Day 110 (October 11)

What a day! We started hiking a little late: 8:30 a.m. Joe Mitchell, owner of Four Pines Hostel, dropped us off at the trail head. He had about 12 hikers staying in the hostel, so there was a little too much social time a little too late in the evening. Joe is an interesting character. He has converted a three stall garage into a hostel on his menagerie farm (dogs, cats, chickens). A rooster woke us up at 4:30 a.m.

The hike went well. We were expecting rain all day, but it only ended up raining in the morning. We climbed for a couple hours and came to a ridge that turned out to be the Eastern Continental Divide: 450 miles to the Atlantic; 1,500 miles to the gulf. We hiked it for about six miles. It was tricky with lots of 30-foot downhill granite slabs. I slipped and slid down one for several feet. Glad not to be in the Atlantic. We came across trail magic at about 11 miles: cold beer, pop, and snickers bars in a cooler. Nice! We finished at 17 miles on a remote forest gravel road where we were supposed to be picked up by a shuttle driver. He never showed. We got a 20 mile hitch in the back of a pickup from a deer hunter instead. 

 We're staying at the MacArthur Lodge which has been renovated since the time when the likes of John Wayne, Michael Landon, John Lennon, Audie Murphy, and others stayed here. We went across the street for an 8:30 p.m. supper. Nice buffet. Talked to a young, local guy about our trip. He bought our dinner complete with the tip! The AT is simply magical. Here is a bit of what I saw today through cloudy skies. Take care.