Date: 2015-05-07
From: Erwin

To: Erwin
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

We arrived in Erwin, TN yesterday and are spending a zero day here today. I added the mileage for each day since Hot Springs, but will summarize the highlights of this section below:- Justin is now Radar! He was named by our friend Harley because his hat and glasses reminded him of the MASH character.- We have passed the 300 mile mark. Someone said that you are a "real" hiker after that point. Let's see if this makes a difference for us... - We hiked over many grassy hills and balds, which made for some beautiful views (see photos). Big Bald (mile 324.9), in particular, was spectacular!- The weather on our last 3 days of hiking has been pretty hot and muggy. We have been sweating profusely and I had so many salt marks on my t-shirt after a few days that I decided to wash it in the stream. Putting a wet shirt back on felt so refreshing! This weather is also making us love the Gatorade powder (sugar + electrolytes) even more - We received trail magic from the Greenville Hiking Club at Camp Creek Bald. They have been setting-up in this location on the first weekend of May for the past 5 years and they had quite a set-up with a food tent, a BBQ, and a several sitting areas. - We also met Yukon and Bumblebee, two section hikers from Asheville, NC, who were doing trail magic at Sam's Gap. It was great talking with them and exchanging about our first few days/weeks on the trail!- We bumped into Enoch again on May 1st! He is the 76-year-old hiker we had last seen on Easter day, getting off the trail due to shin splints. He has been back for a while and, aside from a sprained ankle, is doing well! - Unfortunately, Harley needs to stop his thru-hike due to a foot injury. He can still do some light hiking and will complete various short sections along the AT until he has rehabilitated his foot. Then, he plans on hiking a longer section in New England leading up to Kathadin. We are sad to see him off the trail but glad to hear his foot will heal over time.- We have been hiking at roughly the same speed as Old Drum, Ivana Sherpa and Tigger. Old Drum and Ivana Sherpa are retired and have done several long distance hikes and bike trips, so it has been really nice hearing their stories.- Some of the other hikers we met include Colonel and Wolf (Germany), Finn (Finland), Hardware (Boston), Pizza Brain, Rollo, Lunar Worm, Galactic Ap, Rain Drop, Maybeline (hikes with eyeliner!), Bunny, Green Bay, Foo and Cuties (a guy).- Although today is our first zero since leaving Hot Springs on April 30, we did stop to resupply and stay overnight at the Hemlock Hostel off of Log Cabin Rd. This was an interesting experience... On the positive side, the food was very good and the BBQ ribs were fantastic! These were the best we've had since Amicalola Falls (our start point in GA). Since the resupply selection was limited, we ended-up with many Clif bars as snacks. I was a little suspicious, but I have to say the flavors and texture of Clif bars improved a lot since the last time I had them.- Our wildlife sightings on the trail this past week have included a deer, a rabbit, a bird sitting on its nest and some pretty large snails.