Time to update!

Life is a beautiful chaos out here. One day it will be sunny blue sky's and 70 degrees and the next it will be rainy windy or snowing. It's just crazy and hard to keep up with. I haven't had the energy nor the time really to update this blog we told you all to follow. So now I am uploading mass amounts of photos and stories for y'all in an attempt to make up for not keeping you up to date with our adventures along the trail. Enjoy and share! 

Walk with us... Sunshine & Young Beard

This was our shortest day of walking yet. We took a zero day (a day walking zero miles on the trail aka a rest day) with Vegimite and Wiki at Fontana Dam Resort. After our super relaxing zero day we packed our packs and were getting psyched to hike into the Smokey Mountains. We got 1.1 miles north and got to the shelter we had intended to pass when we ran into our entire hiking family! 'Cupids Hikers' suckered us into staying at the shelter with them so we could all hike into the Smokeys together. And I'm so glad we did! It was a great night around an awesome campfire with the family! 

The first few days of the Smokeys were a chain of beautiful days, breath taking views and hard work! Hiking on ice sucks. 

Here Little D and I are at the road crossing (a popular tourist spot for pictures of the Smokeys) trying to get a hitch into Gatlinburg. It was rainy, windy and cold so we were hiding out I the women's restroom while 3 Mile and Young Beard tried to get a ride into town. Then came along Mrs.Turtle and Old Beard with some trail magic that lured us out of the restroom. Krispy Kream doughnuts and their kindness lifted out spirits to a new high! Thank you! 

Halfway through the Smokeys we got to Gatlinburg just in time to celebrate our one month on the trail. Although we were stuck there for longer than we liked we did have some touristy fun. The king bed one night was heaven on earth! We enjoyed playing mini golf and the aquarium along with icecream and some great food and cold drinks. 

Here is our buddy Owl enjoying his various local brews the brewery. 

And here is Wiki and his attempt at eating a 5 pound burrito.... Unfortunately unsuccessfully. 

After 2 zero days we were very eager to get back on the mountain to the beauty and solitude it provides. We immediately felt relieved when we were back hiking! 

Here's a picture of the last shelter in the Smokey Mountains. It still had the chain link fence on to keep the bears out and sleeping hikers safe. Recently all the fences have been taken down because hikers started feeding the bears through the fence... This was the last one and wasn't taken off. We stayed here with our friends Noodle, Wiki, Tog and Animal Planet. Thanks for a fun night guys :) 

Shortly after accomplishing the Smokeys and leaving the park, Standing Bear Hostel greeted us along the trail. We got there and took full use of their kitchen with our friend The Priest and played with the hostel cats :) 

This was is Hot Springs, NC where the trail goes right downs in street. 

Young Beard, The Priest, Biscut and Noodle playing hackysac on top of Max Patch, a beautiful bald we had lunch at on a perfect day. 

In Hot Springs, NC we had the great pleasure of staying at Elmer's Sunnybank Inn. The building is the oldest in town, a beautiful and historic white Victorian home. We were able to do work for stay by cracking pecans for a few hours, which was AWEsome! They also had hostel cats :) Sunshine loves them! 

When leaving Hot Springs, the trial winds it's way up a steep mountain where you can look over at the town and the river that runs along next to it. 

The stretch of hiking from Hot Springs, NC to Erwin, TN was an adventure in itself. We hiked along ridge lines and clear sunny days where you could see for miles and the neat day woke up to 3 inches of snow covering out tent. Crazy! We also had a hard day in the snow on top of a mountain with very strong winds and 10 degree weather. 

Where Young Beard is pointing - that tiny white spot at the top of the mountain - is where we hiked one day :) 

It's 10:23 (hikers midnight) and I am in a hostel in Damascus, VA. I'm so sleep so the blog entry will end here... I'll continue this update when I am in a town next week. 

Thanks to everyone who is supporting and following us! We couldn't do this without you. 

Remember...

Life's short do epic shit

Love, 

Sunshine ☀️

 

Vagabonds for a month!

We have officially been vagabonds for a month now and we couldn't be happier! We have hiked 206.8 miles on the AT so far. In the first week or so Julian and I received our trail names (a hiker nickname). People refer to me as Sunshine. Fellow hikers claim that I brighten their days with my lively energetic spirit... with the exception of the early mornings, I'm not full of sunshine at 6am. Julian is known as Young Beard, for obvious reasons... His beard is young... im curious how 'young' it will look 5 months from now. 

Soreness for me is a constant and it is slowly catching up with Young Beard. We have both purchased new shoes, some lighter weight trail runners to help with our achey feet. We also carry an abundance of Moleskin and Duck-tape to cover the blisters and sores we have accumulated on our feet as well. Okay enough  about our feet...

The friendships we have made on the trail so far are full of laughter and encouragement; we will cherish them forever. We started with about 13 fellow hikers on Februrary 14 and most of us have stayed together since then. Sometimes we get a day or so ahead of each other but we usually catch up to one another in a town and have a nice family reunion over beer and pizza... Or hotdogs in a gas station... Yum! We call our group 'Cupid's Hikers' and they are my hiking family whom I have grown to love and admire. You can follow our friends Little D and 3 Miles on their blog at thetrailbeckons.com for some awesome stories that will have you laughing for hours. Like Little D says 'some of the things that happen out here you can't make up' they are just too bizarre. 

We are celebrating this first successful month in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, in the Smoky Mountains, at the Bearskin Lodge with Cupids Hikers - the rooms have jacuzzis and gas fireplaces!!! Score! 

Thanks to everyone who is keeping up with us and sending us food and cash! Without your support and encouragement we wouldn't be here today. If you want a postcard and haven't given me or Young Beard your address feel free to email it to me at haleychoice@gmail.com

Remember...

Life's short do epic shit, 

Sunshine ☀️

How to follow us...

If you want to keep track of our progress go to this link and it will show our position.  We have a GPS tracker that we turn on every day!

Click here to find Julian and Haley:
http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0r4q9qqqjDPhn0radCDd9KoosYtC73Fb5

Technical Difficulties...

We have been having problems posting our video and pictures to the blog.  We hope to have it working soon, but in the meantime we have uploaded a video to Facebook and should have it available here soon.  We are having a great time and doing great!

The Beginning

Hello world wide web, Julian here. I would like to start by saying that I am the luckiest guy in the world. I have recently proposed to the girl of my dreams and in a  few short weeks I will get to embark on an adventure of all adventures with her... Hiking the Appalachian Trail!! I have always been an out door enthusiast, submerging myself in anything and everything mother earth has offered us. I enjoy Hiking, Rock Climbing, Camping, Fishing, and just about any "activity" that allows me to spend time with friends and family. The preparation has only teased me and I'm excited to push my comfort zone.







Haley Choice aka Julian's fiance. I'm 23 years old and a current student at Park University. I couldn't be more excited to take on this great endeavor with my best friend. Other than hiking... I enjoy rock climbing, traveling, learning, camping, and being with family. I want to thank everyone who has supported us while we have been preparing for this trip; without you, this would not have been possible. 

This picture was taken in October 2010 around the time Julian and I first met in College Station. If you couldn't tell, we are dressed for Halloween as Peter Pan and Tinker Bell. Shortly after meeting, we discovered that hiking the Appalachian Trail was a shared dream. This is when we decided to turn our mutual aspiration into a reality, and we were going to do it together.