Date: 2015-04-28
From: Uncle Johnny's Nolichucky Hostel

To: Uncle Johnny's Nolichucky Hostel
Miles today: 16.9

When I woke up it was pitch dark. Darker than I had seen it in some time and it turned out it was just very foggy outside. I packed up as quietly as possible as I always do and realized that I was feeling far more solid than I had for the past few days so I at a protein bar and some trail mix to increase my caloric intake before I blazed down the trail with energy that I hadn't seen for some time. It soon became light as I started hiking at 6:45 and as soon as it was light the fog began to clear and warm up at the same time. The trail was a bit slippery and for the most part was downward with a few exceptions. I was greeted with beautiful views for the first time in awhile and soon I was at Spivy Gap which brought back a flood of memories from 2013. (It was at this gap I sat sick with a stomach bug and had to get a ride to Uncle Johnnies Hostel where I ended my thru-hike attempt. It was an agonizing time and very hard for my wife and I, mainly because I had been an ass and had tried to push her to far too fast and it resulted in neither of us having much fun as we had fought a lot. I had to do a lot of apologizing after I realized that I should have taken our time and enjoyed ourselves instead of trying to race to Maine. I am blessed that back in Hotsprings my wife - Sassypants said that she wanted to join me in Damascus, VA to hike with me the rest of the hike. I was blown away and very happy, so happy that when I walked into the hostel Ted and his co-worker said that I was beaming with happiness! I hope that I can be the supportive and encouraging partner that she needs knowing how badly I had blown it on my first try. Getting to Maine is important but being with the one I love going to Maine will be so much better.)So I was hiking another section that I had missed back in '13 so I was excited about what I would find on the way. One thing that I noticed immediately was that at almost every fire pit along the way were piles of trash left unburned. That is so uncool. I pick up some trash on the trail as I hike but I can only carry so much. At the No Business Knob Shelter I saw the shelter was built out of concrete cinderblocks! What a solid structure. It must have been quite a task to get all of that concrete up the mountain! The trail crews do such a wonderful job of building trails and shelters for us to use! I passed a small but pretty waterfall and had some short but steep climbs and soon I was greeted with views of Erwin far off in the distance with the river playing peek-a-boo through the trees, as I walked the town and river crept closer with each step. I saw more of the blueberry bushes with tiny green berries starting to form and I long for when they ripen along with the strawberries whose blossoms are just appearing. I heard a rustle and a lizard, about 6" long climbed on a log just off of the trail. It waited patiently while I pulled out my phone and took several pictures to make sure I got a good one. When I was done it continued sunning itself while I pushed on. Soon I came across a group of hikers sitting on the ledge overlooking the river about 500 feet below the cliff they were sitting on. You could see the RR tracks crossing on a bridge far below. I took their picture and asked the one to the right leaning on his pack to take my picture which he did and asked me to return the favor. I took more pictures along the way and was soon on the long downhill, switchbacked trail that lead finally to the river and Uncle Johnnies Hostel at the end. I arrived 6 hours after starting at 1:45 and checked in at the desk. I bought 2 personal pizzas and a Youhoo and sat down exhausted for a spell. I then took a shower and did my laundry. I took a long time in the hot water just to soak away the tension until I felt relaxed and de-stressed. Soon it was time for the 5:30 shuttle and we were off to the Italian restaurant where I had the hiker special of lasagna with garlic bread and had a beer from a fellow hiker. I returned the favor and bought a 6 pack of Shiner Ruby Red and shared 5 of them. This was followed by a short walk to Walmart to resupply my recently consumed food store. Upon return I found a seat by the store entrance on the porch and had a beer and joined in on a safety meeting in progress and chatted with the other hikers and caught up on trail news. At hiker midnight I turned in to my iPod. Getting to sleep was going to be tough with the party right outside the bunkhouse that lasted late into the night. I was up late myself uploading pictures here and was in bed a little after 10. The dog came in after that and made a lot of noise making it hard to get to sleep as well.