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Got back on the trail before noon just by walking through town down the main street past all the Saturday gents sitting in front of stores. We checked 3 mini-marts for fresh produce with no luck. The white blazes are on poles beside the street. Tops of the mtns are in mist so it will be cool as we go up.
As we left town we crossed the French Broad River and followed it up to some falls. At that point we started switchbacks up the wall. I was sorry that I did not carry Cokes from town for lunch and told Ken that we would get some sodas for trail magic. When we crossed a road on an overpass Neill & the Weather Man had put out a cooler with sodas!

We passed a shelter that was overflowing with campers. All of them were glad when we didn't stop. We planned to get our dinner water in a mile and a half. The spring was there but dry so we had to keep going to get dinner water. Later a very tiny trickle ran across the trail. We dug a small hole and waited for the silt to clear. Dinner water!. We found the campsite at our 15 mi. goal, set up, cooked and the rain came. We ate in the tent. The last bit of luck was that we had stopped just short of the road so we weren't visible on a Saturday night.

Today was a hard day. The heavy rain from last night left everything wet. We faced a strong wind blowing heavy fog most of the day. The fog condensed in the trees then dripped on us so the day was like a rainy day. Trail was steep, slippery and rocky which made our feet and legs tired.

We started seeing rhodas in bud and a few blooming. I hope we get to walk thru some of those 20 foot tall rhoda dells in peak bloom.

Late in the day the wind died down and the fog lifted when we reached Flint Gap. We sat on a log for just a minute in absolute stillness. The birds were out and singing and the forest was every shade of green imaginable. A ray of sun broke through the mist, found its way between all the leaves and illuminated the smallest plants for only an instant. That is why I hike.

Still overcast and rain fell last night where we walked today. Soon I will be growing green moss and sporting a colony or two of mushrooms.

We climbed to the top of Big Bald late this afternoon. Great views on the way up. As we got near the top the fog blew in from the east. Our view from the top was just fog. Luckily Ken got a couple of pictures on the way up the hill. The bald had been a farm and we saw fruit trees blooming, berry patches, and strawberries. What a beautiful location for a home and farm.

We are seeing more rhodas and laurel. They really are pretty lining the trail on the mountain tops. Most of the time all we get to see is the inside of the forest. Two new flowers today - Indian Paintbrush and Delphinium. Well, new for the AT. The Mayapples flowers are fading and we can see the fruit forming. The best smelling flowers are the lily-of-the-valley and the cutest are the 3-4 inch iris. The last two towns had honeysuckle vines and I could smell before I saw.

Once again the pitter patter of rain on the tent was the first morning sound. Of course everything felt damp as we packed. I know I have seen pictures of AT hikers who were not wearing rain gear. I am now convinced that those pictures were shot in a CA studio and paid for by the Dept of Tourism, the local Chamber of Commerce and the ATC.

We made good time on our trip into Erwin, a beautiful, charming town. We needed to be sure we got to the PO before closing. We had trouble finding many of the points in our data book today, so we just hiked fast. Great views from above the town.

Got a ride into town with a local man. He gave us a nice tour, took us to the PO, then took us to the hotel.

After we checked in we went to the A&W next door for a mid-afternoon snack. We met a southbound hiker there. He told us of a few areas we could look forward to. The A&W server wanted to know where we are from and told us this is not a good town for teens; nothing to do and every street has 5 churches on it! We are in the Bible Belt.

Miss Janet runs a hostel here in town do we stopped by there to meet other hikers...lots of them! She has a hiker van that Goof was driving hikers for errands. He is picking us up for dinner tonight of burritos. Holiday Inn Express has a free pint of ice cream for through hikers. We just ate Cherry Garcia and that will hold us until dinner.

One of the things that we did today was read up on local flowers that we are seeing. One is the trout lily which can be the oldest plant in these forests. They spread by corms so a large patch of genetically identical "plants". I need to check this out.

Checking the TrailJournals.com site was another fun activity today. AT 2002 hikers Presto and Jitterbug are posting our site for us. They do speedy accurate work and we really appreciate their help. I had been reading journals of other 2003 hikers and we are catching up to them so we can meet them in person.

The most incredible hiker that I've met is a young Israeli woman who just finished her military obligation. She and her partner hike under the names of Patience (she has everything but) and Snail (who is not)! Snail is injured and is resting so Patience is solo hiking. She blew by us on the trail! Oh, and we have the same haircut. We kind of leap frog with her and have seen her several times.

Resting is nice but hiking is better.