Last week at work was a beast! I got home from South Carolina Friday at 8:30pm. We had already packed our backpacks because we knew I’d be getting in late. We made a fairly quick turn around and headed to Brevard, NC. We did not roll in to Brevard until after midnight. Whew! This backpacking trip was worth the late night driving, though!
We backpacked 9.8 miles on the Sam Knob Loop trail that can be accessed from the Blue Ridge Parkway. If you decide to give this trail a try, be sure to check parkway closures. For us, we turned right just as the parkway was closed. There is still quite a bit of damage from Helene in the area, so check the parkway website before heading out.
We got a bit of a late start Saturday morning. We did not get to the trailhead until noon. We hiked 3.8 miles to a campsite. Got set up and found a water source so that we could filter water to make supper. We camped just a short distance from a waterfall and it was amazing listening to it all night long. We used our new handmade insulated food pouches and they rehydrated our food perfectly. I am still amazed at the difference the pouch makes!
We both tried a new keto freeze-dried meal from Adventure Well. I had Mom’s Beef Stew and Marty had Boomer’s Buffalo Chicken. Ghost ate his freeze-dried raw lamb that I carried in my pack. Both companies are small businesses located in the United States. Next Mile Meals is based out of Oregon and Adventure Well is located in Texas. I cannot say enough good things about the freeze-dried meals they make. They are delicious!
Marty used his BearVault again this trip and I used my Adotec Grizzly Bag. The BearVault is HEAVY. Marty decided to order a Adotec bag because of the bulkiness and weight of the BearVault. In my opinion, the bear bag is user friendly! It is easy to open and easy to hang. The picture on the bottom, you can see Marty sitting on his BearVault and my Adotec bag is on the ground in front of Ghost.
The first day of the hike, we had a few water crossings and saw three waterfalls. The second day, we called it the “no dry feet trail”. There were multiple waterfalls on streams we had to cross. Ghost gave the trail two wet paws high up! He LOVES water. There are several miles of the trail that are a literal creek that you walk right through. We wear wool socks, so even though the day started out at 56º, our wet feet stayed warm and toasty. We hiked a total of 6 miles on day two.
We hiked through a little drizzle and got back to the trailhead just before the bottom fell out. On the way home, we stopped at a picnic table to boil water to make our Next Mile meals Cajun Jambalaya. So far, the Jambalaya is my favorite of their meals. There is no rice, so it is keto friendly.
Marty ordered a lift kit that he will be installing on our Jeep. We have an overland camping adventure planned with friends in September. We decided several months ago that we wanted to get a lift kit, so this isn’t something we are doing specifically for this upcoming trip. Since he is able to install it, it saves a lot of moolah! We thought it was good timing to get it installed!
I started writing this after work on Monday and here it is late Thursday night. I’m sitting in Cincinnati right now. Sean and I both worked today and then we headed up here. He has his annual bone marrow biopsy early tomorrow morning. It’s hard to believe that we’ve been living with Shwachman-Diamond Syndrome for twenty-nine years! We have been coming to the specialists in Cincy for 19 years. Where does the time go? :rhetorical question:
Enjoy the photos of this gorgeous hike from last weekend!
My Little Red Bike 