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