after a short day, i hitched a ride to the lovely little town of Franklin, NC. i wanted an easy day to let my knee rest a bit. i twisted it the first day on springer mountain and it hasn’t healed 100% yet. it’s almost there, but not quite.

it took over an hour to get a hitch because there were four of us (me, The Sheperd (with whom i’ve hiked almost every day since the start), Blowing Sunshine and his dog Shiggy, and a young gal i just met named The Gypsy). we ended up CRAMMED into a small pickup truck, but hey, a ride is a ride. we were cold, dirty, and hungy, so we were very thankful for the ride. we got rooms at the Microtel in Franklin. the phone number is (828)349-9000, room 232 if anyone feels like calling me tonight (april 5th):-). don’t know if i’ll be around though. there is too much food to eat and beer to drink. i suspect i’ll be out with the gang most of the night.