Miles hiked Elevation gain (ft.) AT mile 13.13 2,749 231.1 This was the hardest day on the trail so far. Since we thought that we were only doing 5.7 miles today. We all slept in and had a nice brunch at the shelter. Red had a bunch of extra ramen in noodles, which he kept all…

Miles hiked Elevation gain (ft.) AT mile 21.13 5,092 218.2 The sound of phone alarms jolted me awake at 4am. I slid my quilt over my face and tried to get more sleep, to no avail. It was cold and foggy outside, and I really didn't want to get out. I did some quick math and…

Miles hiked Elevation gain (ft.) AT mile 16.06 5,098 197.2 It rained a bunch overnight. It always feels good to be sleeping in a dry shelter, knowing that I won't have to deal with a wet tent in the morning. I woke up to the sound of others getting up and packing their stuff…

Miles hiked Elevation gain (ft.) AT mile 14.71 5033 180.8 I totally forgot to mention this in the past few days, but I decided to change my trail name to Seven Plates (after the buffet experience in Franklin). I liked it more than Wiki, and others agreed with me on it. I woke up…

Miles hiked Elevation gain (ft.) AT mile 6.61 1,453 165.7 When I woke up today, almost everyone was gone from camp. I guess they all wanted an early start into Fontana Dam. I ate my breakfast and got my stuff packed up for the day. It had rained the night before and my backpack…

Miles hiked Elevation gain (ft.) AT mile 15.04 3,524 159.2 It was real windy last night. I woke up multiple times throughout the night to the sound of my tent flapping against the wind. I was afraid the entire thing would fall over. Thankfully the DCF still stood at the end of…

Miles hiked Elevation gain (ft.) AT mile 7.70 3,294 143.8 I woke up around 8 today and stayed in my tent for an hour. The restaurant at the Nantahala Outdoor Center didn't open til 11 and was only a mile away. I had plenty of time to do nothing. It had rained a bit the night…

Miles hiked Elevation gain (ft.) AT mile 15.40 2,710 135.9 Today looked easy on paper, but it was a whole lot harder than expected. My sleep mask kept me asleep til 8. I got up and tried to pack up all of my gear and eat breakfast as fast as I could. I've gotten my whole morning…

Miles hiked Elevation gain (ft.) AT mile 14.40 3,781 120.4 This morning was pretty chill. I woke up around 8 and had two hours before our shuttle came. I went down to the lobby and had the same breakfast of waffles and microwave burritos (that's all this hotel has available for…

Miles hiked Elevation gain (ft.) AT mile 0 0 105.8 Today was a lot less packed than yesterday. To be fair, my body probably needed a relaxed day of rest. I woke up at the late time of 8:30 and went down to eat the hotel breakfast of waffles and microwave burritos. We then went…