Day 41 (May 1st) – zero day in Erwin, TN.
Day 42 (May 2nd) – 16.0 miles Erwin (Uncle Johnny’s) to Low Gap Campsite. Big mileage day, great day. Had two trail magics today – both were awesome! The second one had grilled chicken tacos and cold soda! We both feel great today and concur that we both now have our trail legs. Today included 13 miles of uphill and we took it on like bosses. 
Day 43 (May 3rd) – 16.6 miles Low Gap to Ash Gap Campsite. Cold wind but the sun was out all day. Good day, but hard day. Especially 3 mile climb at the end – took the wind out of us. Roan Mountain tomorrow, and it’s supposed to be very cold and rainy, wish us luck. 

Day 44 (May 4th) – 3.6 miles Ash Gap to Carvers Gap. Well, we made it over Roan Mountain, but just barely. Temps in the low 40’s, super high wind gusts and threat of rain took us off trail (I worry about hypothermia). Plus our friend Mystic and her husband offered us a ride, so we couldn’t say no! We are at Doe River Hiker Rest in Roan Mountain, TN. Weather planning stinks! Rain and cold temps forecasted for tomorrow and Saturday, so trying to figure out our game plan. 

Day 45 (May 5th) – zero day. Cold temps, wind and thunderstorms parked is in Roan Mountain, TN today. So, time to spare, what to do? Make éclairs and French braid Mitch’s hair! Also did laundry and re supplied and ate lunch at Bob’s Dairyland. The Doe River Hiker Rest is awesome – a big house and it’s very homey and smaller than most other hostels. Best part: coffee all day long. Slack packing tomorrow!

Day 46 (May 6th) – 13.6 miles from Farm Rd. 293 to Hwy. 19E, slack-packed southbound. Started out pretty cold and dreary (40 degrees) but turned out to be a great day. Rain held off, we cruised with no packs on, and the sun even came out a few times. It just started raining when we got picked up, perfect. We’re done by lunch. 
Day 47 (May 7th) – 16.1 miles. Today was gorgeous!! We loved our hike today! Started at Carver’s Gap and high elevations, temp of 30F, and snow and ice everywhere. It was a winter wonderland! Had some beautiful balds to go over and then Hump Mountain was sooooo windy, but not as windy as the other day. Everything confirmed our decision to have gotten off where we did 2 days ago (in winds of 80-100 mph!). We slack-packed the majority of today, and then picked up our packs and picked up where we left off from yesterday’s slack. Greg’s IT band was bothering him towards the end of the day on downhills, otherwise we felt great today. We officially left NC, so we are done with two states (just 12 more to go), and we also officially hit the 400 mile mark. Woot!
Day 48 (May 8th) – 14.9 miles. Today started out cold but by afternoon was nice, full sun all day. Greg’s IT band did great today (lots of stretching helped). Beautiful scenery and hike until last two uphill miles to camp. I was exhausted at the end and starved!