Bearcub saw a bearcub!

And no, she wasn't just looking in the mirror. We each saw a real live bearcub in the Smokies, although I must confess that I just saw a black blur and claimed to have seen a bearcub. It was kind of far away and we couldn't get a good picture, but we swear we saw it so just leave us alone already.

We have completed the Smoky Mountain portion of the trail and escaped without experiencing too harsh of weather (aside from a painful hailstorm). The Smokies were absolutely beautiful and we were lucky to have enough clear days to take in the incredible views. We're both holding up pretty well and put in our first big mileage day yesterday (over 19 miles). Bearcub has patiently fought her way through the knee problems like the tough cookie she is, and we're hoping to keep trucking along the NC/TN border for the next couple hundred miles and make our way into Virginia soon.

Beautiful view from Fontana Dam right before the Smokies.

We're hoping to arrive in Damascus, VA in time for a festival called Trail Days which is basically a huge weekend long party in celebration of the trail and hikers. In order to do that we have to stay on a pretty rigorous schedule, but we think we're up for the challenge. We've been out here for exactly 4 weeks and we're starting to get our "trail legs".

There's probably much more we could write about, so hopefully we will start updating the blog more often with highlights from the trip. As for now, we've got 13 miles to hike today so we're off. Our next stop is in Hot Springs, NC so hopefully you'll hear from us in a couple of days. We know you'll be on the edge of your seats until then.

- Guy Line