Day 10

Day 10 – March 17 2017 – 11.8 Miles – Top O Georgia Hostel to Muskrat Shelter

In the morning all the hikers were treated to all you can eat cereal and coffee and a ” Top Ten Tips” speech given by Sir Packs Alot. The ten tips were good and he also gave a brief summary of what to expect in each state. He also reminded us to continue to be prepared for cold weather as this was the first year he had heard of people getting frost bite.

There was a little more excitement in the air than usual. We were going to cross into North Carolina. It was going to be our first border crossing and first major milestone.

We got to the border crossing around noon. There was a simple wooden sign nailed to a tree that read N.C. / G.A.. We had hiked 78.2 miles so far (plus the 8.8 mile approach trail) and now we were in a new state!

Stoat and I made sure to cross the border at the same time. A few other hikers had gotten there before us and we gave high fives all around. Hikers tend to linger at milestones and this was no exception. A group of us ate lunch right on the border. Funny thing is that all of us faced the border sign while we ate.

North Carolina welcomed us with two pretty steep climbs, gaining 1000ft in 1.4 miles. We didn’t mind too much because the temps were still in the low twenties and going uphill helped keep us warm.