The next morning after a cruel and bitterly cold night, we woke up feeling worse. I finally found cold meds at the bottom of my pack - the best place to put them, of course. We took the limit and started what would be a legal drug-induced walkabout. Swaying and dancing along the trail we hiked and hiked. At one point I thought I was a seal and could just glide across the snow, it didn’t work as planned but worth the effort. I can't remember what day we made it to the NC/GA sign, but I do know that the next day the pace ramped up and we started to catch up to the others...or so we thought. The trail felt like a winter wonderland at some points, something I wasn’t accustomed to being from Florida and only living in snow for a short time in the New England area during some mild winters. I found myself loving it and feeling right at home with my Swedish blood.

Franklin, NC was the next stop, but first we had to hike - in what felt like a blizzard - to the highway to get to town. We made it to the highway in the whiteout and I put my thumb out, just hoping someone would see me. A beautiful family picked us up after about 20 minutes and drove us to the hotel our friends were staying at. The only things on my mind were BBQ and a nap. I got the BBQ quickly, but I wouldn't get the nap until late that night. We met up with everyone a short time after arriving into town and then we all made our way to the main strip. We checked out the outfitter shop and decided we would go to the karaoke bar. The table for four quickly turned into a table of fifteen and all the hikers sat together, full of smiles with their beers. I don’t know if it was just me, but karaoke would kind of become a thing on the trail for me in a few towns. Everyone woke up hung over, but ready to get a move on. The shuttle bus in the days before wasn’t taking any hikers up the mountain due to the winter weather, but on this day we convinced them to do so. The bus was full but very, very quiet; the wind was swaying the vehicle all over the place while the cold crept through the loose locking windows. The mood felt like we were about to go in to battle, everyone gearing up and made last minute adjustments to their gear. We would be let off with the final words “Good luck out here, I’ll wait twenty minutes in case it’s too much.” But it wasn’t needed. Strong minds and strong hearts would push on.