Date: 2012-05-11
From: Indian Grave Gap

To: Iron Mountain Gap
Miles today: 11.8

As is usually the case, after the rain, BOB ("Big Orange Ball") comes out to play. I spent the morning chatting with fellow hikers over the free breakfast offered by the Super 8 in the lobby and doing business calls and emails. At 1:00 was picked up by a true ¢Trail Angel,¢ Miss Janet in a beat-up sedan that looks to be held together by the plethora of hiking-related bumper stickers and duct-tape that cover most of its exterior. I had run into Miss Janet when I drove through Erwin to scout out the Trail on my way to Asheville when she was at the Nolichucky Bridge waiting to pick up a hiker. We struck up a conversation (which with Miss Janet isn't difficult to do!) She gave me her card and little did I know then that it would prove to be a godsend for me today.Because of Miss Janet, I was able to complete my business work and slack-pack 8 glorious miles of Trail today that I otherwise wouldn't have been able to do. I had originally planned today to be a "Zero Day" (meaning "no hiking") but instead, with her help, it became a "Nero Day" (in Trail-eese that means "nearly no hiking" and what a perfect day it was to be out in the woods!Miss Janet dropped me at Indian Grave Gap around 1:30 and I walked back to the Nolichucky River where I finished up yesterday feeling like a drowned rat and walking like John Wayne in high heels. Today¢s hike was mostly downhill and my pack was all but empty. The sun was shining brightly and the Trail had surprisingly drained quite well from the previous rains so there were only a few muddy places to contend with. The temperature was in the upper 50¢s and a soft breeze blew through the trees.One nice thing about going southbound for a day of slack-packing in the middle of a northbound section is that you get to see a lot of people you've been hiking with who are heading north out of town (predominately uphill for them -- ha ha!) I must have passed 50 people, many of whom I recognized or knew; some of whom I had talked with over breakfast earlier in the day.Tomorrow I'll get to pass many of them again, as with Miss Janet's help, I'm going to slack-pack from Iron Cove Gap 12 miles south bound to Indian Cove Gap where I began today's hike.About half-way through today's delightful walk in the woods I caught up with Amos Moses, who was also slack-packing southward (he was doing the whole 20 mile stretch from Iron Cove to Erwin in one day, that I'll do in two.) We hiked the rest of the way together and got to know one another somewhat. For a while we'd separate, each to his own thoughts, and then we'd reconnect and talk some more. Amos Moses (from the 60¢s song with that title) is a CPA from Kansas City whom I first met when we were both staying at the Ironhorse Hotel in Hot Springs -- A really good guy.When we arrived back at the Nolichucky Bridge, Miss Janet came to get me and returned me to the Super 8 to clean up. At 7:30 she returned to gather me and another couple (¢Navigator¢ and ¢JK¢ whom I met this morning in the lobby -- they are friends with ¢Bama¢ and ¢Winkle¢ who had come over from a hostel across town (compliments of Miss Janet, of course) to see one another and ¢Bama¢ introduced me to them.) Dinner was at the Chinese Restaurant in town. Miss Janet had already delivered four other hikers there and we all sat a big 8-top table and laughed and talked about Trail people and experiences all through the meal.While Miss Janet delivered the others back to their respective hotels/hostels, I did some re-supplying at the Food Lion Grocery Mart. She came and picked me up and dropped me off at my hotel.Today was a wonderful, easy and fun combination of business, delightful hiking and conversations with a lot of good people. A great day on the AT. Now time for beddie-bye.