Date: 2013-04-06
From: Spivey Gap

To: Uncle Johnny's Hostel
Miles today: 10.7

(In which I slackpack into Erwin)I am up and packing my things by 0800. This was the warmest night on the Trail in a while, and it is nice to get out of my hammock without loathing the thought of jumping out into the cold. Barbara is also stirring early, and inquires to make sure yesterday's hitchhiking thought was serious. It was serious, and once we are packed we move to the roadside. Barbara has not been lucky hitchhiking, getting only one hitch after a long try and giving up on other occasions. She doubts we will get a ride on this quiet road, so I compromise on the idea and propose we wait and see if the first couple cars might give us a ride.Things work out unexpectedly well. The second car to pass by pulls up and discharges some hikers and a very energetic retriever puppy. The driver is Grim, who runs Uncle Johnny's hostel in Erwin. He is helping these hikers slackpack today, and suggests we do the same right now instead of going into town first. This is a great opportunity, and we throw our packs into his truck. I fashion a simple day pack out of my camera strap and lens pouch and use a carabinier to attach my water bottle to it. The two older men, who had camped at Whitley Gap last night, reach us as we are packing up and join in the slackpacking. Grim is asking no fee for this service - we just were in the right place at the right time.We all start out northbound. I am at the front but the retriever is going at least three times as far as the rest of us. The dog shoots past my legs at a full run, turns around a little ways ahead, and turns around to run to the rear of the string of hikers and its owners there. It does this for a while, until I pull well ahead of the rest of the group. The Trail follows a stream uphill for a while and by the time I leave the stream I have left most of the other hikers behind. Barbara is still nearby, moving much faster uphill without her 50-pound pack.Before leaving the road I should have packed away some of my clothes that I am now figuring out what to do with. I wore my camp jacket, which fortunately packs into one of its pockets and compresses quite small. Barbara has the lid of her backpack to function as her day pack, and has room to thankfully carry this for me. This is taken care of near the top of the day's big climb. She moves ahead of me as I break here, and I do not catch her on the descent toward No Business Knob Shelter.I am okay with some solitude and actually look forward to it. Recently I decided to try swapping my music with audiobooks. I never had time to read before the Trail and really don't have that opportunity now either. However I can certainly listen to a book instead of filling much of each day with music. For my first book I have downloaded A Game of Thrones. I have heard good things about these books and look forward to enjoying a fiction book for the first time in a while. The first book of the series is going to provide me with over 30 hours of listening, and I enjoy the change of pace. Instead of having my pace snap to music, I just let my legs move of their own accord.Listening to a book lets me take me thoughts off my pace in this gentle terrain. That said, I still hold a fast pace. I reach Barbara at No Business Knob Shelter, and stop for a snack break there. I move out ahead of her and find myself pulling well ahead rapidly. There is someone moving along this section cutting back fallen branches and other low growth. I do not see anybody else as I move along the gentle terrain, not until I am near Erwin. I pass a female hiker resting right before the final descent into Erwin, exchange a quick greeting, and plunge downhill.I catch sight of the road at around 1330 and find a cooler sitting near the trailhead. Unfortunately it is full of beer - and I do not drink and do not take any. Uncle Johnny's hostel is located where the Trail turns from this road onto another to cross the river. I find my pack on the porch and break it open to get into cleaner clothes. Satisfied, I relax at the picnic table in front of the hostel. Grim is here interacting alternately with a phone and an unfamiliar hiker. There is also a gal who had come to Spivey Gap for a trail run back to town. I am surprised to find out she is a thru-hiker, stuck in town for now as a result of unusual circumstances.The shuttle to town leaves at 1500. As I wait for that time, Barbara and the other female hiker arrive. Heartburns is another New Jersey hiker, and exhibits a bit of the accent that is attributed to New Jersey but rarely heard in my experience. We all pick at a sizeable piece of chocolate cake left over from a birthday party held here yesterday. We also debate on where we will eat. I am excited about the prospect of a Mexican restaurant in town, but after so much talk of pizza we should get pizza. All of us take the shuttle to the last stop, the one nearest Pizza Hut. There is another pizza place I try here, but they cannot do a buffalo chicken pizza and I turn them down.The unnamed hiker has been in town a few days so she opts for the salad bar instead of pizza. The other three of us surprisingly do not finish a large pizza. I attribute this to consuming serious quantities of cake beforehand. After boxing the last two slices, we walk down the road to the supermarket. I do not need anything, but I pick out some yogurt for breakfast tomorrow, and get a half gallon of orange juice to pack out of town. The shuttle picks us up after 1800 here, all of us except Barbara. The severe weather meant she had to skip the Smokies instead of waiting for the park to reopen. Her sister is meeting her here and bringing her back to the Smokies to get the missed 84 miles.I find Artimus has arrived at the hostel, and Grasshopper also arrives but tents off to himself. Now I get around to working on my water filter - it barely flows as of late, and filtering water is an excruciatingly slow process where most of the water flows back out of the intake when I try pumping. I tinker with the filter with Artimus, suspecting there is a problem with the valve. Instead it turns out the filter is just extremely dirty. Cleaning the ceramic element restores its flow. A couple visitors are also here this evening. They do not live in town, but visit here often and regard it as one of their favorite places to be.Unnamed is switching from the hostel bunkhouse to a cabin, as her folks are visiting and staying tonight. She gets them the best cabin here, featuring its own kitchen and a television. Heartburns lets me know they are going to watch a movie in there, and I could join them. First I get myself cleaned up, but then I grab some snacks and join them. They are working at a puzzle with Finding Memo playing on the television, and I glance between that and my phone. I am still trying to catch up on writing, with limited success.Unnamed's parents show up late in the evening. Their dogs also show up, one of which is very enthusiastic. Me and Heartburns chat with them a while, and they suggest a need to get some food. They suggest we can come along if they go somewhere, but Heartburns and I decide to get some rest in preparation for tomorrow's hiking. We are in the bunkhouse and nobody else had arrived to join us inside tonight. I plan to get up early tomorrow - I am thinking about a long day.Peace,