Date: 2013-05-15
From: Bald Mountain Shelter

To: Spivey Gap
Miles today: 5.7

The original plan was to walk about ten miles today to No Business Knob Shelter (I wonder how it got its name?) leaving about 6 miles to walk to get to Erwin tomorrow. That would have put us getting to Erwin around noon or just after, to meet Mike and go on to Damascus for trail days. But we realized that we were just filthy, looked and smelled bad, and that all of our clothes were dirty too. Looking at the guide for today's hike, I saw that there was a road crossing on a US highway at about 5 miles, and came up with the idea to get off the trail there, at Spivey Gap, hitch a ride to Erwin, and get a motel room for the night. That way we could shower and do laundry and be clean when Mike picks us up tomorrow. Sounds like a great plan, right?The hike was lovely today, as always, and we were excited about getting to town. Town food! A hot shower! A real bed! Last night in the shelter the wind blew hard all night long, and I was so grateful for the tarp. It was the warmest night on the trail yet, and my first night ever to sleep without my down jacket on, and gloves, hat, and multiple socks. Whether the warmth was due to the tarp blocking the wind and holding in the heat, or an actual temperature change, I don't know.But we hiked out to Spivey Gap, and there was a big, wide, paved, highway. We took up positions and excitedly waited for our ride to come along. Well, no one did. And we waited, and waited. Why were there no cars at all on this road?? It was past lunch time now and I had gone light on breakfast, anticipating the big cheeseburger. Finally we decided to call for a shuttle, although we much preferred the free hitchhiking to a paid shuttle. And....we had no phone service. Growing more depressed by the moment (as well as hungry, which often go together, at least for me) and the day getting warmer, and warmer, until it qualified as hot, a new Appalachian Trail experience, we decided we had to start walking toward Erwin. It was about 15 miles by road, but what else could we do? We assumed a car would come along eventually, or else we would get phone service to call for that shuttle, as we got closer to town. So we walked, and walked. My pack felt very heavy. The sun was hot. I was out of water, because I didn't fill up, anticipating an ice cold Mello Yello in town. After about a mile, we came upon a house, and I didn't hesitate to walk right up to the door and knock, because heat exhaustion was becoming a legitimate concern. A sweet little older lady lived there, and very willingly let this strange, dirty, smelly hiker with a huge pack on her back come into her neat little house and use her phone. I arranged for a shuttle, and retreated back onto the porch to wait, feeling very relieved. The shuttle dropped us off at the Super 8 here in Erwin, and we are enjoying being clean and full, after a pizza delivery. It turns out that Erwin, despite being a a trail town, is not really laid out well for hikers, being too spread out to make walking from establishment to establishment easy. The laundry mat is a good mile away, and I didn't want to walk it. So I dumped all my dirty clothes in the bath tub, filled it up with warm water and some trail soap, and swirled the clothes around as I watched the water turn brown. Then I squeezed the water out of each item, drained the tub, cleaned out the dirty tub, and filled it up again with cool water. Added the clothes back, swish, swish, the water turned only slightly brown. Repeated the process, put the wrung out clothes back into cold water, and the water stayed clear. So, wring them all out again (boy, is that harder than you would think) and hung them up on towel bars and hangers all over the room and bathroom to dry. Voila, clean clothes. Now, will they dry?? Nightingale is walking to the laundry tomorrow. I'm going to hang out here and sleep or eat or catch up with correspondence. Looking forward to Trail Days and a few days off the trail. I will still be camping somewhere in Damascus though, there are no motel rooms to be had. So, while I will not be walking with my pack on my back all day long, neither will I be enjoying the luxury of motel living like I am tonight. But--unlimited cheeseburgers for the next four days!Oh, I wanted to mention being a tortoise, and getting trail legs. I assumed that once I got my trail legs I would not be a tortoise any longer, and would be able to walk as fast as everyone else. What I failed to realize is that when I got my trail legs, they would also get theirs, and remain faster than me. So while I can walk faster and longer each day than I used to at the beginning, so does everyone else, and I remain....a tortoise. I'm ok with that. HYOH, right? And guess who wins the race between a tortoise and a hare??