Day 20

Well, we haven't had exactly 20 days on the trail. We've had 4 zero days so far and a couple of neros (near zero). Last Wednesday, we had a huge day in terms of miles. We hiked 15.9 miles to get to winding stair gap and hitch a ride into Franklin, NC. We didn't actually hitchhike, but my trail buddy, Thor, texted me to give me the number of Beverly. She gave us a ride to our hotel and only asked for a donation for gas money. We also caught up with the Finnish couple, Lucky Man and Strawberries. We stayed in Franklin until Sunday morning, due to the cold front that had moved into the area. The low temperature at night was reported to be around 20 F every night during that time, and we know our sleeping system does not do well below 30 F. We started getting cabin fever toward the end, but it was nice to have some days to relax, heal, and explore Franklin. The first day in town, we did laundry, bought groceries, and relaxed. On Friday, we only got out of the hotel room to get lunch. We tried going to a Chinese restaurant we found on Yelp, but after a half mile of walking, we discovered that it was boarded up. So we walked back up the hill and ended up going to Fatz, a restaurant right across the street from our hotel. The worst part about walking around Franklin is that there few sidewalks and crosswalks don't exist. This meant having to wait 10 minutes to cross the freeway. By Saturday, we had enough sitting around. We took a walk to get downtown so we could check out the local brewery and associated food truck. After eating lunch and having a beer, we decided to head back to the hotel. On the way, a truck pulled over and offered us a ride. We graciously accepted and rode in the back. 

On the same day, we met a lady named Prairie Star. As it turns out, she was born and raised in Sturgis, SD, which gave us plenty to talk about. She is also a thru hiker and her husband had come down to visit her (they live in NC), so they had a car. They offered to drive us back to Winding Stair gap since she was planning to head back out on Sunday too. Both her and Jack, her husband, were super nice and we enjoyed visiting with them.

On Sunday, we hiked 11 miles to our next shelter. The shelter and campground were all but full when we arrived and by the grace of two hikers from the UK, we were able to find a place to pitch the tent. Today, we hiked another 11 miles and had some amazing views. 

A lookout tower, where I took the below picture

Looking north toward the Smokies (I think)

We're both glad to be back out on the trail. My knees have been feeling better and Louisa hasn't had any more blisters as far as I know. Tomorrow we head into Wesser, NC to resupply, then it's onto Fontana Dam, then into the Smokies.