Date: 2018-05-02
From: Bald Mountain Shelter 

To: Erwin, TN
Miles today: 16.8
Weather: clear sky

It was hard to rouse ourselves today. Between hiking late last night and knowing me that end in town today, our sleeping bags set ups just felt so comfortable. Although we didn¢t get out late we were deafly the last ones to leave. Hiking was really pleasant. We are still really Highup but the ridge and humps we were going over retreated treating so the view the grand views were a bit diminished compared to the stunning show we had the night before. Cumulatively it was going to be allotted of downhill today so we expected to go a bit faster. As of the morning we had decided whether or not we would do a quick race find Erwin and hit the trail or end up staying in town. Didn¢t take long before I realized today was going to be a hot one. As we approach noon it was hard to stay string cheese my body wanted to become fondue. As we traversed the spine¢s and valleys coming off the big ridge where we had camped, We got a little worn down. It felt like we were moving so fast and yet every time we came around the corner the shelter we had planned to have lunch was not there. As the temperature rose I started to feel more and more lethargic but was driven by hunger and our objective to reach no business Shantan. Of course there was a little uphill we had not realized to make it to the shelter but but we are relieved once we saw the picnic table. From there the day really turned into a hard grind. The trail became more Rowley and that, along with the heat, made the hiking really difficult for me personally. Josh of course was being his usual helpful self and that really made the difference in getting down into Irwin efficiently. He played fun music and it times we shared a quick dance as well. We could see her in a couple miles before we actually reached at. We heard a train choo-choo and got great views of the Nola Chuckie as we came into town. Immediately once we stepped off the dirt and onto the pavement we saw uncle Johnny¢s hostile right there in the corner. After getting my butt kicked today on the trail it was not too hard of a decision to decide to stay here for the night. While we had preferred maybe a more typical Mom at hotel setting for the night, hostas like these are hard to resist when they have all the services that a hiker would need at one location. We had made it into the hospital at four which is enough time to set up our tent in the backyard and get sorted before the 5 PM shuttle into town. As we are trying to get ready we got some bad news from home that a friend had been injured in a backcountry ski avalanche back accident accident. We tried to car but the shed I was leaving and had to delay our messages of love an information gathering for later. The van is absolute packed; and dropped us off in the Walmart parking lot. Before heading in to resupply we decided to leave chow down in a Mexican restaurant in a lot. I¢m not going to dwell on it too much but let¢s just say it was the worst Mexican food I¢ve had in my life and I barely made a dent in the place. It was a bit disappointing and honestly, I spent a lot of time thinking about that experience for many days to come. We rounded out today by resupplying at Walmart And cramming back into the van to the uncle Johnny¢s hast. One of the work for stairs hope the scooter laundry started and I had a nice hot shower. I¢ve been worried about camping into the yard due to the number of people that as darkness found it was actually pretty quiet and peaceful.