Days 7 & 8 - Thru Hiking The Appalachian Trail

Days 7 & 8 - Thru Hiking The Appalachian Trail

Zero Day in Franklin, NC!

For day 7 of their thru hike, they took a zero day. Let me explain what that means. A zero day is simply a day that hikers log zero miles in a 24-hour time frame. Typically, you wouldn't want too many of them. But Garrett and I were able to rent a little cabin for one night, so we picked them up to feed them, rest, and resupply. A nero day is when you nearly hike zero miles. Make sense? You'll hear hikers use these phrases frequently. 

Nero - nearly and Zero - zero

We picked them up around 10am at Dick's Creek Gap and they were dropped back off there at about 9:30am Sunday. I had a Strawberry Nesquick for Gavin and a Mountain Dew for Jeff and two ham biscuits. We had to kill some time before checking into the cabin, so we went to a couple outfitter stores nearby. Then they wanted Mexican for lunch and pizza for supper. Gavin ate an entire large pizza by himself. Sunday morning, we went to The Dillard House Restaurant for a family style all you can eat breakfast. It was so nice just all four of us being together. Then it was time to go back to the trail. 

Getting Gloves

One thing we've learned is that you never have enough supplies and the supplies you do have better work properly. Gavin's gloves weren't keeping his hands warm enough, so we found an outfitter store and $60 later he has a new pair. Also, they got to sign the store's thru hiker banner. They were the 3rd and 4th person to sign this year. 

Dixie came to visit!

One demand that Gavin had when he first said he'd hike the A.T. was that I'd bring Dixie as often as possible to visit. She's 13 years old and he loves her so much. So, she came too.

You'd think the sign stating that you're in another state would be a little more impressive, wouldn't you? Well, it's just a piece of wood would the letters NC/GA carved into it. But they are officially in NC which was mile 78.3. One state down. Soon they will be hiking in the Smokey Mountains. And we are not going to think about the bears, ok? 

"I've just eaten too much this weekend. I've got like 20 pounds extra food just inside me" said Gavin.

This is the Bly Gap oak tree and it's actually famous. Do a google search and you'll see. It's supposedly the most photographed tree on the Appalachian Trail. Also, Bly Gap itself is a very windy area so they were advised not to camp there. 

Day 8 Youtube Video

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