Day 3: Tuesday, March 3rd

Another great day here on the Appalachian Trail. I realized that I have not mentioned our 4th trailmate. His name is Mosey and he is a very energetic, tall, red, Irish Setter. He is Adam's (Topo's) dog and he is a very entertaining part of our team. He's always out front leading the way and he protects us at all times. Today, we left camp around 9 am and had a few miles of mild terrain before a very "hilly" afternoon. We hiked up a number of small peaks today, as well as a few bigger ones.....namely "Big Cedar Mountain" and "Gaddis Mountain". It was a total of 12.5 miles. But it was a LONG day! A few highlights of the day (besides the perfect sunny blue sky, the slightly milder weather, and the gorgeous views) include: Lunch- We stopped for lunch just before the summit of Big Cedar Mountain. We found a large, warm, sunny rock with a stunning view and took a 45 minute lunch. During that time Topo noticed that we had cell phone service so we got to talk to our parents. Another highlight of the day was meeting a character named "Dart Man." He was currently unemployed, had already thru-hiked the AT two times, and was next headed to the west coast to hike the Pacific Crest Trail. He had a long beard and seemed like a very nice, wise old man. We also passed over Georgia Highway 60 today and saw a big group of bikers. We are camping out tonight at Slaughter Creek Campsite. We are just before Blood Mountain and a town called Neels Gap where we will stop tomorrow just for a bit to buy some extra food and gear. The shop in this town has a noted claim that they can take 10 pounds off your pack weight. I guess we'll see about that. Tonight we had an awesome fire and now we are going to sleep. It was another great day I wouldn't rather be anywhere else!