First 100 miles. Woot!
Day 9, July 30, 2020
Thunder Rock Campground to the Flip Flop Burger joint in Reliance
Mile 111.9
Hiked 18 miles today just to be able to sit on the deck of the burger joint.
Not so much for the burger and fries, which were worth the extra miles and even the last minute face plant that left my knee skinned, elbow bruised and hip twanged.
Not even for the hot shower at the end of a day filled with torrential downpours and a calf-deep stream with no bridge and no rocks to hop.
What I really wanted when I pushed the extra three miles was the one thing I crave most after a week of discomfort in the woods…
BACKRESTS, MOTHERFUCKERS!
I’d knock a toddler down for a backrest at the end of the day. And Flip Flop Burgers obliged.
They also obliged with a place to pitch my tent by the river and a late check out time…late enough to eat another meal in a chair with a backrest before hiking out the next day, before the tubers showed up to conquer the Hiwassee River.
What the BMT lacks in views, it makes up for in swimming opportunities.
Hiwassee River, Reliance, Tennessee
Lounging in my tent, counting the minutes till I can go up on the deck and claim a chair with a backrest.