Day 28 April 23

Today we (Nova, Sleeping beauty, puddin, Patty cakes and Eddy) officially crossed into Tennessee for the last time. For the last ~100miles the tail has travelled back and forth between the North Carolina and the Tennessee border. Even though we've been crossing back and forth between the two states for quite some time it was a sense of accomplishment to finally see the official sign.
The trail can run very close to houses and private property. Someone who had a barn .3 of a mile off the trail donated it to the ATC. As a result it was converted into a shelter. The shelter was probably the most unique shelter I've seen yet and very spacious compared to some of the other 6man shelters. It also came with a great view. We attempted to take a group photo of us jumping off of the picnic table. Sadly the force of us all jumping broke the leg off the picnic table but it resulted in the most hilarious photo.
Later in the day we had a major road crossing. Nova and I had been talking about how great it would be to get trail magic today. Well we hit the jackpot. There was a couple there that had planned on hiking the AT and then changed their mind. As a result they were giving away about $800 worth of food and gear. They had dried cranberries, blueberries, pomegranates, cherries, oranges, bananas, cucumbers, hard boiled eggs, yogurt, toilet paper, bandanas, pack covers, cliff bars, mr noddles, cup of soup, stove top stuffing, Mac and cheese, pop tarts, crackers, avocados, melons, cantaloupe, summer sausage, sausage bites, peanut butter, emergen-C, coronation instant breakfasts, the list goes on. BUT the craziest part was.... They were trappers by trade and they had BEAVER. Yes, my fellow Canadians I ate our national animal. It was quite tasty. They prepared it in a similar fashion to pulled pork. Delish. As a result of us gorging ourselves and spending 2hours at the road crossing we only hiked an additional 2miles past the road.
That night we decided to cowboy camp (sleep under the stars). This ended up being a bad decision. come morning we were absolutely soaked. Word of advice do not cowboy camp in a grassy area you will end up covered in dew. The picture is us drying out our stuff the next day. Enjoy!