Franklin, NC 107.7 miles

After a wonderful stay at the Holiday Inn express we hit the trail again. I am currently hiking with the same British guys, Al and James, as well as, Nate (an airforce guy) and a couple of guys from Massachusetts, Samurai and Twigs. I had seen Nate and his friend Tom at Springer and along the way. Today I found out Tom is a Phi Psi from Missouri. Small world. I also met a guy on the trail from Steamboat Springs, CO. This is a small ski town in the Rockies which I randomly drove through this summer. Small world.

Forrest Gump best describes the weather of the past couple of days. "We been through every kind of rain there is. Little bitty stingin' rain... and big ol' fat rain. Rain that flew in sideways. And sometimes rain even seemed to come straight up from underneath. Shoot, it even rained at night... " In this weather we reached the state border of GA/NC. The rest of the evening was cold and wet. By the time I reached the shelter I was drenched. Everything in my pack was drenched. Luckily there was no room in the shelter, as a group of high-schoolers smugly occupied every spot. Thus I set my tent up in the rain, cooked, and went to sleep. About 30 minutes later I awoke to a flash of lightning that appeared to strike just yards away from my tent. After awhile I got accustomed to the storm and feel back asleep. In the morning there were two inches of snow of the ground and on my tent. I didn't know it was possible to have a thundersnow storm but apparently it is. Fortunately my gear and clothes were no longer wet but frozen.

With a pack of frozen/wet supplies we decided to head back into a notorious trail town, Franklin, NC. This town is pretty much owned by a man named Ron Haven, who is a legend among hikers. He owns three motels in town and drives a hiker shuttle, which is a converted "short but," which looks like Ron painted himself.