Day 18: March 19th

Zero miles today - we are resting/recovering from yesterday plus getting prepared for, guess what? Another tough climb tomorrow. Hahaha!!
We had a nice breakfast this morning then did some resupplying of our food for the next 3 days, laundry, mileage planning, napping. We also sat along the river and soaked our feet in the freezing cold water. My left ankle has been swollen for a while so this was helpful. It's nice to have a day to recuperate and to just hang out and enjoy the beauty around us.
Yesterday we met a few new people at our camp. It sometimes takes a while to warm up to people and figure out their personality. One guy, from Atlanta, is called "Three Bags". Yep, he started hiking the trail at Springer Mountain not carrying a backpack, but was carrying 3 bags with all his stuff in there - a couple duffle bags and another type of bag that swings across the body. People at the outfitter stores have been trying to convince him to change his bag situation and to try out a backpack, for instance. He was adamant about keeping things how they were and managed to hike about 60 miles just fine without a backpack until the owner of the outfitter store (I guess - he has the thickest Georgian accent I've encountered so far, so I can't be sure of some of the details) finally convinced him to let him GIVE him a backpack to keep. So he ditched the 3 bags and now carries a pack, which weighs about 50 lbs, he said. Three Bags likes to have lots of beer with him while in town, plus he chews tobacco AND he is quite particular about having his teeth whitened as frequently as possible and has a stash of White Strips with him at all times. Anyway, he is a riot to talk to, and it's fun to listen to my dad and him converse b/c my dad can't hear very well to begin with!