Day 154 – Mile 1166.7 + 253.6: Beautiful hike up to Max Patch after making new friends – Smokes, Tangerine, Penny, Patchy, Levi, Lakes, Soup and Mike.

Then came a delivery of Asheville’s best burger – Farm Burger and salad to Max Patch by Hopscotch! Followed by day-hiker, Joy, offering fresh fruit and trail magic massages to some of the thru-hikers. Sunset and moonrise.

Not a bad day but the wind which followed left much sleep to be desired… #friendsbringfriendstownfoodtothetrail

Day 155 – Mile 1166.7 + 173.5: 20-mile day on very little sleep because of pounding winds and your tent inverting on you a few times during the night makes for a grumpy day😎

However, pulling into the Laughing Heart Hostel in Hot Springs, NC, to be greeted by Jeff and offered to join the other hikers to eat the huge fish fry (even though I didn’t plan on staying there), made a somewhat crappy day, excellent!

Sitting across from me at Laughing Heart, I was introduced to Trail Stripper. Now there aren’t too many people that go by Trail Stripper and I knew I had met her before. I asked if she was SOBO and she was! I know the exact power lines I met her under in Massachusetts last year! She was with a guy called I Don’t Know (he is apparently a few days north). She continued SOBO stopping in January and picking back up in March.

Also passed fellow SOBO, Dori @blaze17speed, who started 3 weeks before me in Katahdin and I have been following on Instagram for 7 months(!), coming up out of Hot Springs and I was going in! Nice to meet you finally, Dori!

Then picked up by friend of a friend of a friend, Kevin (what a legend), in Hot Springs and got to stay his cabin and have a day off🥓🙌🌅😎

It’s not how you start, folks – it’s how you finish… over and out!