Shin Splints, Rainy Days & Erwin, TN

So we have made it 300 miles and are feeling good. Both Duchess & I (Not Bad) have been having some shin splint problems but nothing too major. We have also been facing some more rainy days. We have had 2 days of rain now, and headed back into the mountains today where tonight we are expecting thunder storms. We knew it was going to come sooner or later so we might as well face the challenge!!

We are a little over 300 miles and less than 200 from finishing 3 of our 14 states!! The next town/area we are shooting for is Roan Mountain. Last night we spent the evening at Uncle Johnnys' hostel in Erwin, TN where we resupplied, got some good Mexican food, and met up with some friends who had a been a day or so behind us. (And sorry Bman, no Erwin Burrito...couldn't find it.)

In just a few weeks Duchess will be jumping off the trail to head to Mexico with Bryan for a week and after that Spencer is going to be coming out & hopefully with Lucy! I am going to miss Duchess but will hike on without her and she will meet me at the right place! In other news, we recently found out that we can aqua blaze the Shenandoah Mountains (aqua blaze means we would canoe the 7 days out of the mountains)...and that is something we are now considering to do because it sounds like an amazing experience.

Anywho, we are heading out today and will be at Roan Mountain hopefully in 4 days (48ish miles)...if we don't update then, there will be a new post in Damascus, VA. Hope everyone at home is doing well and we look forward to reading more comments!!

with love,
not bad & duchess

NOC, Gatlingburg, and the Great Smokey Mountains.

Islack, Boss, Duchess and Not Bad enjoying the old firetower with a beautiful sunset.
Sunset from the firetower in the Smokey Mountains.

Boss, Duchess, Tree and Not Bad enjoying the river and the sun at the NOC.

Picture of Duchess, Not Bad and Islack eating the BIGGEST burger in Gatlinburg.

Hello All!!

Today we are getting ready to take off from Hot Springs, NC and headed to Erwin, TN. This post is going to be short because we need to get hiking, but when we stop in Erwin we will give you a full update.

The pictures are taken with some friends that we have met along the way...lately, we have been hiking with the 2 guys in the top picture. The younger guy, Boss and the older guy Islack. As you guys may have known, real names are not to be used on the trail. Everyone goes by trail names out here and it's just part of the AT community. Malorie has received the name 'Not Bad' because while discussing what her name should be, we all realized that in all languages mal means bad...but I argued the fact that I wasn't bad and so it came to be; Not Bad. Jess, received the name Duchess because Angie ("Giggles") kept singing that song that goes:

"the Noble Duke of York

he had 10,000 men

he marched them up to the top of the hill

and he marched them down again"

because we would hike in a line and march up and down the moutains, with 'Duchess' at the front.

Trail names are just a little part of the AT that makes everyday special and meeting new people a little more exciting. We are having a great time out here and meeting great people. In just a few weeks our friend Spencer is going to come out and hike with us for a little bit. Along with him, he is going to bring out Malorie's dog Lucy Diamond to see what kind of trail legs she has. We will update more in detail in a week or so.

Lots of love

Not Bad & Duchess