Big Butt an Big Bald

Yes. We did climb a mountain called Big Butt and a mountain called Big Bald. Climbing Big Bald today was a challenge. Not because of the long uphill, but because of the hurricane-like winds. A "bald" is a mountain with no trees. While we were walking on the bald, the winds gusted so hard that we were nearly knocked down. Ask Danae, this is no exaggeration. Despite the wind we have been very fortunate with the weather. The forcast showed rain and thunderstorms the past 3 days, but it has only been cloudy and windy. It rained once during the day when we were already eating lunch in a shelter. But that lasted for 30 minutes. It also rained the previous night, but we have kept dry. Speaking of the rain, it is starting to rain again. Luckily we are in our tent for the night! Tomorrow we will refill our food bag in Erwin TN. We only need food for 50 miles (4 days). Like always, we will treat ourselves with something while in town. Franklin it was Pizza, Gaitlingburgh it was lunchmeet milk and cheese, Hot Springs was Ice-cream. Any suggestions for this time or the next???  We are thinking about Oreos and milk. 

We forgot to mention the sketchy store we went to a few days back. On the trail we saw a piece of vinyl siding with writing that said "Mom's store" with an arrow. We ignored it until we got to a road and saw in the distance a hand-painted sign the said "Mom's" and an open sign. We decided to check it out. The building looked condemned both outside and inside. As we went in I noticed there were no lights, a bunch of junk stacked up in the right side of the building, and a woman smoking a cigarette. I asked her if she had any cold drinks. She pointed to the back where there was a refrigerator. Danae got a Power Aid and I got a Yoo-hoo. It was totally worth the $3.50 to drink the cold drinks and experience this sketchy store. I wish I took a picture, but my phone was dead at the time. 

Big Bald

This is the type of area where my dad tells me not to camp at.