Date: 2023-04-22
From: Cosby Knob Shelter 

To: Pigeon River Bridge/The Discerning Hiker Hostel
Miles today: 9.4
Weather: clear sky

I woke up at 2:15am, tried for about 15 minutes to fall back asleep, then made the decision that I would just start hiking so that I could get to the hostel earlier and have longer to relax. Fortunately it hadn't rained during the night, so everything was still dry. I get everything packed up and just as I was getting the last thing into my pack at about 3:00am, the rain finally starts and it didn't take long for it to start pouring. I was actually pretty thankful that I was at least able to get everything put away before it started. Unfortunately just as I was starting up the trail, I realized that I was missing a water bottle. So, I put my backpack and trekking poles in the privy house and walked back to my tent site to look for it. It wasn't there and it wasn't at the shelter. I didn't look any further and have no idea where I left it.The hike itself wasn't terrible. It was just wet, dark, sometimes windy, and somewhat cold. It started with a decent climb, and ended with a very long descent out of the Smokies. Over the course of about 6.6 miles I dropped over 3,700 feet. It was a little tough on the knees, but it did get a little warmer the lower I got. It was about 9:00am by the time I finally got to the location where the hostel owner was waiting to pick me up. It was a bit of a bummer because there was a small group there who were in the process of setting up what looked like a pretty nice trail magic site. They had several tables with warmers and hot plates, so they were definitely going to be serving hot food. But since the guy was waiting and I was tired and wet, I just got in his truck, got to the hostel and after a brief tour, soaked in a bathtub of hot water for about 45 minutes. I'm really glad I made the choice to get off the trail for a day instead of just resupplying and moving on. Getting to take a hot bath, then a hot shower, do laundry, and get some decent food in me just hit the spot so nicely. The owner also took us into town so we could resupply at Walmart and get some dinner.While I was at the hostel, I met a woman who had been there since the day before. She had to leave the trail because she accidentally poisoned herself. Apparently it is somewhat popular for people to pick wild ramps and either eat them straight or add them to their meals. They are a type of onion. But there is another plant that looks similar called the Lily of the Valley and it is extremely toxic. Well, this woman ate one of those thinking it was a ramp and a short time later started getting sick. She called 911 but because of the poor reception the call dropped and when she called again, she got a different 911 call center because the section that she was at was right at the border between North Carolina and Tennessee. Meanwhile, she had to hike like 4 miles in order to get somewhere that had a road. She was finally able to get to the hospital and get treated and fortunately there were no long term affects. She just had to take a few days off to rest. She was going to slack pack a section today and get back to full hiking tomorrow. She was able to laugh about it after the fact, but it's definitely a lesson about making sure you know what you're doing if you're going to eat wild food.Breakfast: It was too early so I just skipped it.Once I got to the hostel, there was fruit available so I ate two or three oranges, a banana, and I had a cup of hot chocolate. Lunch: Surfer Boy Multi-meat frozen pizza. The claim to fame for this is that it's the pizza company on the show Stranger Things. It was fine. It was a frozen pizza.Dinner: I bought some Jack Daniel's pulled pork, maple roasted sweet potatoes, and some vegetables in cheese sauce at Walmart and cooked it up at the hostel. It was pretty good, but I undercooked the potatoes a little bit.