One last stop in Tennessee! Hello, Hampton!

Hampton, TN: what a great stop! We arrived to a warm welcome from Beth McPherson, former Thru-Hiker and current environmental activist with a passion for our cause. She made us feel right at home as she navigated us through the town to grocery stores, post offices, and of course, fast food restaurants! In turn, we happily accompanied her to Keep America Beautiful's county clean-up on Saturday where a great group of people showed their love and support for Mother Earth. The clean up was a great success (parts of it along the Trail itself) and was followed by a picnic and raffle at the town center. Thanks so much Beth! You rock!

While our days were spent cleaning up trash and educating people about our fabulous cause, our nights were spent at the legendary Kincora hostel, thanks to owner Bob Peoples. For anyone hiking this beautiful section of the AT, a stop at Bob's is an absolute necessity! His generosity and love for the Trail is known along every mile, and well worth the $4.00 recommended donation. Of course leaving more than that is what most appreciative hikers do, since you have the ability to shower, wash clothes, take shuttles into town and use real kitchen appliances during your stay. It is amazing that places like Kincora exist and we want to send a big Thank You out to Bob for all his hard work! You can be certain to see him (and us!) at the infamous Trail Days in Damascus, VA the 16th-18th! It is definitely an event not to be missed!

On a progress-oriented note, we have passed the 400 mile mark (say it with us, whoo-hoo!) and are just about one day away from leaving Georgia, North Carolina, AND Tennessee for good! Hello Virginia! Also we have been graced by our friends Shutterbug and Hot Wheels with our very own trail names. No longer are we Carlie and Jordan...say hello to Gucci and Bearfoot! More to come soon...and if you have any questions or comments (only positive ones accepted! :)) please don't hesitate to email us @ trek.against.trash@gmail.com. We would love to hear from you!

Radio Interview - Live From Our Tent in the Rain!

Hey everyone, Check out this radio interview from 3/31. Big thanks to The Bill and Joel Morning Show on WDUN in Gainesville, GA for helping us spread the word! This is what it's all about.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN!

Sunshiney days and visitors in Erwin, TN!

Hey gang! Just wanted to check in after a long and restful few days in Erwin, Tennessee hanging at the most popular hiker spot in town: Uncle Johnny's hostel.

We arrived ahead of schedule and figured we would spend a day or two riding bikes around town and reorganizing our lives (aka: backpacks!) while we waited for Jordan's fun little brother and a bunch of friends to meet up with us on Saturday.

The weather was perfectly delivered for our off-days, 75 and sunny! Definitely a little warm for hiking, but absolutely fabulous for eating ice cream and sitting in lawn chairs going over our schedule and reading...which is precisely what we did! We also got to spend some time with some of our favorite Trail buddies who were also staying at the hostel: Bogey, Slim, Bahama Dave, Shutterbug, Hot Wheels, Corley, Crocs, and Potter! They were super supportive when a reporter from the Erwin Record, a local newspaper, came to take some pictures and get our story. Thanks for taking the time Bailey!

Once the Atlanta gang arrived, it was nothing but smiles and great conversation as we headed to hiker's paradise, WAL-MART, to stock up on some goodies for our very own trail magic! We hit the shelter hard that night rolling in with cookies, chips, candy, and more hot dogs than would be advisable to consume in any given night...but of course we valiantly finished them off over a killer campfire with the help of our shelter-mates that night: Toze, Grasshopper, Orange Dust, and Greenwood! Not to mention our awesome Atlanta-ers: Austin, Nate, Chad, Justin, Daniel and the fluffiest one of them all...Wiley Dog! It was great to see everyone and we can't wait for another visit! Friends and family rock!

That's all to report for now...but we will definitely check in again soon! Our next stop is Hampton, TN...which also happens to be our very last stop entirely in Tennessee. We are headed on to see what Virginia holds for us. You guys keep your fingers crossed for sunny skies and friendly terrain and we will keep our fingers crossed to see some of you out there on the Trail!

P.S.- we hit our one month Trail anniversary this week! Woo-Hoo! Send cookies! :)

30 degrees and snowing? Just another day on the AT!

As I type this I am huddled down IN my squishy purple sleeping bag, which happens to be a negative 5 degree bag...otherwise known as you will be sweating your buns off in this bag unless your name is Carlie and you are freakishly cold all the time...and there is an inch of snow outside the shelter and still coming down!

If you recall from my earlier blog in Hot Springs, it was about 85 degrees and we were getting tan and loving life. Luckily, because we're extremely adaptable and happened to not send our winter clothes home, we are STILL loving life even though the conditions are just about opposite. Yesterday, we hiked our 15 miles in cold temps and a wintry mix of snow and sleet. Needless to say by the time we arrived at Jerry Cabin Shelter, we quickly snagged the last two shelter spots and changed out of our wet, dirty clothes and into our warmish dry ones!

We went to bed early, seeing as how there is nothing else to do when it's about 20 degrees outside and tried to stay warm through the night. 12 hours (yes, 12! You try getting out of your warm sleeping bag when its snowing out!) and lots of loud snoring later, we managed to pry ourselves out our bags and our sleeping clothes and into our frozen dirty clothes from the day before. The snow had accumulated a little during the night and continued as we left for another 15 miler.

It was a colder day than before, although the wintry mix did let up enough throughout the day to at least allow us to thaw out periodically! However, for all the time spent today NOT snowing, it bombarded us for the last 2 miles of our journey. If we had been any farther from our shelter, we would have had to stop where we were, throw up our tent, and call it a night. Luckily we were close enough to make it in time to claim spots IN the shelter (if it's full when you arrive, you either have to tent or move on to the next shelter which is usually 8ish miles away.) and repeat the process from the night before...which brings me to now, huddled up IN my sleeping bag typing to you. I guess we can say one good thing about the past two days: at least it wasn't rain!

We will miss you, Hot Springs, NC!

I just have to write another quick post because we just spent the most relaxing night in a beautiful Victorian house located in a town directly on the Trail and we have to tell you about it! I'm talking about Hot Springs, and you absolutely can't miss it as you walk to Maine.

The town in its entirety can't be more than 5 blocks or so and consists mainly of an outfitter, a pub, a diner, a hiker-friendly salon, a laundromat, a dollar store, and the Sunnybank Inn. The last stop on the list is where we spent our aforementioned relaxing evening. It is a huge, beautiful Victorian house with an absurd amount of rooms that ALWAYS seem to be full of Thru-Hikers on their way to Maine, and an atmosphere unlike anything I've experienced in a long time.

Because they were full our first night in town, we put ourselves on the waiting list for the next night and couldn't have been happier about our decision to stay! We were put up in room number 3, with a view of main street and a door to one of the many balconies. (you know how old houses are, balconies and chairs everywhere...this one was no exception! And with the 80 degree weather, they were definitely the place to be!) It's an EXTREMELY reasonable 15 dollars a person a night, with the option to sign up for breakfast and dinner during your stay for an additional 6 and 10 dollars, respectively.

Now, let me just take a minute or five to talk about food, since that was one of our highlights here. When you're on the Trail, food is one of your main sources of entertainment. You daydream about it, you talk about it, you think about it, and the worst part is, you never get to eat the foods that those conversations are about. It ends up being ramen...again, or a scoop of peanut butter on a candy bar.

Now cut back to the Sunnybank Inn. The food here is everything you've been daydreaming about...and more...especially if your visions often contain organic vegetarian food like mine do! That's what you get when you put your name under "dinner" on the chalkboard outside the kitchen. An amazing, full-blown 5 course organic vegetarian meal that you would have punched your best friend over not even 3 days ago in the woods. All the food is homemade, much of it grown in their own garden, and for all you meat-lovers out there, you would never even know that it's missing.

So my point is, anyone coming through this way, or thinking about coming through this way, or anyone looking for an unfortunately long-gone friends are family attitude MUST MUST MUST spend a night...or two...or three...here in Hot Springs at Sean and Elmer's Sunnybank Inn. I promise you won't regret it. Oh, and just a word to the wise, no matter how hungry you are before dinner DO NOT eat a fistful of Twizzlers and a Little Debbie Boston Creme Cake as your hiking partner threatens to tell your mom that you spoiled your dinner. Trust me. You will be way too full for dessert.

Trail Magic twice in a row? The world can't be ALL bad...

Yes, folks...you read it correctly: we had the lovely experience of Trail Magic not once, but two days in a row! And here's how it happened. (for all you people out there who think, like we do, that Trail Magic is AMAZING but you need some ideas, get ready to take notes! These are premium examples of Magic at its best!).

We were exhausted after a long day of major hills (Jordan says hills, I say mountains. Remember, I'm ONLY like 5'1" with short little legs...thanks Mom and Dad!) but really looking forward to making it to the top of one of the landmarks of the Trail, the summit of Max Patch. We were struggling up the last mile, soaking in the sun (and sweating our butts off in the process) and trying to overcome the "Jello-ness" that was our legs when our noses twitched with the familiar smell of charcoal. Jordan, obviously quite a ways ahead of me, turns around and states hopefully..."Trail Magic?"

I, not wanting to think of anything but our tent and my squishy purple sleeping bag, was like "at the top of the mountain? Yeah, right." Turns out he WAS right, go figure. As we finally rounded the last corner that put us on the beautiful top of Max Patch, we saw two guys, a cooler, a grill, and a person-sized bag of BBQ potato chips. DELISH! Turns out, they were two former Thru-Hikers with a passion for PBR, hot dogs, and snacks. Thank goodness for good people...Spyder and Fuzzy Beerfoot, you are our heroes!

We hung out for awhile as other Thru-Hikers came and snacked delightedly on the goodies then headed the 2 miles down to our shelter for the night: Roaring Fork. The next day we were up bright and early for another shot at those darn mountains. No matter how many we climb, the stubborn things just seem to keep popping up! We were about 12 miles in with 6 to go and feeling pretty sunburned and definitely peanut-buttered out when we crossed a road and saw a glorious green tub with the heavenly words " For Thru-Hikers. Take Only One."

Knowing already that anything we were instructed to Take Only One of just HAD to be delicious, we opened the top to find our own little bit of yummy goodness, just when we needed it! Inside were Ziploc bags, each containing a bottle of gatorade (trust us, water gets SO boring), a bag of trail mix, some mini snickers, a package of crackers, a sanitizing hand wipe (probably best used BEFORE eating...oops!), a bag of M&M's...and the best part, a note from our Trail Angel. It said: "This little package is to wish you Blessings on your way! Pass on the Blessings as your journey progresses. Drop a little note if you will at Bluff Mountain Outfitters for the "Blessings Princess" to let her know you're OK!

But her identity remains anonymous for reasons of her own. Remember to offer gratitude for your strength and health and smile every chance you get!" Yep, this Appalachian Trail thing is pretty sweet after all. :)

Gatlinburg, TN: the perfect place to rest up...and eat funnel cakes!

Well Jordan and I have spent the last day here in Gatlinburg, TN, prepping for the kickoff of Keep America Beautiful's Great American Clean-Up for Sevier county! It was a rainy two days, to say the least, and we definitely got even more opportunities to test our raingear...as if a dreary week in the Smokies wasn't enough?!

We LOVED the whole crew, especially our new buddy Jennifer and her fabulous dog Quentin! We hope you enjoyed the interview! :) We thoroughly enjoyed the R&R that Gatlinburg provided us...and we won't complain about the overabundance of doughnuts and junk food, either!

We also want to give a big HOWDY (I think they probably say that here, right?) to our fun new friends at Smoky Mountain Outfitters, Lee and Phillip...your store rocks! Thanks for the good conversation and insider tips...your insight is invaluable! Also want to make sure we thank our very favorite Trail Angels, Dad Franko and Son Franko...we would never have made it to Gatlinburg without your help! You are both awesome, and good luck to Son Franko on the PCT; you are going to take that Trail by storm!

Once we headed out of that crazy not-so-little town and back up the mountain, it felt like home sweet home again! We strapped on our packs, commemorated making it to the Tennessee-North Carolina border at Newfound Gap with a quick picture and went on our way through the rest of the Smokies...here we go again!