Nan's 2014 Appalachian Trail Journal

Home

May 13, 2014

By Drag’n Fly aka Nan

5/2 In to Erwin, TN, mile mark 341.5 after a 5.8 mile hike from No Business Knob shelter where we camped with Ho Bo No Bo, Rambler, Papa Doc, and NotChicGo, a father/son duo. If you wonder how people get their trail names, well, sometimes they decide for themselves. Like Freckles who is a redhead and has about a bizillion freckles. Or NotChicGo, who is from Chicago and every time he checked for weather reports on his iPhone, he got the weather for Chicago. Others gave him that name.

We got into Erwin about 11:00 to Uncle Johnny’s Hostel where lots of our favorites were: Mary, aka (Upside Down Monkey), Cris, Kevin (aka Shamrock), and Bliss and Mocha Pat. I think that we may have a little romance starting there. Anyway, after we picked up our resupply, we got a shuttle to an all-you-can-eat pizza/salad bar with other hikers where we all made pig’s out of ourselves. Driver of the shuttle van said they hate to see him coming! After that we got a shuttle to the Mountain Inn and Suites for the night. Shower, laundry, etc. Dinner was spicy penne with chicken and shrimp delivered by Primo’s.

5/3 I tried for an early start this morning but our 7:30 van didn’t show up until 8:30. We had breakfast at the Inn: eggs, biscuits and sausage gravy, fruit and yogurt. The shuttle took us back to Uncle Johnny’s which is on the trail. Cadi was there. She had taken two zero days in Hot Springs to visit her friend who is a goat lady. Cadi said she used to teach with the woman and she had always wanted to be a goat lady. She now lives outside of Hot Springs with her goats, a three legged dog, a one eyed cat, and whatever. Anyway, I was glad Cadi caught up with us again.

There are still a lot of people on the trail. Every year more than 2,000 start at Springer Mtn. mostly between March 1 and April 15. Only about 200 finish so it will start thinning out, I think, after Damascus, VA and their Trail Days celebration in the middle of May.

A friend in Pennsylvania asks if we are always hiking with people. I am a pretty slow hiker and everyone just passes us and disappears around the corner or over the hill. The only time I pass anyone is when they are sitting down.

Today was a great hike even with the heavier packs with six days of food to get us to Kincora House near Hampton, TN for our next resupply box. My pack weighs 30 lbs with the six days of food and one liter of water. Freckles’ pack weighs in at 38 lbs and Ho Bo No Bo’s at 35 lbs.

We did 12.7 miles which took us up over Beauty Spot, a beautiful bald at 4,312 ft. elevation with 360º views. The balds are the highlights of this section of trail through TN. They are high meadows which the Native Americans said were made by white settlers; the Forest Service maintains them as balds by mowing or grazing.

Camping with Ho Bo No Bo, Pink Panther, and Mad Cap. We have been seeing them signed in at the shelter--always a day or two ahead of us. Pink Panther is from New Cumberland and graduated from Cedar Cliff in 1979.

5/4 Day 36 on the trail, mile 368.1, elevation 4,514 ft. In at Clyde Smith Shelter, 13.9 miles today. Clear and sunny but very windy. It has been windy for days and nights. Started the morning with a 1,066 ft. climb up Unaka Mtn, which is covered with a dense spruce forest. What a change after coming off the balds. The rest of the day was pretty much just up and down on some very nice trail. Everything is getting so green. A brilliant emerald green and very lush.

Cadi has news about T & T, the young ladies from Germany that we were hiking with. Tonya now has the trail name Mary Poppins because she carries an umbrella. She is one day behind us. Tina has gotten off of the trail because of her knees. They have been bothering her for weeks and, I guess, she will just need to rest them. Cadi, Ho Bo No Bo, Pink Panther, and Mad Cap are also here. Earnhart, Bama, and Iron Cheeks showed up late. They are all strong hikers and we haven’t seen them since Hot Springs. They had been doing zero days and hanging out in town. Dustin showed up last night also. Hadn’t seen him for a while. His friend had brought his dog up to Hot Springs to hike but it didn’t work out so he had to get off the trail for five days to take the dog home.

I didn’t sleep well last night because my tent was pitched on a slope. I think it is much more level tonight so I hope I get a good nights’ sleep for tomorrow is Roan Mtn. elev. 6,212 ft. Trail Magic today at Iron Mtn. Gap, NC, Rt 226. Rob Cage from Massachusetts was down being a Trail Angel. Rob used to run a hostel in Mass called Bird Cage.

5/5 Day 37, 381.2 miles. Up over Roan Mtn. at 6,212 ft., Round Bald at 5,818 ft., and Jane Bald at 5,794 ft. elevations. The weather was beautiful, clear and sunny but still windy. Views from the balds were awesome! The trail descends thru what is called a Stamp, the small trees that grow near the summit of the balds, which were a carpet of flowers. There were so many that it looked like it had snowed.

“Wired” came into camp. She fits her trail name. She is going for the “triple crown”: Pacific Crest Trail, Continental Divide Trail, and the Appalachian Trail. She is from Oregon and has a blog “Walking with Wired”. She plans to hike the Long Trail in VT after she finishes the AT. I don’t think that we will see her again since she does 20+ miles a day.

Wired told us Robert Redford had been in Erwin last week scouting locations for his movie, “A Walk in the Woods”. We were just in Erwin May 2. Darn! But when Freckles and I were hiking into Erwin, a man, who was day hiking, passed us. He was older and seemed somehow familiar. After he passed I asked Freckles if she thought Robert Redford would be hiking any of the trail in preparation for the movie. Could we have had a Robert Redford sighting?

I’ve had some questions from people who are reading the journal about trail life so I will give a little more information. The question was about water. In GA, NC, and TN there are lots of streams and springs. I don’t think there are more than a couple of places where there is no water for five miles or more. All the shelter areas and most of the listed campgrounds--I am using “AWOL on the Appalachian Trail” as my guide--have a water source. The water is taken right from the stream and treated in one of several ways. I am using Aquamira to treat my water. In the past, I have used chlorine tablets that a lot of other people use. Some hikers use a filter. The Sawyer Mini filter is very popular this year with the hikers. You fill a squeeze bottle and force the water thru the filter into your drinking bottle. You can also use a straw and drink directly from the filter. With water being so available, it is not usually necessary to carry more than one liter (two pounds). While in camp, I boil the water that I use for tea and dinner or breakfast.

5/6 Day 38 on the trail. We are camping at Mountain Harbour B&B/Hiker Hostel after an 11 mile day. Up over Little Hump Mtn., elev. 5,459 feet and Hump Mtn., elev. 5,587 feet. These are two more beautiful balds with awesome 360^(0) views. The wind was gusting so hard crossing Little Hump and climbing Hump that we looked like drunks. It was a cross wind and the packs caught the gusts. I was leaning into the wind and then it would fade and I would almost fall over until another gust came to straighten me up. The wind did fade after we crossed the crest of Hump Mtn. and we were able to sit and have a nice lunch and enjoy the view. The balds are one of the best things about the AT in TN. It has been a disappointment that it has been so windy that we did not feel like just resting atop them. The Mountain Harbour Hostel is at a lower elevation (3,000 ft.) so no gusting wind. I plan on getting a good night’s sleep beside a bubbling brook.

This hostel is very nice. There is a barn with horses and four dogs that run to greet you. Above the barn are two baths with showers and a kitchen/sitting room area. Above that is a loft/bunkroom area. Across a bridge and into the woods is an area for tenting. It cost $10 to tent and get a shower with towel, soap, and shampoo provided. Some hostels have a washer and dryer for the hikers’ use but this one does not. They will do your laundry for $6. I just took my clothing into the shower with me to wash them. It was early enough that they dried in the sun. The B&B is in the main house and is very nice. Single rooms cost $25 but that does not include breakfast which is $12 for overnight guests including tenters. They run a free shuttle into town at 5:00 for restaurants and grocery stores and return at 6:30. Freckles and I ate at Subway and had big chopped salads. We then went for ice cream cones. One of the hikers bought a water melon to share and everyone enjoyed it on the porch of the hostel.

Mountain Harbour hostel is a step up from Standing Bear hostel where we stayed after coming out of the Smokies. Standing Bear is very rustic and looks like an old cowboy cattle ranch. There is a building with the company store. On the honor system you take an envelope and write down what you get. I had one yogurt ($1), a bag of chips ($1.50), and camping ($15). The laundry is a galvanized washtub with a scrub board, and a—it’s seen better days—wringer. They do have an electric dryer but since no ones’ clothes get much wrung out, it takes forever to dry them. There is a building with table, chairs, and stove; a microwave is in another building. Another building contains the bunkhouse. There is an outhouse (privy) and one indoor (barely) shower. There is one outdoor shower and a flat grassy area for tenting. There a lame dog that chases a cat that has a crooked tail. The cat chases the chickens. Rocket Man who is more or less in charge is a real piece of work. He greets the hikers with “Want to buy a beer?” “Want to buy some pot?” The rooster started crowing about 4:30 but it is a fun place to stay Really.

That’s it for now.
Drag’n Fly is signing out until next time.

Home