Journey Day 185 | AT Day 8

Wanda, Tasha and Tony hiked with us in North Carolina after returning my staff left in their car in Georgia.

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Up early we follow our new friends, Dave and Bosun, out of Beech Gap. Easy hiking with tunes. At trail up to Mt. Albert, find note from Tony  Coppage, the Atlanta man in whose truck I left my hiking stick back in Suches, Georgia. He has my stick and wants to get it back to me. Wild rock scramble up to a sunny bald. Catch rays, rap with Ranger Hunnicutt, check out wild views back where we were in the Smokies.

Ranger in Mt. Albert Tower.

Others hike out alone. I follow eventually after more lookout shots. Down, meet Tony, Tasha, his dog, then Wanda, his girlfriend. We celebrate, I take up the stick, we walk and talk. Wanda struggles, but she’s tough.

Tony and I take a break. She appears with a flapping sole, blisters. We fix the sole, she changes to tennis shoes, we walk to Rock Gap Shelter after another break. At shelter, Jack and Gregg, an MIT grad, my new friends gather, eat, celebrate, crash.