Mile 300-400. Mile 300 started just on the walk down from the summit of Big Butt mountain (yes that is it’s real name) in North Carolina. After about 300 miles into the trail the miles seemed to start coming quicker and I felt as though the days got longer but my time hiking was shorter and I had more time to spend with the tramily and meet more people and become closer friends with people along the way. Before the 400 mile mark is Roan mountain which a northbound climb is brutal although there are switchbacks climbing the mountain it was steep and felt as though it would never end but upon getting to the shelter at the top I narrowly avoided one of the craziest lightning and hail storms I have seen but also being at the highest shelter on the entire AT I am sure made the storm seem worse than it was. I am happy it is more of a cabin than the usual 3 sided shelter. The next few days we had frequently been dodging storms on our hikes and even took a zero day to rest and party at station 19E. Station 19E was a bar, event hall, hiker store, hiker hostel and restaurant all in one and it kinda resembled the Weasley home from Harry Potter. Which mile 400 was just after that and was a beautiful hike with lots of waterfalls and rivers.
Mile 400-500. Keeping track of the miles happened very quickly. After a day or two we met a group that specializes in trail magic and beer drinking Their name is Riffraff. We met them after a 10 mile day and one of their members had a property nearby where they provided food and music and a lot of fun times for hikers. Along with that it made hiking easier as we worked out a plan that we could return to their place and camp the nights in between and it allowed us to put in some consistent big mile days making this 100 miles go very quickly but allowed us to appreciate much of the beauty of Tennessee being able to rest by the many lakes, rivers, and waterfalls. The tramily and I got to Damascus Virginia the home of Appalachian Trail days festival a day early. Trail days is a magical experience I recommend all hikers at least see. There are lots of crazy people there that are some of the friendliest people you will meet. Lots of vendors and entertainment. Along with what feels like a family reunion of all the people on the trail as some people will be miles ahead and come back to visit the festival and then resume where they were or some will jump ahead to not miss the festivities. And some will go back and some might hike out from there. At trail days I took 2 or 3 zero days as I just relaxed and explored the small town. It was sad to hike out of such an amazing place but the Grayson Highlands were next and I was excited to see some wild horses and I camped .1 mile away from mile 500 and spent a lot of time petting the wild ponies and even longhorns which I was not expecting at all but it was a good surprise
