Date: 2013-04-07
From: Uncle Johnny's Hostel

To: Greasy Creek Friendly
Miles today: 24.8
Weather: broken clouds

(In which I turn down a 20-mile slack pack and walk farther under a pack instead)Yesterday Grim made an offer for anybody willing to do a 20-mile day hike today, heading from Iron Mountain Gap back to Erwin. I had considered this but decided against it. I would have had to pay about $40 to make this happen - $10 for the shuttle today, at least $20 for lodging tonight, and another $10 for a shuttle back to Iron Mountain Gap tomorrow. If I had not just spent so much at the last hostel while I was ill, I would have given this more consideration. However, when I wake up early for the potential shuttle out, I go back to sleep.I get moving pretty early, at around 0800. The Trail crosses many small streams before climbing up to the empty Curley Maple Gap Shelter. While I take a quick break here, a few hikers pass me by. I am not too interested in stopping long, because I have seen signs indicating Fresh Ground is set up near Indian Grave Gap. This gap is just ahead of me, and I arrive there at noon and eight miles into the day. The three other hikers I have seen today are here. There are Peanut Butter and Jelly, a Canadian couple - Peanut Butter is the husband and Jelly the wife. Sconnie is a young gut around my age. I meet Chino, retired from the Air Force.Fresh Ground has improved his setup yet again, and is offering banana pancakes as I arrive. I opt for hot dogs instead. A note indicates that Fresh Ground has run out of money for his trail magic setups - he has been going off an initial input of his own and donations have sustained and enhanced his setup thus far. I am glad he has set up his fourth stop, when way back in March he had indicated he was only doing this a few times before starting a section hike from Damascus to Harpers Ferry. It has previously skipped my mind to donate, or I didn't have cash on me. This time I remember to contribute before heading on. (Note - if anybody reading wants to donate to Fresh Ground's cause, contact me and let's arrange something. He is doing an incredible service for many hikers!)I hang around here chatting with hikers for an hour. Woodrow shows up, but there is nobody behind him. Heartburns indicated that that she is waiting near town for another hiker to catch up to her, and I recall that Grasshopper had a mail drop to pick up. I wonder if he will wait here for the post office to open, or if he will have it forwarded to another trail town. Fresh Ground says to look for him around mile 600. He is doing some hiking with his family between here and now and there and then. It will be interesting for him to be on the Trail surrounded by hikers he has fed, with his family not suspecting that he is so well known out here!The Trail drops into Indian Grave Gap before turning uphill for a long climb. I am headed up and over 5180-foot Unaka Mountain. The Awol guide indicates that this mountain is covered with a dense spruce forest, and that makes the mountain easily recognisable from a distance. A high point halfway between Indian Grave Gap and Unaka Mountain winds up being a nice bald peak. This point is not in the guide, but offers great views north to Unaka. I pass through Beauty Spot Gap and Deep Gap before turning uphill for a thousand-foot climb up Unaka Mountain.Unaka is a long, steady climb but the spruce forest is a good indication of when I am close to the top. From the unnamed bald I could see where the deciduous forest turns to evergreen on the mountainside. I have passed sparse groups of spruce trees before but none as dense as I find them here. The canopy is dark green with some blue hidden beyond. Surrounding me, trunks of tall spruces stand in a field of green provided by shorter ones. Even the ground is dark green, the color provided by moss and recently fallen needles.The dense growth stops the wind, and when I find a dry-looking spot I sit down and pause my audiobook to enjoy the stillness. The only sounds are a nearby songbird and the gentle creaking of a few swaying trees. After a while I detect the click of a hiker's poles, and Sconnie appears and passes me. Shortly afterward I resume walking. There is a long descent to Low Gap, and shortly afterward I reach Cherry Gap Shelter. Here I find Chino and Sconnie making camp. I join them briefly, and suggest I am pushing much farther today. Chino gives me a pair of sunglasses that Woodrow left at Fresh Ground's camp.Now I am committed to pushing on to Greasy Creek Friendly, a hostel that Woodrow was planning to stop at tonight. I climb away from the shelter and descend into Iron Mountain Gap. If I had taken Grim's offer to slackpack today, I would have spent $40 or more to end my day here. Instead I walked here from town, and now I am pressing on even further. From here there are four miles and three climbs before the hostel. I cruise over the first climb and descend into the campsite on the far side before sunset.This camp is a small clearing that used to be an apple orchard. There are two tents here - Peanut Butter and Jelly occupy one, and I am surprised to find Woodrow in the other. I return the sunglasses to him and take a dinner break here. This is a beautiful place to camp, but I have already committed to reaching Greasy Creek Friendly today. I push on forward at around sunset, now wearing my headlamp in preparation for the dark. I pass one more tent before dark, pitched on an overgrown woods road that crosses the Trail. In spite of the early hour, I hear no activity inside.It is very dark before I reach Greasy Creek Gap. The reflective trim on a lone tent indicates my arrival in the gap from a distance. I am not done walking yet, as the hostel is a half mile away on a woods road. I was picturing a dirt road crossing the Trail, but this one is not vehicle-accessible. I cross a few berms blocking the road and follow the rough track downhill. It is not overgrown at all, but weathered ruts and loose rock make this some of the roughest footing all day. I am glad there was a map provided for reaching the hostel, as I have to turn off this road onto a second one and follow that a ways downhill before I finally see some lighted buildings. I imagine few people make this approach after dark, and I had it in my mind to turn around and return to the Trail before I saw the buildings.The hostel is the first place on the left, and Connie lets me in and introduces me to the building. I am the only guest tonight, and get the bunkhouse to myself. I situate my things in there before returning to the house for a shower and some food. Connie is preparing her own dinner but tips me off to some Ramen in the hiker box. It is my first Ramen of this trip, and I fortify it with some of my smoked gouda and jalape±os provided by Connie. We chat a bit about my travel but mostly she entertains me with tales of her crazy neighbor across the street. He has tried to shut down her hostel for ten years, and does much to disrupt its operation.We will chat more tomorrow, as I am tired from my longest day yet. I retreat to the bunkhouse and am thrilled to wear only one layer to sleep tonight.Peace,