Date: 2006-04-18
From: Erwin, TN Holiday Inn Express

To: Cherry Gap Shelter
Miles today: 16.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Easter Sunday and Monday I zeroed in Erwin with Carol, nursing my knee in the hotel hot tub and downing major calories to try to control the weight loss. When we awoke Sunday, smoke was rising from a forest fire on the slope of the mountain opposite the hotel on the other side of the interstate. It developed into quite a blaze, burning mostly the dry duff and leaf litter on the forest floor. Two forest service firefighting crews, a plane spewing retardant, and a helicopter that dipped huge bags of water were involved in battling it, and many locals watched from their cars parked near the hotel. I watched in the morning from the hot tub and Carol got some shots of the fire. In the afternoon, I shuttled Outbreak & Morning Fit, Iron Wolf, FreeAtLast, and Stumpknocker to Miss Janet's for the traditional Easter feast. (Carol passed it up as she felt she'd be a 5th wheel.) Miss J fed over 40 hikers turkey, ham, and all the fixin's you can possibly imagine. I ate too much, the tryptophane kicked in, and I fell asleep for a couple of hours on returning to the hotel. In the late afternoon I did another hot tub soak and there were charred pieces of leaves that had blown into the hot tub and swimming pool from the fire (the temp was in the low 80s, a record high for the 4th straight day. After the soak Carol drove us to the River's Edge restaurant where we had excellent barbecue and a "small" Greek salad big enough for us to share on the deck overlooking the Nolichucky River with the Devil's Looking Glass rock cliff forming a gorge on the opposite bank.Monday, the 2nd zero, was filled with resupply chores. There was a violent afternoon storm which forced me to the bathtub for my soaks. Basically, it was a very lazy day with leisurely packing up for the next trail section. After a talk with the pharmacist, I switched to Aleve, as two doses per day are easier to manage and it seems, with the rest, to be doing a good job helping my knee.Carol and I had a nice long weekend together and today we parted as I started back on the trail where I left off and Carol headed home. If my knee holds up, it will be mid-May when we see each other next. The hike up covered 3500 ft. vertical but with intermediate descents about 5000 ft. altogether. The trail was good and I felt good to be back hiking. At the end of the day my knee still felt good as I pulled into the shelter--last as usual at around 7:15. There was enough light left to fetch water, set up my tent (the shelter was pretty crowded), and cook dinner. Cleanup was by headlamp. There's a chance of showers tomorrow morning, so I may regret not crowding into the shelter. At the beginning of today's hike a new white wildflower made an appearance in the moss-covered shade of the hemlocks that towered over the stream. There were also some very distinctive fungi on a log. Hiking up from the stream I reached the first shelter, where I signed the register and snacked on gorp enriched with the dark chocolate morsels Carol had included in my Easter basket-yum! The day had started cloudy, but by 10am it was sunny. A blue version of the miniature iris I'd seen in yellow was in bloom in this section. Continuing I chatted with three sobo sectioners. Close to Indian Grave Gap, Irish passed on a slackpack back to Erwin. I passed through the gap--not a single car on this US highway--then continued to a view where power lines crossed the ridge where I had lunch in the sun. While I ate Mr. Breeze came through and we chatted. He had been laid up in Erwin 5 days nursing his knee. Later DoubleShot passed through.After lunch it was up to a grassy bald named Beauty Spot where I shot a panorama back toward Erwin as well as a shot northward toward Unaka Mtn, today's highest point and another 1000 ft. above. I stopped in Beauty Spot Gap to filter from the spring and found some Dutchman's Breeches in bloom. In this area the air was sweetened with the scent of the thousands of Bloodroot blooms. On the summit of Unaka Mtn, the trail passed through the shadows of a white pine forest. The white blazes were important to find one's way. At the shelter tonight are Mr. Breeze, Able Jack, Chain Saw, Double Shot, Stateline, and Cupcake, who is also tenting. Maine Ho!