Erwin, TN

Snow sucks; it's pretty to look at through a window, but after three days of living in it, we are ready for warm weather again. Today we descended into Erwin, TN and got a lovely 45 degree temperature increase from last night. After finding a shelter for our temporary canine companions (another story entirely), we settled in for the evening at the ritzy Super 8 motel. It may not be a Marriot, but it beats the crap out of bunk beds in a hostel. We didn't mean to sound so depressing at the beginning of this post, but the weather definitely took a toll on us. We kept reasonably dry and warm, but we are ready to mail home the wool gloves and down jackets. All the flowers were beginning to come out in the lower elevations (were being the key word), and a few trees are beginning to bud. So to elaborate on the dogs, we picked up two half starved coon hounds about forty miles ago and went to EXTREME lengths to get them to town. Unfortunately, however, their predicament isn't much better, as they now have fifteen days to find a home before the "big sleep." If anyone out there has any interest in a couple of sweet pets, check out the animal shelter here in Erwin...Sam, these girls are ready to rabbit hunt. We will probably end up in Damascus, VA at or before Jessica's birthday, so we will keep you all posted. We miss you all and hope you can join us on the trail.

Hot Springs, NC

We're still riding the Tennessee/North Carolina border, and will be for a few hundred more miles. Hot Springs is small, but very nice, and after a soak in the town's namesake springs, we are ready to get back on the trail. Technically, however, we haven't even gotten off the trail, since it travels down all 0.3 miles of Main Street. We are at the 271 mile mark, I think, and we are excited about moving on. We hope everything is going well at home, and we can't wait to see you on the trail.

P.S. We will try to celebrate Jessica's 24th birthday (April 27th) in Damascus, Virginia if anyone wants to join us. We should be there within a day or two and may lay up there for a couple days. All arrival/departure dates subject to change without notice from the management.

Gatlinburg

It was Gatlinburg in mid-July, and we just hit town, and our throats were dry. So we sat down and grabbed ourselves some brews. Johnny Cash knew what he was talking about. We just arrived in Gatlinburg after 205 miles and about three weeks...including three zero mileage days. 10% down, 1970 miles to go. Celebrate the little accomplishments, right? Anyway, we just got back from the Smokey Mountain microbrewery/pizza pub and we are definitely glad for a break. We bypassed the showers in Fontana so my parents could have the full thru-hiker effect when they picked us up half way through the Smokies. Yesterday we crossed Clingman's Dome at 6,643 feet in 35+ mph winds, rain, and fog; supposedly the views are great, but I couldn't see my hand in front of my face so we kept on truckin'. The trail is still fairly crowded, but most of the people who have no business in the woods have packed up and headed home. The back country in the Smokies is absolutely pristine because you can only camp at designated shelters or campsites, which is also annoying when you try to plan the day's mileage. We often find ourselves saying we could go another three miles, but the next shelter isn't for six miles. Life's tough decisions on the trail. We should be in Hot Springs by next weekend, baring any unforeseen circumstances. We hope all is well at home, and we can't wait to see you on the trail.