Merry Christmas

So where's your favorite thru hiker?  I don't know, probably at home.  But where's Reboot? Well I'm taking a zero with my family and ohMEGA.  They've come up to Franklin, NC near where I was supposed to come out of the Great Smokey Mountain National Park.  The plan was for me to do the 110 miles from Hot Springs to Fontana dam in 4 days, but bad weather and tough terrain kept me from finishing the section on time.  Since there is no road for the last 40 miles, I decided to take a zero to spend time with them instead of spending Christmas in a shelter.  I'll get back on the trail and try to make up the miles soon, but my new expected finish date is probably January 2.

The Smokies are a beautiful section of trail.  Unfortunately, I've gotten some heavy rain, but the temperatures haven't dipped too low, and the views have been awesome.  I'm hiking up to some of the highest peaks, and will summit Clingman's Dome, the tallest point on the AT, the day I get back on.  Getting up to these elevations has required a good deal of climbing up, but it's pretty cool when you can hike to above the clouds.  The trail has been very empty though, so I've only been sharing these views with the two wild boar that ran into me (they weren't aggressive).


You may be wondering how I've been able to blog so much recently.  OhMEGA has been running awesome support for me, and I've been able to meet up and get the latest and greatest  trail news too you.  I wanted to thank her for making this last stretch so much easier and enjoyable.  I may not go fully insane after all.

Thank you all for the love and well wishes.  I wanted to give a big shout out to my friend Sarah in Boston for cheering me on the whole way.  Also it was great to see ohMEGA and my family for the holiday. I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas.

Did a little time in the pen.  Don't worry, I escaped.

This is my backyard.

Some people think it would be sketchy to go into a little dark shack in the woods for a rainy night.  Notice the cage to keep the hikers from getting out.

Frosty and I built a castle and had a snowball fight.

Climbing out of clouds and being above them made me feel like an airplane.  Except I'm faster.