice shake and knock the ice off them. That's one way to dry your clothes, but doesn't sound like any fun at all.

We had a nice stay in Robbinsville. It didn't offer much, but we had a warm, dry place to stay and that was all that mattered. And I got to see the Braves play for the first time this season! Even though we got dominated by Cliff Lee, it was still great to watch. This morning, the owner of the Phillips Motel drove us back to the trail. She said she moved to Robbinsville in 1944 when she was 11 and that her mother had built the motel herself. She stills gets around great for an 80 year old and drives like a bat out of hell! I guess she's gotten really accustomed to driving those mountain roads after all these years. Besides, double yellow lines are more guidelines than actual rules....

While stopping for a lunch break, Wendy and I saw something we didn't think we would see for a few months: south bound thru hikers!

Ok, sidebar. It's about 9 at night at the moment and there is some small to medium sized animal right underneath my hammock! I'm afraid to turn my flashlight on bc it might be a skunk and I don't want to get sprayed. I can just hear whatever it is circling my pack...go away!

Anyway, we met our first south bounders today. Man, they have a wild story. The crazy thing about their thru hike is that they started last August!! I could not even imagine the weather they must have seen, starting that late in the season that far north. What is also amazing is that one of the guys, Biggie Smalls, summited Katahdin (the beginning of the trail for south bounders) weighing over 300 lbs. Good lord. What the two of them were able to overcome and accomplish over the last 9 months is simply incredible. They definitely didn't make it easy on themselves and still came out on top. Their achievements truly are awe inspiring.

Well, Wendy and I had another great day out here on the AT. The weather picked back up and is expected to remain sunny for the next few days - woohoo! Tonight was particularly enjoyable since Wendy and I packed out hotdogs and cooked them over the campfire. Any day with a campfire is a good day. And I think the animal is gone haha.

See you down the trail!

Breeze