I got started a little late today at 9am. Having a wet tent to put away always slows me down. The plan was for a 12 mile day, and it went off without a hitch. It did take me a while to realize why there were so many people out on the trail today, having no concept of what day it is out here. The weekends bring out all the casual and section hikers, as well as the crews of volunteers who help maintain the trail. Today I got to see a team of guys and a dog rebuilding an old log bridge (by splitting a new log down the center with railroad ties). I also bumped into a couple of old guys who were repainting the white blazes. They were entertaining, and very interested in all of the details of our thru-hike. Then there was a section hiker on his way to meet his wife, who was waiting for him in a white Cadillac. He took my picture and I took his, as he's collecting photos of thru-hikers and logging their names on his map so he can remember where and when he met people.
It was a social day on the trail. We ended up at a shelter that was thankfully directly on the trail. No hiking a half mile to shelter and back thank you very much. We had dinner with Tapeworm and Master Splinter, who we had seen the day before, and in Franklin.
Everyone is talking about the Smokies now. It's only about 5-7 days of hiking, but there are a lot of restrictions. You can only stay at shelters, no camping up in them there hills. I have heard that all of the shelters have fireplaces though, which would be a fun change of pace.
The beautiful views are already becoming a little commonplace, but that still hasn't stopped us from climbing off the trail to see them. Today marks two weeks out here. I still don't feel completely in shape for this sort of thing, though I am lugging around a lot of food weight.
Everyone says it takes 2 weeks to feel strong, and 1 month to be completely acclimated. So this should be the milestone of the body, next comes the mind.
