"Please refrain for using cell phones on the trail..."

I am in Erwin, TN, right now, though not on a good note. Two days ago we hiked entirely in snow; absolutely amazing and wonderful, well, if you know me, you know what I think of snow :-) . Pete had to wear his booties all day of course, as there is no way he could do all those miles without them (stupid ice balls). However, at the end of the day, he started limping really bad on his right front paw. We got to the shelter and checked him out, but we just couldn't find anything wrong. Yesterday he limped on and off, and towards lunch time he started limping really bad again. We decided that I would head into town and go see the vet whlie Laura pushed on. Fortunately, If all goes to plan, Laura should hiking into town tomorrow afternoon sometime; the trail even exits the woods right next the hostel where I am staying with Pete.

This morning I took Pete out to go pee and such, and of course, he wasn't limping. We went to the vet anyway, and she told us pretty much exactly what I already knew; its can't be too serious, so just get some rest and relax for a couple of days. So we'll wait for Laura and Roxi to arrive tommorrow morning and probably take off again on Wednesday sometime. Pete is, of course, just as happy as ever, and I think he really apprciated a warm bed for a night as it had been below ten degrees the past few nights in the woods. So don't worry about your Pete, he's still doing great, but think good thoughts for him nonetheless :-)

This town is pretty funny; there are, and I quote, over 60 Baptist churches!! The town is only 8,000 people, so 60 Baptist chuches is just about one for every family! The explenation I got was that often single parishes will have internal squabbles, so one group just goes off and starts their own church (so there! take that!). Like we said, this is a cultural adventure ;-)

I am staying at Uncle Johnny's Hostel. They have been real great with me and Pete (I think they feel sympathy for Pete) and have given us our own room at a really good rate. They picked us up of the trail yesterday and gave me multiple rides into town for food, the vet, and this library trip.

The weather the past few days has, literally, blown us away. We spend one night in a blizzard, another in five whole degrees of warmth, and a day hiking wind blown snow-drifted ridges. Though beautiful, our hardest wilderness test yet. We had nearly given up on carrying our warm weather gear with us; we had spent the majority of our first month in the woods in seventy degree weather with only two days of rain. So, of course, Url greeted us with a post-winter freeze! In face, as far we could tell, we were the only hikers on the trail for two days, as others had either turned around and headed back to warmth or simply not started out at all! We're not sure if that makes us tough or stupid... you decide ;-)

Unfortunately, the Library wont let me upload pictures, so you'll have to do without for now. At any rate, thanks for reading!!