Missing her J-Dog sure is a great motivator

Happy Easter everyone. I hope you day was wonderful. I spent it with Melissa's folks and we were lucky enough to get a trail call from Melissa.

Thay had met up with some trail magic about three miles out from Standing Bear Farm. The girls put 19. Count that again... 19 miles... on today. Melissa has been missing her buddy and pushing the miles to the breaking point so the troop can be whole again.

Someone who was dishing out the trail magic also let her borrow their phone to call home. She told us she was being filled with grilled cheese sandwiches, hard boiled eggs and all kinds of sweet delicious stuff. Many thanks go out to those incredible people who took the time to make their Easter celebration with the thru-hikers. Lots of merriment and cheer was had.

By the time this is up on the blog, Melissa and Jordan will be reunited. Christina, Melissa, and Jordan are together again and the pack is once again whole. I should get a call from Standing bear Hostel and Hollywood will be updating her Facebook once they settle in and she gets Tripwire out of prison and back in her loving arms.

They are officially out of the Smokies and in Hartford, TN. This puts them at mile 238.5 NoBo. When looking at the A.T. Guide, the elevation was a pretty steady downhill for them with one minor uphill section. I'm sure that helped with the miles but not as much as the motivation to see Jordan again.


I was able to find a small video taken at the Standing Bear Farm Hostel. The person narrating shows us just how much trail names are used and we get a quick glimpse of the facilities.

The video is one of a three part series that goes through the SBF very well. IT was taken 4 years ago. Thanks to youtube user dzimme20 for the video.

I'll fill you in on the details of the Smokies hike when Melissa calls. Thanks for reading.