Date: 2011-04-27
From: Asheville, NC

To: Erwin, TN
Miles today: 23.7
Weather: light rain

I was up around 7am and had everything packed and in my mom's car by 8am. My mom made me a nice breakfast before I started the trail again. I was nervous to start again today because last week shook me up a bit. She dropped me off at Sam's Gap right before 9am and she could tell I wasn't in the best mood ever. After she left I sat at the gap for a few minutes before setting off on the trail. I felt great so hoped the miles wouldn't wear me down today. I didn't realize how fast I was hiking and arrived at the first shelter around noon which was right after Big Bald. When I went over Big Bald the sky was black and it was very windy. I think I pretty much ran over the bald and didn't take one picture as I could see lightning all around me. I met a guy at the shelter who had met most of the group I hiked with for a while in Hot Springs. He said they were looking to catch up to one of their friends. I replied that was me. He hiked about the same pace as me and said he was going to try and make it to No Business which is the shelter before Erwin, TN. We took off and didn't stop until we got to the shelter. It was just after 4pm and we could see the dark sky getting darker as storms were coming in. We decided to push it the next 6 miles to Erwin and did so in no time. We were in Erwin, TN just after 6pm and it was great to be there as everyone was talking about the storms coming our way. The terrain was easy on the trail so that lead to a fast pace. I didn't feel bad at al even after hiking my longest day yet. He was going to get back on the trail and do another 4 miles to the shelter right after Erwin, TN but I hope he decided to stay at the hostel because the storms were very bad. I waited for an hour or so and my roommate Grant came to pick me up. It saved me money on having to pay to sleep somewhere and I get to sleep in my own bed and take a shower at my apartment in Johnson City. When we got back to the apartment I took a shower and we went out to eat hot wings at a place next to campus. It was cool to see some people I've had classes with before my hike. Most didn't recognize me at first. Grant and I hung out at his friends place and watched some shows on NetFlix as the storms came in. Tornado warnings kept being issued for campus and Eastern TN and I could see why. I was more than thankful to not be staying in a tent tonight. I hope it stops raining early tomorrow so I can get back on the trail early, but if not I'll get dropped off later in the afternoon after it stops raining and hike to the first shelter after Erwin which is 4 or 5 miles in. It looks like I have a pretty good sized uphill climb out of Erwin so I'll probably do that on Friday after hiking a few miles in to the first shelter tomorrow. I feel great, my body isn't sore like I thought it would be, and the weather forecast is great for the week to come. I can't wait to start the flatter section of Virginia and start knocking down some miles. Everyone is going to Trail Days in Damascus, VA so I cannot decide if I want to take that weekend off as well as Memorial Day weekend. If anything, I'll skip Trail Days and take off Memorial Day weekend so I can go home and spend the weekend with Laura at the lake with friends. I guess we'll see how I feel when that time comes. Trail Days is May 13th-15th so anything could happen by then. Its definitely nice to be back on the trail!