Date: 2011-05-30
From: Hemlock Hollow Hostel

To: Flint Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: scattered clouds

In the morning I got the story of Hemlock Hollow over a breakfast special, the husband is diabetic and has problems with his legs, doesn't get around too easily, he's a vet and had a triple bypass, his chest is held together with wire, they bought the place in the 90's not intending to move there right away, but he got laid off so they decided to move in.The property was covered in Hemlocks, so they decided to cut most of them down to build the cafe/store part, which is quite nice with a view of the stream from the porch. the guy did almost all the work himself, including cutting up the trees to make lumber for the construction, pretty impressive!The woman talks of the difficulties of running the place, the harassment by the local authorities with regards to the kitchen, and how big agribusiness is getting away with murder while small business has to pay through the nose to comply with all the regulations.She talks about some religious nuts at Allen Gap who are enticing hikers off the trail with offers of free food and accommodation, the trade off is you have to listen to their message, and in some cases (Sundays) you gotta listen first, then get fed. It bleeds off a lotta business from Hemlock Hollow.She drives me back to the trail head, it's only .7 miles but a nice service, never did like road walking. The cherry coloured van is still there from the night before and it seems a little difficult to remember which way is North on the AT, seem to remember Bear Bait and Speed Demon walking by it after they left, can't be 100% sure though and hate to go the wrong way, off I go anyway and the terrain seems familiar, a sense of deja vu which is not comforting at all, finally see a hiker ahead and speed up to catch him, he's a local and confirms that it is indeed Northbound.I head on to Blackstack cliffs to enjoy the view, get some more fuel into my belly, and watch all the day hikers arrive. It's a great spot, mountain laurel and Rhodies flowering everywhere, and a beautiful view, I dry my socks and shirt out on a Rhodie branch in the sun, while more and more day hikers arrive, sorry guys this section hiker as the nice spot in the sun.Bear Bait and Speed Demon are eating and sunning themselves on the next mountain top, Big Firescald Knob, so I stop to chat and follow them on to the next shelter, Jerry Cabin. There's a family group there with a daughter and son-in-law, the daughter and son-in-law look a little outa shape and are suffering, daughter is visibly limping, Mum is the real hiker by the looks of it.They seem to be having some issues, the kids look pretty tired and beat up (feet anyway), and Dad can't get them to help with filtering water, he goes off by himself and doesn't come back, daughter goes to help finally and I go off to, it's only about 50 yards, it seems to be quite a difficult process for them for some unknown reason, it takes me 5 minutes and I'm back, daughter comes back fed up and son-in-law goes to help and have some bonding moments with father-in-law, they are STILL up there after another 30 minutes, what in the world are they doing, it's been an hour now!Dad comes back with water and they start to make dinner, say a little prayer before hand, kinda weird, Mum wants to continue after they eat but is worried the others (particularly the kids) won't follow.Speed Demon and Bear Bait take off after eating, I move against the wall and put my feet up with shoes and socks off to rest for a bit, leave at 5:05 and make the next shelter and 6 miles in 2 hours neat, not bad at all, and I'm ahead of schedule.There's a 19 year old thru hiker at Jerry Cabin Shelter, trail name El Toro, very macho kinda kid, aiming to do the trail in 4 months, hasn't yet figured out how to lighten his pack up, it's way overweight, and his feet are bloody, "they're not as bad as they look" he protests. He's from the East Village in NYC, I can relate having lived there for a bit, it was a very poor area then, being gentrified rapidly now. He's going so fast the trail has already become a blur and probably won't remember a lot of it.An older couple is tenting near the shelter, they seem to be resting when I get there, later emerge to get water.