Every day is an adventure

Today was definitely one of those days that happen on the trail, when you realize that you just have to roll with it. Since Monday, we’ve been based in Young Harris, GA, in a cute little cabin, as we slackpack the final miles of the trail. Yesterday was miserable, with pouring rain and temperatures dropping throughout the day. We actually had to move a fallen tree off the forest service road we took to get to the trailhead. Then we had a lot of high water and a few sketchy stream crossings. All told, a great day to come back to a cozy cabin with a hot shower and dryer. An even better day today—high around freezing, with snow all day. Despite the cold, it was a beautiful, snowy hike.

I kept thinking about all of the thru-hikers who walked along the trail we covered today. The majority of thru-hikers head northbound, so they have only covered 50-60 miles at this point. Many of those never finish and a significant number never get out of Georgia. It’s strange to think how close we are now and to remember how those first days were for us. For those of you who have followed since the beginning, you may remember we only made 5 miles on the first day. And it was a long, painful day. Now, we’re down to the final few days and I find myself wanting to both speed up and slow down.

Unfortunately, we won’t be able to hike tomorrow. When we got back to the car at the trailhead, we found a dog huddled in a pile of wet, snowy leaves, shivering uncontrollably. When she stood up, we realized she was pregnant. We bundled her into the car and took her to the local vet. They checked her out and said she’s in generally good health, aside from being undernourished, and ready to deliver at any moment. The vet wasn’t able to keep her, but put us in touch with a no-kill shelter in nearby Blairsville. The problem is that they can’t take her until noon tomorrow. Instead of hiking, we’ll be driving her to the shelter. So, here we are in our little cabin, on the couch with a glass of wine, hoping we don’t end up in a 101 Dalmatians situation tonight. She is so sweet and well-behaved and it enrages me that someone seems to have abandoned her.

We’ll be finishing up at Springer on Saturday, though we may have to come back and make up a day after the fact. Since a small, hearty band will be joining us for a bit of tailgating and hiking the final mile, we don’t want to change our schedule, but we do need to get the puppy settled somewhere.

Stay tuned—we’re almost there!