Day 11

We are making a run to get to Franklin today.  At 16.5 miles it will be our biggest hike yet but we want to beat the rain.  So we started an hour earlier than usual (7:30).  Its partly sunny with cool but comfortable temps.  It was fairly flat ridge hiking for the first 4 miles until we reached Albert Mountain.  Along the way we got some great views.

Albert Mountain was an entirely different story.  It was our steepest climb yet involving some short rock scrambles near the top. It is about 5,200 feet in elevation with a fire tower on top.  This climb was wearing but the scenic rewards were considerable.

We still had a ways to go and time was of the essence to get to Winding Stair Gap by 4pm for a shuttle to town.  Wanting to escape the oncoming rain was a great motivator and we reached our destination at 3:30pm.



After unsuccessful attempts to get a room at a couple of places we were able to score the last three rooms available at the Sapphire Hotel for our group of three.🤗

We called a hostel in town (Baltimore Jack’s) for a shuttle in.  Ron Haven the owner came and got us in his pickup truck which he was also using to haul his trash to the dump. LOL.  Ron is a whole story unto himself but I don’t have time for that here.  Its suffice to say he is quite a character.  We were all so tired we just jumped in for the ride.  Hiker Trash!  I haven’t ridden in the back of a pickup truck in years.  Apparently its still legal here.  Not sure which smelled worse, the garbage or us. The fresh mountain air whipping around us as we drove to town was energizing and while it made conversation difficult it did dissipate the stink.

It was a 20 minute ride down a gently sloping scenic road to town.  It was fun to ride in the back of a pick up.  Haven't done that in over fifty years.  

As luck would have it there is a Mexican restaurant (Mi Casa) across the road from the hotel which turned out to be pretty good.  The margaritas weren’t bad either.

Also found a local microbrewery (Currahee Brewing Company) to grab a couple of beers before the night was over.🍺





Shower, Mexican food, beer, and then sleep in a real bed.  Doing a zero day in town tomorrow to resupply, rest and hopefully let the storm pass through.  Did about 16.5 miles today.  Passed the first hundred miles of the trail and are at about 109 trail miles in total which when you add the approach trail would be 117.

My dawgs are barking but they get the day off tomorrow.