The first day out of town was full of the optimism that comes with better-than-expected weather and new shoes. Neil had played it safe with a replacement pair of Hoka Speedgoat 5 trail shoes, while I had decided to try Topo Traverse shoes. These are really popular on the AT, … Read More

There are few things more pleasant than being somewhere warm, dry and comfortable on a gloomy snowy day, looking out at the snow swirling past and knowing you don’t have to go out in it. So it was for our rest day. But after a full day of doing absolutely … Read More

At last, a month into our hike and finally we’re having a full day off! Not entirely by choice though … Snow had been in the weather forecast for a week, but we hadn’t made any firm plans for what we were going to do when it arrived. We rather … Read More

The wind roared around the metal roof; a cold gust blew through the gap between stone wall and roof, carrying a drop of rain onto my face Resenting this intrusion from the outside world, I turned on my side. My knees came to rest on my bag of electronics (phone, … Read More

It was a good pitstop at Fontana Lodge, even if the comfy bed didn’t quite work out! The soft saggy bed and overstuffed pillows left me longing for my inflatable sleeping pad and pillow on trail,  but we got in hot showers, laundry, food shopping and two good hot meals, … Read More

I’ll let the photos do the talking this time! 52 miles and 14,000 feet of ascent in 3 and a half days – we’re pretty tired. Enjoying the civilised delights of Fontana Dam Village for the night – we need to resupply here anyway, and with temperatures forecast to drop … Read More

Getting off trail and into town to resupply is never what we dream of while we’re on trail! We always hope we’re going to have a fun, relaxing time, and it ends up busy busy busy. Laundry, shopping, cleaning and drying kit all takes time. It didn’t help that the … Read More

The day got off to a fine start at Woody Gap, where some trail angels were laying on breakfast for hikers. As we walked across the car park we were greeted with “Hello and welcome!” and waffles, sausage and eggs were thrust into our hands. Several other hikers were sitting … Read More

On trail at last! We are two days in, and so far so good – in spite of some terrible weather! When our train arrived in Atlanta on Saturday morning, we were picked up by trail angel Stephanie (trail angels are kind-hearted folk who help out hikers on long trails), … Read More

Having never been to New York before, I was a bit intimidated by the idea of navigating our way around the city looking very much like the bimbly tourists that we are. But Neil was adamant he wanted to fly to New York then take the train to Atlanta in … Read More