Sprout Day 209 (Saturday, October 22, 2016)

It felt great getting into my warm camp clothes last night. I had on my base layers, an extra pair of pants, two pairs of socks, my base layer top, and my puffy jacket! Usually, I'm too hot to sleep in any of that but it was so cold last night. It was in 30’s and the wind was blowing. We woke up early but it was so cold there was no way we were getting out of our sleeping bags. We eventually got up and moving around 10:00!

I don't think we've ever started getting ready that late but it felt good to lay in the warm sleeping bag. Everyone else at the shelter was doing the same thing and thinking the same thing, it was too cold! We got up and had some breakfast and coffee and tried to stay warm. My boots were wet and I was waiting to put those on last. When I did put them on it felt like I was walking on needles because my feet were ice cold. We had to start moving to warm up.

We planned on going 16 miles to Boots Off Hostel to get dry and resupply enough to get to Erwin, Tennessee. We had to stop first thing in the morning for water and that took longer than usual because the water source was shAllow. It was so cold we were moving quick to stay warm. On the way down we saw a bunch of signs warning about a problem bear around the shelters in the area. We made great time getting to the hostel and had our fastest day yet. We made it the 16 miles before 6:00.

Boots Off Hostel is a new hostel and it's only .2 miles off the trail. It's nice, clean, and the staff is very friendly and helpful. All the bunks were taken so we paid the ten bucks to camp outside. Whiskers and Toad are camping outside too. It's not nearly as cold as last night and we are lower in elevation so it’s a lot warmer. We were able to wash and dry our clothes and had dinner as soon as we got here, a delicious chicken alfredo and eggplant parmesan. After dinner, the owner Jim took us to the Dollar General for a resupply. The inside was nice and toasty with a wood burning fireplace and there was a big TV with college football playing. I’m really glad we stopped here.

Day: 209
Miles hiked: 16
Total Miles hiked on the trail: 1767.5
Baby Bear: 1
Bald Eagle: 1
Bluegill: 2
Butterflies: 8
Chipmunks: 3
Cows: 24
Crawfish: 1
Deer: 20

Donkeys: 2
Grouse: 1
Horses: 15
Hummingbird: 1
Inchworm: 1
Really Big Dog: 1
Mice: 2
Moose: 2
Nest of bugs: 2
Newts: 2
Owl: 1
Rabbit: 1
Red Squirrel: 1
Skunk: 1
Snail: 1
Snake: 3
Squirrels: 12
Toads: 3
Trout: 2
Turkeys: 4
Turtles: 107
Vultures: 6
Woodpecker: 1