I had a beautiful and unexpected visit in Asheville, NC with my favorite uncle Phil last week. We’d been in contact a few days prior and were going to meet up on the trail, but it didn’t work out. I was totally bummed that I wasn’t going to get to see Phil or visit Asheville, which is one of my favorite towns in the southeast. But alas, the fates had it that Phil and I would meet again! I decided to go to Asheville anyway because I needed some emergency gear (There’s a story there, but I doubt you’d want to hear it). Believe it or not, chafing turned out to be beneficial in this case. When I got to town, I texted Phil on a whim and he had just gotten back in town, so it worked out perfectly!
Phil picked me up, and we spent the afternoon catching up and just chilling. I played with his adorable dog, Tiny, and took an awesome nap. Then we had some killer burritos and local brews for dinner. Obviously, you can’t go to Asheville without stopping at at least one of their countless hip microbreweries. Supposedly, the city has more breweries per square foot than any other place in the country! My kind of town. The next morning Phil took me to breakfast at an incredible little organic cafe, where I had a life-changing omelet and pancakes. This city has their eats and dranks down!
Phil also hooked me up with some awesome new gear from the company he works for, Pearl Izumi. I officially look like a sponsored PI athlete with my new kicks, base layers, jacket, and gloves. Thanks, Phil! I can now donate my hobo jacket that some hiker gave me in PA. The only problem is that now I look too fresh to be a thruhiker!
There aren’t any more big trail towns or cool hostels coming up, so I’ll probably be roughing it for real the next two weeks. And man is it cold! My water bottle had ice cubes in it the other morning after sleeping in a shelter at 5,100ft! Well, here we go, the Smokies aren’t getting any warmer!
Miles of Misadventures 