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.