Wednesday 21st May - Wednesday 28th May

Distance Covered: 91.4 miles
Miles to Finish: 1905.5 miles

Jez, a friend of Charlie's from Liverpoool University works at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville as a researcher in Nuclear Physics. This was to be one of our longer breaks of the expedition, so we decided to take 3 days off.

We aimed to be there for either Tuesday or Wednesday. This had nothing to do with the European Cup Final on the Wednesday. Just by chance, Gez's local pub showed the game! Funny that! So Tom, an avid Manchester United fan was understandably delighted to be able to watch the game. Manchester United won on penalties much to his delight and the celebrations went on into the night.

Above: Jez and Charlie at Newfound Gap.

Above: Trying to conquer the states we lost in 1776.

3 days off provided a much needed rest. We found ourselves back on the trail re-energised and ready to take on a few longer days walking before we hit a town which the trail actually runs through, called Hot Springs.

Thankfully we were feeling energised as Charlie went shopping for trail supplies and bought about 20 pounds worth of peanuts and dried fruits in his hungover state. Once again the theory that shopping on a hangover can have disastrous results was proved correct.

Tom struggled on the 3 rd day back due to dehydration. A classic scenario of miscommunication was the reason...Duffy and Charlie left early to go to a hostel just off the trail...without spreading the news to Paul or Tom who were, amazingly, still in bed.

It was a baking hot and humid day. Paul left earlier than Tom and raced ahead to get the big mountain out of the way before the midday heat. He overtook Charlie and Michael without realising as they were at the hostel.

Then thinking that they must be ahead of him he raced to the shelter 18 miles from the starting point, simply because he had the water pump (water must be pumped from the streams to remove the parasites) and thought they must be thirsty.

Charlie and Michael meanwhile came back onto the trail after Paul had passed and never caught up so treated their water with Chlorine tablets. All the while Tom was lagging behind, walking in the midday heat with no water as it had all been guzzled after 8 miles.

This meant the last 10 was done without water and thus breaks were taken every 7 minutes on average in addition to Tom being close to tears. A lesson learnt to get out of bed early!

Another 18 mile day brought us to Hot Springs. We were dumbfounded as we were told there's a Hot Spring there, where one be treated to Mineral baths and a 105 degree (fahrenheit obviously) jacuzzi. Our feet were aching beyond belief so we were itching to get there and jump into the excellent facilities.

Above: Max Patch, one of the few open areas where a panoramic view can be enjoyed.
Below: Washing clothes when we arrived in Hot Springs, most necessary.

Tuesday 13th May - Tuesday 20th May

Distance Covered: 56.9 miles
Miles to Finish: 1996.9 miles

We headed to Sassafras gap where we met ‘rewind’, ‘bearbait’ and ‘homewardbound’ – a tough hike after the food the day before. Charlie woke up to a mouse in his hair in the middle of the night and some people claim he cried – Charlie will later deny this. We then embarked on a 22 mile marathon hike to Fontana dam shelter (nicknamed the Hilton if a shelter ever can be!) in monsoon conditions.

Here we meet the famous ‘snakegripper’ (who had no food early in the hike so casually killed a snake and ate it!). One older American hiker told of his resentment towards Europeans after his 17yr old daughter missed her coach to the airport when on study abroad in Spain. She was kissing a local and this resulted in him having to pay a 500 euro cab fare for him over the phone in the middle of the night.

After drying out our packs Charlie and Michael arrived early at the little shop at the dam. They ended up having coffee outside with Lucy, who studied spiritualism under a medium for several years. Lucy was outrageously accurate in her assessment of them.

We now enter the famous Great Smoky Mountains National Park. This is reknowned for being one of the most beautiful parts of the trail. It is also one of the most diverse ecosystems along the trail. The team split for the first time staying at different shelters, unfortunately this was not due to a fist fight but mere weather conditions and also because Paul and Tom are struggling to get out of bed. Surprised anyone?!

Above: The underneath of an upturned tree.

Below is Rocky Top mountain, one of the most picturesue views we've seen yet.

Charlie couldn't resist going 'au naturel'.

We arrived at Cligman's Dome, the highest point of the trail, instead of being treated to stunning views across the Smoky Mountains we could only see as far as about 100 metres due to the fog.

At the moment we are well behind the required rate, slightly by accident but also deliberately as we ease ourselves into the swing of things. We then meet a fireman who's doing the 70 miles of the Smoky Mountains national park in 3 days, putting us to shame with our average mileage of about 10 miles a day.

He did find our stories highly amusing however, mainly the ones of how we set off at 2 p.m. due to lie ins. He said he hadn't woken up after 8 for years, oh dear think we need to change our mindset as he's obviously more successful than we are!

Thursday 8th May - Monday 12th May

Distance Covered: 51.4 miles
Miles to Finish: 2053.8 miles

On arriving at Standing Indian Shelter we met ‘big turtle’ again and he informed us once again that we were on his land as he is part native on his mothers side – we were warned to behave!

Charlie decided it was time to have a bath at this stage and managed to scare off many endangered species which the state have invested thousands of dollars painstakingly reintroducing back to the mountains - tens mins well spent Charles!

The Appalachian Trail Conservancy don't make toilets. But if they did they would probably be the best toilets in the world.




















Our biggest day to date which included Albert Mountain was rewarded with some terrific views and some delightful blisters! ‘Big turtle’ was seen at the foot of the mountain offering cash to anyone who passed for his pack to be brought to the summit, this was our last point of contact with the legendry figure!

Another big day followed, with prolonged thunderstorms in the mix. To top it off we didn't screw the lid on properly for the cooking fuel and thus it spilt everywhere, (no hot food!) and Michael decided to get sun burnt so badly that his skin blistered on his back. How convenient considering he's only got a 40 pound pack to put it on it!













We arrived in Franklin via hitch and stayed in ‘Ron Haven’s budget motel’ – laundry and re supply as well as a visit to the outfitters were incorporated. We warned with poor advice to stay another night due to tornados in the area! However, a taxi driver later told us that a tornado hadn’t been in Franklin for over 50 years. Oh well, the break would do us good we said...

Saw a quite physical arrest by the local law enforcement at a petrol station which engrained in us to conduct ourselves like the gentlemen we know we are. Started again at Winding Stair Gap and had a solid day to a packed Cold Spring shelter (aptly named after a v.cold night) – Tom without a tent for the first time managed to squeeze in much to his amusement, and it was also our first smash and corn beef experience! Dont' think we've ever been so happy to see what would normally be an unsatisfying meal.












The next day we were told by a passer-by that in 15 miles we passed through a little outdoor adventure centre which had, above all, a bar and beds. On the way Paul experiences the joy of having a rocks hidden in his rucksack and his pop tarts being stolen. The soggy humidity added to his, well, let's just say it wasn't the most joyous of moods.







18” pizza, whole pound burgers, bowls of chili and chocolate brownies are demolished as the famous hikers appetites are now in full force! Met ‘conductor’, ‘hippo’, ‘Cornelius’ and ‘Dr Zeus’ at the hostel bar and they embark on a drunken night hike – hats off for the effort. Bunk beds were exceptional after some awful nights sleep and were truly hard to get out of in the morning.

Saturday 3rd May - Wednesday 7th May

Distance covered: 30.5 miles

Miles to finish: 2105.2 miles

After a frustrating descent from Low Gap Shelter we stumbled into Unicoi Gap, a short hitch-hike away from the mock Swiss town of Helen. Soaked to the bone and hungry the agenda was set with one focus in mind- Fast food and lots of it. It wasn’t long before our thumbs had flagged down a ride and we burst into Wendy’s burger joint for a barbarian feed. It soon became apparent that 2nd’s and thirds were to be a common custom and that Story Teller’s ‘walking stomach theory’ was becoming a reality. Once we had eaten Wendy out of house we checked into a motel, the Helendorf Inn. We ended up staying in Helen an extra day as we required fuel for cooking and the hardware shop was closed for business on the Sabbath. During our time in Helen we explored vigorously.

After purchasing the fuel on Monday morning we hitched back out to Unicoi Gap to get back onto the train. We camped at a spot called the Cheese Factory site that eve & to the remaining party’s delight Tom pulled out a six pack of cold beers. Let’s just say it aided the transition of town to woods.

The next two days were pretty challenging incline wise, but we met some characters along the way including ‘macyoda’, ‘woolly’ and ‘nelson’. We then hitched into town for a re supply and some hot food! Our driver was more than amused when he questioned Tom on the difference on hiking in the US to home, tom’ s reply was “not all that differet, especially when you spend the whole day staring at your feet!”.

Our hitch back to the trail was a bit of a disaster though it didn't start that way...the charismatic driver with dyed blue hair was the same from a few days earlier which was a funny coincidence… though his company was appreciated he accidentally brought us back to where we had been three days beforehand. He then informed us that he was in a massive rush and couldn't take is to where we actually wanted to go. Fantastic. A few hours later due to two more hitchhikes we finally got back to where we had been 6 hours earlier.

The following day we crossed the state line into North Carolina – a massive mental achievement, apparently its customary to urinate from one state into the other as you cannot be prosecuted – one longer haired member of the team stepped up. Trail magic was in full swing at a gap ahead when Tom was greeted with a cold Budweiser at one of the gaps, after a horrible climb it made his day!

Paul enjoying the shade of the Rhodedendrons.

Monday 28th April - Friday 2nd May

Distance Covered: 32.9 Miles

Miles to Finish: 2135.7 miles




















As predicted Charlie had a horrendous nights sleep as the rodents and lack of a comfortable sleeping surface were accompanied by a loud thunderstorm that lasted several hours. When it rains it really pours eh. A humbling introduction to life in the great outdoors. Music tip for those who wish to be amused - go and download 'Outdoor Type' by the Lemonheads. It gives an accurate description of our feelings on day 2.





After starting at the crack of dawn, 11.30, we decided to hike a whopping 7.3 miles to Gooch Mountain Shelter where we started cooking by our tents, only to be informed by a veteran hiker that in bear country thats not the best idea as the smell lingers into clothes and tent fabrics.

On the same note food must hoisted into the air via ropes or cables, which is known as bear bagging the food. All food must go into the bag, inlcuding toothpaste apparently, and hoisted into the air several hundred metres away from the tents.

Charlie and Michael somehow forgot about the packs of Tuna (a bears favourite snack) in the pocket of their bags and duly had another sleepless night. This became a recurring theme for the rest of the week as they both battled with between the choice of safety first or fatigue, i.e. do I leave my warm sleeping bag and go and get the bear bag down in the dark, or risk it and enjoy the cosiness of the tent?

The lazy option always prevailed with disastrous consequences on the imagination front, not to mention the anxiety dreams of a hungry Yogi Bear.

Decided to cut our day short due to Charlies knee playing up. Fingers crossed it won't be a recurring injury. Camping at Dan's Gap is where we resided for the night.

Next up was the dreaded Blood Mountain, a stern test for overweight beginner hikers.

We were in jubilant mood when we reached the top as it was downhill all the way to Neels Gap, where an outfitters/hostel lay in wait. We spent 2 nights devouring pizzas and burgers, watching classic films such as The Big Lebowski and readdressing the equipment as our packs seemed awfully heavy. Winton, Felicity and Adam found the amount of kit we carried highly amusing. They shook their heads with a knowing smile and set about the downsizing process.

Came across the legendary 'Big Turtle' for the first time and also the unyielding, unstoppable 'storyteller'. Seeing is believing. This man had so many interesting stories to tell us it was astonishing and painfully funny. He'd been working at the hostel as a handy man for weeks and was basically a resident by the time we arrived, he kindly took us to our first all you can eat buffet for only US$8, unfortunately we were in a 'dry' county i.e. no alcohol allowed, which was disappointing mainly because we were intrigued to know if if it was humanly possible to tell stories at a faster rate than he was managing.

Adam was another with a few tales to tell, our favourite was of his thru-hike a few years back, when he backpacked all of the trails part or Connecticut in one go. Thats 52 miles in 22 hours without stopping for sleep. His lunch consisted of getting a king-sized snickers and using it as a spoon to finish a full jar of peanut butter. An inspiring tale which we may try to emulate. His stories of being awoken by mice eating out of his beard were not quite as comforting, escpecially considering the vow we've all taken not to shave for the duration of the trail.