Expedition Elizabeth

Day 39 went from mile 107.5 to Winding Stair Gap – 1.7 miles.

Today we did another short hike, but hitch-hiked back into Franklin to resupply for a longer stretch.

The lady that picked us up immediately started talking about a situation that happened a couple of nights prior at Gooder Grove Hostel. I let Nooner do a lot of the talking because I wanted to get her to give me as much “information” as she had gotten from the female “victim”.

Before going to Ingles, we decided to go back to the Mexican restaurant for lunch! Yum! Nooner loves Mexican food, and I do too, so Mexican restaurants get a lot of our business!

On the way back from the Mexican restaurant, we also stopped by The Lazy Hiker Brewing Co. to get a few cold ones! I highly recommend the Margarita Gose!

As we were checking out at Ingles, we ran into Zen, the owner of Gooder Grove Hostel, which worked out perfectly because I was going to contact him later about what I had heard from the lady who gave us a ride into town (who actually ended up being a shuttler in the area and supposed business acquaintance of Zen’s). I told him about the interaction, and he was grateful enough that he offered to take us back to the trail.

Long story short: A girl named Luna (trail name Cheez-It) made up a HUGE lie that she was “fearful of her life” because something that happened at Zen’s place. I was present during the time of the conversation and heard exactly what was said and there was NO REASON WHATSOEVER for her to have any reason to feel that way. Zen and I have an idea of why she might have come up with the lie, but that is irrelevant. The truth is that Zen is a really great person and he runs a very generous, very professional business. This girl had no right to lie to this shuttler nor did this shuttler have a right to spread lies about Zen or pretend to have a friendly, business relationship with Zen while talking about him and his business behind his back.

On our way to the trailhead, Zen called the shuttler to confront her about the situation while I was present since I was also present during the supposed incident. The shuttler actually hung up the phone on Zen mid-sentence. This was very unprofessional in my opinion!

Zen drove us back out and even showed us a good spot for our tent since it was going to rain that night!

Thanks for joining me on Expedition Elizabeth!

Day 38 went from Rock Gap to a small campsite at mile 106.7 – 1.2 miles.

I can’t remember what was up with us this day.

I think Nooner was really concerned with me taking it slow, and after being off trail for so long, I was not used to hiking!

It is what it is! Haha.

Thanks for joining me on Expedition Elizabeth!

Day 37 Zero’d in Franklin, but Nooner’s dad dropped us off at Rock Gap where we tented that night.

This morning, we woke up late (aka typical Noon-er fashion). First, we went to a tea shop where the owner talked to us for at least an hour. Then, we finally made it to the Asian King buffet for lunch. I’m pretty sure Nooner ran the sushi bar dry!

Then, we finally got to Sylva to get Nooner’s bank card. After, we made a quick run by Nooner’s favorite place, Ingles.

We finished the day by taking Nooner’s dad to Rock Gap where we were going to tent for the night. While there, we hiked back up the trail about 0.1 mile to a shelter to show Nooner’s dad.

I think Nooner was really happy to have his dad there. He made sure to show his dad how we set up the tent. It was adorable to watch him gain his father’s approval. I could tell Nooner was so proud of himself. I liked seeing him so happy.

Thanks for joining me on Expedition Elizabeth!

Day 36 Zero’d in Franklin.

We had to meet up with Nooner’s dad today to get Nooner’s bank card problem fixed.

But, we didn’t end up getting to the bank. His dad needed time to drive in, so we met him at The Lazy Hiker Brewing Co.

Don’t they look exactly alike!

I loved meeting his dad because I got to learn where all of his mannerisms came from!

We went to eat at the Mexican restaurant in Franklin (I believe it was called Mi Casa).

Then, Nooner’s dad was nice enough to get us 3 a hotel room for the night at the Comfort Inn.

He would take us into Sylva tomorrow to get Nooner’s card.

That night, I’m not sure if I dreamed this or if it actually happened, but Nooner kissed me while I was asleep. I hope it really happened because he doesn’t really like kissing – it would make me feel really special if it did happen. But, I guess if it didn’t happen, I wanted it to happen badly enough I dreamed about it. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Thanks for joining me on Expedition Elizabeth!

Day 35 Zero’d at Gooder Grove Hostel in Franklin as day 12 of Dr. Kilee’s 10 Day Rest Plan.

Nooner finally made it to Rock Gap where he hitch hiked into Franklin!

He said he was afraid I had left…

He said he ran out of food, and no wonder with all of it that he left with me!

He also said he nearly froze, but he was just determined to get out there during a cold front!

I was really happy to see him, but I don’t think he was that happy to see me. I ran to the car when he drove in and gave him a hug.

Today, we also found out that Nooner’s bank card had issues, so we had to make plans to get that fixed tomorrow.

Thanks for joining me on Expedition Elizabeth!

Day 34 Zero’d at Gooder Grove Hostel in Franklin as day 11 of Dr. Kilee’s 10 Day Rest Plan.

Day 33 Zero’d at Gooder Grove Hostel in Franklin as day 10 of Dr. Kilee’s 10 Day Rest Plan.

Day 32 Zero’d at Gooder Grove Hostel in Franklin as day 9 of Dr. Kilee’s 10 Day Rest Plan.

Day 31 Zero’d at the Holiday Inn in Hiawassee on Day 8 of Dr. Kilee’s 10 Day Rest Plan.

Woke up to light snow.

Brett Eady shuttled me to Franklin to Gooder Grove Hostel to wait for Nooner.

I stayed in the private room with Boss and Vapor. So happy to be reunited with them!

Day 30 Zero’d at the Holiday Inn in Hiawassee on Day 7 of Dr. Kilee’s 10 Day Rest Plan.

I woke up this morning really really REALLY hoping I was going to be hiking out with Nooner. I got up early to catch up on blogs while I still had service, but after trying to stand up, there was no way I was making it out to the trail.

Even though I had pretty much made my mind up about what I was going to do yesterday, I made Nooner go through it with me again. He’s a trooper!

The plan:

Nooner was going to hike out of Dicks Creek and head to Franklin which we are hoping only takes him 3-4 days.

I am going to yellow blaze up to Franklin and take that time to continue resting and healing my ankles. Also, Vapor and Boss are already there, so I’ll be meeting up with them tomorrow night, but then they will hit the trail the following day.

The hope is that in 3-4 days everyone will be in Franklin so we can all hike out together from there!

The morning was devoted to getting Nooner packed back up. The night before I made sure to get our laundry done so we wouldn’t have to worry about it today, but when I walked through the little hallway to get our clothes from the dryer, I noticed Nooner forgot to put two (of his three) pairs of boxers in the wash! So, I did laundry round 2, making sure to get all the clothes this time!

Since I wouldn’t be hiking, just yellow blazing, I also told Nooner that he could send his extra food with me so he wouldn’t have to carry it on trail.

He shed a lot of pounds in trail mix alone! Haha. Like 5 pounds!

This was probably half of his food, and that’s after he pulled his typical pot-in-hand breakfast!

Staying true to his name, he was about ready to leave at noon.

I like to think he was procrastinating because he was going to miss me!… but he said, “I mean I’m going to see you in 3 days!” Haha.

So I knew I needed to go up to Top of Georgia hostel to get a package I was having delivered there and Dicks Creek is only 0.5 mile past that so I tried to find a ride for us, but failed – so we decided to hitch hike out of town together.

Because I can’t really walk that well, we only went down the hill to the main road. We weren’t having a lot of luck, so we decided to keep walking a little ways. Then, as we were passing a parking lot to a realty company, a very nice lady in a red SUV asked where we were going and said she wasn’t going that direction, but she’s loved to give us a ride out!

This is Brenda! She is so very sweet! She really went above and beyond for us. Not only did she take us out to the trailhead and to Top of Georgia, but she also waited for me to pick up my package so she could bring me back to the Holiday Inn!

It was just incredibly kind of her to do all of this especially when all of it was out of her way! When Nooner and I decided to hitch out I really wasn’t sure exactly how I was going to get back in town with a package and my fractured heel bones, but she took care of everything!

We got Nooner dropped off, and we said our good-byes. Then, headed to Top of Georgia. Come to find out, Brenda is the person who sold the property to Bob the owner of Top of Georgia hostel! She was glad she was able to go and say hey to him while I picked up my package.

Unfortunately, UPS decided they did not want to deliver my package as they should have, so my package wasn’t even there! I felt terrible for making Brenda wait on me! I did not know it was going to take so long and not even be there. I felt awful to have wasted her time when she was so generous, but she promised it was not a big deal and was totally understanding! I was so thankful for that! She even offered to take me back when it did arrive!

When she was driving back into town, she was asking about my reason for being on the trail, and I just told her about how I was just trying to find what God wanted me to do, and she really connected with me on that because she is also seeking peace in Him for a personal situation in her life. It’s amazing how sometimes you have these urges and they can lead you to someone for a deeper meaning.

After she dropped me off, a guy who is a staff member at Top of Georgia Matt called saying UPS had finally delivered the package, but he was willing to bring it into town when he got off that night to prevent me having to get a ride back out there. He is a superstar! It was really generous of him to help me! Side note: He has really nice long hair!

When I got back to my room I opened the package immediately because I was so excited my new sleeping bag had finally arrived! It is a NEMO Jam 15 women’s long. I am already in love with it!

This is a comparison to the bag I have been using The North Face Campforter 20 degree men’s long.

I’m not sure if I ever went into detail as to why I decided to get a new bag, so ignore this if I have: TNF Campforter was just absorbing tons of moisture overnight to the point that the top of my sleeping bag would be wet and actually have a layer of ice on top of it, then the ice would melt and soak the down. I was never affected by this physically, but it weighed on me mentally and kept me from sleeping at night because I kept waking up to make sure it wasn’t too wet and having to dry it off the best I could throughout the night. Here are some pictures.

This was happening every night regardless of what I did to ventilate the tent and reduce the moisture inside the tent body.

The NEMO Jam is more water resistant/waterproof, so that is why I chose to go ahead with this bag. Yes, I know there is still a chance I will have moisture in my tent and I know it may not solve my problem. However, I wanted a bag that would stand up to it better than TNF Campforter.

I’ll be mailing TNF back home to my mom tomorrow.

Bottom line – YAY! NEW SLEEPING BAG!

Again, thank you Matt at Top of Georgia!

Later that evening, I went to the hot tub and heated pool – what was I thinking?? Haha, just kidding! As I hobbled to an open spot, I took a survey of everyone and what do you know, across the hot tub from me is the Krazy Korean (aka Bama, I will personally give you $1 if you will call him that!)! Talk about trouble! Accompanying him was a nice older man named General who is about to meet up with his son for a section hike before his son is deployed back to Iraq and a young dude I can’t remember his name but I’ll call him 22.

We goofed off for a good bit, then Krazy Korean aka Bama was hungry, so he asked me to join him at the Huddle House. Being the gentleman that he is 🙄😉, he took care of my dinner for me and only complained a little about walking slow through the cold rain. Haha! I’m giving him grief, but he’s really a pretty cool guy! I believe he said they will be heading out tomorrow towards Franklin!

Thanks for joining me on Expedition Elizabeth!