Date: 2005-04-10
From: Beauty Spot

To: Clyde Smith Shelter
Miles today: 15.9
Weather: few clouds

Miles hiked today : 15.914.6 AT miles + 1.3 miles of side trailI woke up this morning at 7:55 a.m. and was treated to a far reaching view. I wish that I would have been awake for the sunrise. I packed up, ate breakfast, and was on the trail at 8:55 a.m.To start the day, I had a 337 foot descent to Deep Gap, followed by a 1,080 foot climb to Unaka Mountain. The summit of Unaka Mountain was a pine forest with moss covered rocks and was slightly chilly, which was nice after a hot climb. This would have been a great place to camp last night if I'd gotten an earlier start out of Erwin.As I moved on, I was treated to a songbird call that sounded like a flute. I only got to hear it for about 15 minutes, though it was incredibly pretty while it lasted. I crossed a series of ups and downs before reaching Cherry Gap Shelter at 12:05 p.m. Just before the shelter, I was walking around a blowdown, slipped on some loose dirt and fell flat on my butt. Cha-ching, fall #7. I stopped to filter water and cook lunch, during which, two hunters in camouflage showed up with rifles. Apparently they were out hunting turkeys. I headed out at 1:25 p.m. and had a 560 foot climb up to viewless Little Bald Knob, then more ups and downs until a gradual descent to Iron Mountain Gap.I arrived at Iron Mountain Gap at 3:00 p.m. and saw several trucks and horse trailers, though no horses or people. They must have been out on some of the many side trails. Continuing on, I reached a rock overhang at 4:30 p.m. and thought about climbing it, though my motivation had been sapped dry by the heat.Pushing on, I reached Greasy Creek Gap at 5:15 p.m. and decided to take a 0.6 mile side trip down an old jeep trail to Greasy Creek Friendly. The directions in the Wingfoot book were vague and I almost turned back a couple times, but the thought of ice cream spurred me on. Along the way, I passed the ruins of an old barn, as well as a couple other antiquated structures.Greasy Creek Friendly looks like a hostel and operates like a hostel, though the proprietors claim it's not a hostel. They call it a "friendly," which must be for tax purposes. I had a turkey sandwich on whole wheat with tomato and ground black pepper. I also had a soda, chips, and an ice cream bar, all for $4.07.Leaving Greasy Creek Friendly at 6:20 p.m., I found out that the neighbor had let his dogs out, though they were behind a wire fence. They were not happy to see me or the two other hikers leaving at the same time. As they ran back and forth along the fence, snarling, I heard their owner call out from the porch, in a perfect southern drawl, "Git them hiker trash, Bobo!"Including the return on the side trail, I only had 2.6 miles to Clyde Smith Shelter. I ran out of water once I returned to the AT, but knew I only had 2.0 miles to go, so I hiked on, arriving at 7:35 p.m. Red Rover, one of the other hikers who'd been at Greasy Creek Friendly, bought 9 ice cream bars and carried them to the shelter to share. So I had another ice cream bar, delicious, if not a little melty.After the ice cream bar, I filtered water, then made new shoelaces from the kit I'd purchased in Erwin, then threaded them into my boots. By that time, the sun had disappeared and I didn't feel inclined to pitch my tent, so I'm staying in the shelter tonight.I've got quite a bit of climbing to do tomorrow, so I hope the weather holds. The sky is clear tonight, so maybe that's a good sign.Bedtime at 10:30 p.m.