Day 10: (Albert Mountain Fire Tower (mile 99.7) - Rock Gap (mile 105.8) *overnight with the Crawfords*)

I woke up a little before 8am to find that nearly everything had dried out. Apparently the rain had stopped at some point during the night and the wind gusts over the mountain must have worked hard to dry my tent. I celebrated this pleasant surprise by digging my morning cat hole and retrieving my bear bag. As I was returning to my tent I noticed that the sunrise was casting a golden complexion on the mountains to the west. I could not see the sunrise from where I set up my tent, but I knew that it must be a good one so I hurried to break down my tent and boogie up to the fire tower.

When I reached the tower, I let out an involuntary "wow." Below me stretched a valley of clouds interrupted only by an occasional mountain ridge (pictured in the banner above).

I sat at the top of Albert Mountain for a while just appreciating the grandiose view. My spirits were rather high and I decided to eat breakfast and do my morning stretches at the base of the fire tower. I also found the unofficial 100 mile marker of the AT carved into the fire tower staircase. I had half-heartedly searched for the marker last night, but the rain and cold had forced me into my tent. Albert Mountain is technically at mile 99.7, but this is the spot that most thru-hikers treat as the 100 mile mark. I took several pictures and laughed as I thought to myself: "only 21 more to go!"

My plan for the day was to hike just under 10 miles and camp near Winding Stair Gap. From there I would catch a morning shuttle into Franklin, NC to resupply and maybe grab a beer at Lazy Hiker Brewing Company. I set out a little after 10am and was happy to notice that my left arch was not giving me trouble like it had been yesterday.

After hiking a little over 6 miles I reached Rock Gap, where a very excited young boy ran up to me from down trail and yelled: "are you a hiker?!?!" My first thought was: "where are your parents??," but I replied: "yes!" The young boy then explained that his family was doing trail magic. He very excitedly told me that his name was Rainier and started naming off all the items on the trail magic menu including salad, corndogs, french fries, beer, fruit, and the list just kept going. I was honestly a little overwhelmed by Rainier's energy and the apparent fact that I would soon be in a food coma.

As Rainier led me out of the woods and into the gap parking lot, I saw two canopy tents. The first sheltered several boxes of food, a massive cooler, and a propane stove being manned by a woman and two high-school-aged kids. The other canopy tent sheltered a portable fire pit and a ring of chairs. I recognized a couple of hikers sitting around the fire pit, but I also noticed a man hunched over the pit with a cauldron of frying oil and a kettle. As I approached, I was offered a plate onto which I heaped a very tasty salad. I then accepted a beer and made my way to the fire pit. The two tents were a hive of activity and I noticed a lot of kids ranging in age from preschool (Rainier) to late high school/early college. Something finally clicked in my mind and I asked: "are you guys the Crawfords?" They were.

The Crawfords are pretty famous in the thru-hiking community. In 2018 they became the largest family to complete an AT thru-hike (two parents and six kids). At the time, their daughter Filia was also the youngest female to complete the AT (she was seven). I was not super familiar with the Crawfords' story beyond their collective trail name "The Family" and that they had an encounter with Child Protective Services after getting caught in a blizzard in the Smokies. That being said, I was still really excited to meet them and I was especially curious to learn more about their lifestyle.

As soon as I sat down, Ben (the father) asked if I would like some fresh french fries. He then proceeded to dump freshly cut potatoes into the cauldron of oil. Before I could even finish my fries, Ben asked if I wanted a corndog or fried cheese stick. I accepted both offers and he dipped a hotdog and a cheese stick into batter and dropped both in the oil. My lunch quickly turned into a plate of salad, three servings of french fries, two corndogs, a fried cheese stick, and a beer. I was a happy hiker.

I told Ben that I still had about 3.5 miles to hike before reaching Winding Stair Gap where I planned to camp for the night. He responded: "well, we'll be here tonight making fettuccine alfredo for dinner and we'll be back in the morning to make blueberry pancakes for breakfast!" ...and that is approximately the moment I decided to abandon my plans and camp at Rock Gap😂

Lots of other hikers passed through Rock Gap, but most were planning to make it into Franklin for the night, so they moved on after a corndog and a beer. Everbody kept mentioning that the weather was supposed to turn really nasty at night with heavy rain and strong winds, but the promise of blueberry pancakes kept me determined to tough it out at the gap. About mid-afternoon, Lauren and Squid showed up, both of whom were planning to spend the night at Rock Gap shelter just a few hundred yards down the trail. CatchUp and Lightning also arrived in their converted school bus to join in on the trail magic festivities.

The Crawfords, CatchUp and Lightning, and me

As I hung around the gap waiting for dinner, I talked a lot with Ben and Cami about their thru-hike and their parenting philosophy. I will avoid dwelling on it too much here, but I must say that it was really fascinating hearing from a pair of parents that have adopted such a "radical" parenting strategy. The way they have chosen to raise their family shatters a lot of societal standards of "good parenting," but it was abundantly clear to me that their kids were happy, healthy, and much more mature than their ages would suggest. If you want to learn more about the Crawford family's thru-hike, check out their book "2000 Miles Together," which Ben tells me is available on Amazon.

Throughout the afternoon Rainier and Filia challenged me and other hikers to countless games of rock, paper, scissors and paddy cake, both of which I apparently suck at😅 At about 4:30pm, Dove (the oldest of the Crawford kids) announced that dinner was ready. She explained that they had made the alfredo sauce from scratch and my mouth watered as I smelled the roasted garlic. Squid, Lauren, and I devoured our pasta and discussed our plans for the night. I explained that I would probably set up my tent under one of the Crawfords' canopy tents to get a little extra protection from the monsoon that was apparently approaching. Squid and Lauren said that they were both planning to stay at the shelter. Ben an Cami briefly spoke amongst themselves and then offered that we could join them in their cabin for the night.

We then packed everything except the canopy tents, fire pit, and chairs in the back of the Crawfords' van. Squid and I loaded into the back of the van as well and we headed down the road. After a short drive, we reached the Crawfords' "cabin," which turned out to be a very large and very nice Airbnb just outside of Franklin. After leaving my dirty shoes and pack on the porch, I made my way inside and was immediately a bit overwhelmed. I found that I did not know what to do with myself; partially because all of the Crawfords were going about their evening tasks, and partially because the space was so nice and clean. I did not want to get any of the furniture dirty, so I ended up sitting on the floor while waiting for the shower to open up. While I waited, Ben interviewed me on camera about my thru-hike experience thus far. He did not specify what he was planning to use the interview footage for, but I am guessing it might end up on the family's YouTube channel: "Fight for Together."

After showering, Lauren, Squid, and I did a load of laundry and lounged in the living room feeling spoiled. Some of the kids baked cookies and pot stickers and offered us our fill of each. Eventually, the Crawfords made their way to bed and I spent the night on a very comfy leather couch. I was a happy hiker🤗

Sunrise on Albert
afternoon with the Crawfords
unmatched trail magic

Day 11: (Rock Gap (mile 105.8) - Moore Creek Campsite (mile 110.4))

I woke up at 7:15am and gathered my laundry from the dryer. After taking a bird bath in the sink, I lounged around and waited for the Crawfords to begin waking up. The house soon turned into a chaotic hive of activity and we ended up loading into the van a little before 8am. This time, I was in the back with Lauren and we discussed our excitement for the upcoming blueberry pancake breakfast. My plan was to eat breakfast with Crawfords and then hike the next 3.5 miles with Lauren and Squid to catch an 11:30am shuttle into Franklin.

Last night, before we left Rock Gap, we lowered the canopy tents and staked them down in anticipation for stormy conditions. When we reached the gap we found both tents had been blown over and appeared in rough shape. We quickly set to work getting the tents back up and unloaded the van for breakfast. After a few minutes, one of the tents blew over again and this time we gathered rocks to pin the tent's feet to the ground.

Once the tents were secure, Dove and Memory got to work cooking blueberry pancakes and eggs on the stove while Ben cooked sausages in a skillet over the fire. I ate my fill of pancakes and sausages and enjoyed my last few moments hanging out with the Crawfords. At about 9am Lauren and I thanked the Crawfords for their incredible generosity and headed down the trail. As I was leaving, Rainier challenged me to one last round of rock, paper, scissors. No one was surprised when I lost🤣

Filia joined Lauren and me for the first mile of our hike. She turned back and we said our goodbyes at Wallace Gap. Lauren and I talked about trail names and I said that she could be "Spreadsheets" or "Excel" given her history as a corporate accountant. Thus, Lauren became "Excel."

We started hiking in the rain, but by 10am it was barely raining at all. I realized at some point that I must have left my Buff in the dryer at the Crawfords. I was a little disappointed to loose a piece of gear so early in my hike, but it was not an essential item and I did not dwell on the loss. The 3.5 mile hike to Winding Stair Gap was nice and we reached the gap by 11am. While we waited for our shuttle, I used Lauren's trekking poles to knight her as "Excel of the Appalachian Trail."🗡

Our shuttle arrived promptly at 11:30am. The shuttle driver introduced himself as "Sunsets" and explained that he was a hostel owner who has written a guide on hiking the AT.

I asked Sunsets about the next two resupply points at the Nantahala Outdoor Center and Fontana Village, NC. Sunsets advised that I should ship a resupply to Fontana Village. He then dropped me off at the town square in Franklin where I ran into Madeleine and Daphne. I asked them about public restrooms in the area and Madeline recommended the bathroom at the local outfitter Outdoor 76.

After using the restroom, I figured I should ask the hiking experts at the outfitter about my left arch issue. My foot had not been bothering me much since the night on Albert Mountain, but I wanted to ask if they thought I needed fancy insoles or something like that. Basically, they told me just to do fewer miles and add some foot mobility stretches to my routine. They then offered me a free Buff and I marveled at the coincidence that I would be offered a free Buff the same day I lost my old one. Serendipity🙌

After that, I resupplied at Ingles and called AC on my way to the post office where I was planning to ship a resupply to Fontana Village. I shipped my box priority mail and was told the package should arrive the next day. At this point, it was 4pm in the afternoon and I was feeling a little anxious to get back on trail. Yesterday, I had arranged with CatchUp and Lightning that they would pick me up in town and shuttle me back to Winding Stair Gap. I called and texted both Lightning and CatchUp and could not get through to either.

I made my way back to the town square and called one of the shuttle services. They charged a flat rate of $20 to shuttle to the gap, which would be great if I was with a group of five other hikers to split the cost, but that was more than I wanted to pay. I finally got a text from CatchUp who explained that their cat had run off in the night and they were waiting for her to return. I then made my way to Outdoor 76, which also doubles as a bar, to see if I could convince a local to give me a lift to the gap. Unfortunately, the bar was full of thru-hikers and there were not any locals in sight. I explained my dilemma to the bartender and asked where the best place would be to try and hitchhike from town. He directed me to a series of roundabouts on the way out of town and I set off down the road.

I made my way to the first roundabout with my thumb out and a smile on my face, trying to look as unintimidating as possible. I thumbed it for probably 15 minutes before an old golden Tahoe pulled up and a lady shouted: "where ya headed?" I told her I was trying to get to Winding Stair Gap and she responded: "Ok! Let me pick my kid up from school first!" She then drove about half a block to a church preschool. I met her in the parking lot and she introduced herself as "Halley, like the comet."

I asked Halley if I could send a picture of her license plate home for safety and she said: "of course!" I then loaded up with Halley and her daughter. Halley explained that her husband is always picking up hikers and doing trail magic so she was super excited to finally be picking up a hiker herself! I explained how grateful I was to be picked up and that this was my first time hitchhiking. Halley dropped me at Winding Stair Gap and I thanked her again for her kindness.

I was excited to find Dirk and Sneaky Pete waiting at the gap. They explained that a friend of Dirk's son was coming to pick them up and I stayed to chat for a bit. After a few minutes, their ride arrived and a young man jumped out with a cooler of beer and a goodie bag of food and snacks. He introduced himself as "Sam" and explained that he had thru-hiked a few years back. Sam offered me a vanilla chocolate stout, several bars, and two McDonald's cheeseburgers, all of which I accepted happily.

I stayed to chat a little longer and then said my goodbyes and headed down trail. I hiked about a mile to the first tent campsite and set up my things. I then spent a little over an hour trying to find service to call AC, but did not have much luck. I managed to send a couple texts and then settled down in my tent for the night.

Tomorrow my goal is to make it halfway to the Nantahala Outdoor Center, my next resupply point.

The trail has a way
of providing what you need
serendipity