I have always wanted to go the Great Smokey Mountains. There is more bio diversity in these mountains than most anywhere else in the continental USA. Starting our hike here was a beautiful start to our journey. One of the first things I said to Morganne on the trail was “do you smell that?” The smell of wet earth and pines is intoxicating. We have trekked across the ridge of the smokies now. Very steep ups and downs. But we have been blessed with good weather. Apparently on these ridges good clear skies can be hard to come by this time of year.

You can’t forget to slow down and take in all the miracles that surround us. One of the things I looked forward to by going on the trail was slowing down. I figured walking everywhere would make doing this easier. It didn’t. I still have to remind myself to stop staring at the ground on auto pilot. We saw some incredible things today salamanders, newts, toads, and BEARS. This was huge on my bucket list. While sitting in the shelter I noticed some movement 75 yards out. It was a momma with 4 little cubs. When we all grabbed our camera’s and made a commotion momma sent her cubs up the tree. Its incredible how these Lil guys can climb so high. The cubs were so cute. Probably only a few weeks old. They appeared only 25 or 30 lbs. Very cool day could have asked for a better trip to the smokies.

We are officially out of the smokies today. We met Connie our trail angel for breakfast and resupply. Never thought I’d love an egg mcmuffin so much. Visited for a minute then went to standing bear hostel to shower and do laundry. We were met with friendly rustic conditions. Here’s a few pictures well be moving on in a few hours.

We have met incredible people and are continuing on the trail to victory