Goodbye Georgia, Hello North Carolina

North Carolina is much prettier than Georgia.

A few days ago, we kissed Georgia goodbye and crossed our first state line into North Carolina. It feels pretty good to have one state under our belts, and to be only a couple of miles away from the 100 mile mark. However, we've been taking it pretty slow lately due to the fact that Bearcub has been having knee problems. It's not uncommon for people on the trail to have all sorts of leg problems in the first couple weeks of the hike, mostly due to the incessant pounding on the joints when going down steep, rocky declines. We're hoping to keep the knee healthy by taking it slow until we get to Virginia where the trail flattens out a bit and we can start putting in some big mileage days.

Over the past week, the weather and the scenery has been absolutely beautiful. As for wildlife, we haven't seen a whole lot aside from birds and bugs. Lots of bugs. The only two notable sightings were a snake and a mole. Both were right in the middle of the trail and nearly squashed by Bearcub's mighty boot. We didn't bother hanging around the snake to take a picture, but Bearcub's eyes lit up when we saw the cute little mole. Therefore, we were obligated to snap a photo, and I was obligated to pick it up and remove it from the trail so that it wouldn't get stepped on. Don't worry, I scooped it up with a pile of leaves and sanitized my hands immediately afterwards. I'm just hoping this crazy rash on my hands goes away soon. That's a joke, Mom and Dad.

Who's this little guy?

Right now, we're sitting in a Microtel in lovely Franklin, NC waiting for Larry's Taxi Service to come pick us up and take us back to the trail. Within the first few miles back on the trail today, we'll have to tackle the notorious Albert Mountain. Rumor has it that people have had to put away their hiking poles and climb up the mountain with their hands, pushing or pulling their packs up alongside of them. We've noticed that people on the trail tend to exaggerate, and some other notorious mountains proved to be not too big of a challenge. Besides, nothing named Albert can be that tough. That's almost as bad as Guy Line.

- Albert Guy Line