Date: 2017-03-30
From: No Business Knob Shelter, TN

To: Uncle Johnny's, Erwin, TN
Miles today: 6.2

3/30/17 Uncle Johnny's Hostel, Erwin, TNMiles hiked: 342.7, Miles to go:1847.1Town day! We woke up to clear skies and moderate temperatures. We were only hiking 6.2 miles today; but, we were headed to town. So everyone was up early and ready to go. Lumber Jill headed out while I was still eating breakfast, so no drafting off of her like I did into Hot Springs. First Sergeant and I headed out together. We both stopped when we got phone signal to post our blogs and call our wives, allowing most of the crew to pass us. One tough climb (the climbs are getting easier though!) and a couple of steep ups and downs along the ridge and then a three mile drop into Erwin, TN. We started catching glimpses of town and the Nolichucky River. It's always cool when you start seeing town. After what seemed like a quick descent, we were at Uncle Johnny's Hostel on the Nolichucky River, or just Uncle Johnny's for short. I hadn't made any arrangements to stay because the rest of the group was planning to resupply, eat town food, and head out to the shelter five miles past town. First Sergeant had reserved a "cabin" at Uncle Johnny's (they're really just private or semi-private rooms as opposed to the bunkhouse). He offered to let me stay with him if I wanted. I was waffling about whether to stay or not until I heard the weather forecast - thunderstorms and a high wind advisory overnight. They were able to change his room from a single to one with bunk beds, so I was set. Uncle Johnny's is another one of those icons on the trail; but, as usual, it's about what you'd expect for $25/night. Plus $5 for a shower and $5 to wash clothes. First Sergeant and I got checked in and took showers. The rest of the crew took showers before heading out to hitch hike to Walmart to resupply. Meanwhile, a bunch of other hikers we knew showed up: Big O, J, Jam, Courtney, T-Rex, Tiptoe, Hummingbird, Irish, Scout and Scoutmaster, and Ramsey Bolton (and, yes, all you Game of Thrones fans, he does have a resemblance to Ramsey). I was especially pleased to see Right Move, whom I hadn't seen since the NOC. Only, now he's back to being Molasses, which was his original trail name before Right Move - its complicated. And there were a bunch of hikers I'd never seen before. Also present were the Traveling Circus, the three hiker trash guys I had last seen in Hot Springs, where they had been kicked out of the Laughing Heart Hostel for cleaning out the hiker box. Every hostel has a box, known as the hiker box, where people can place things they don't need, like extra food, fuel canisters, clothes, toilet paper, etc. It's up for grabs for whoever needs it. The first thing you do when you arrive somewhere new is check out the hiker box for cool stuff you just can't live without. These guys weren't staying at the Laughing Heart. They were passing through and raiding the hiker box. Anyway, these guys were now at Uncle Johnny's doing work-for-stay. Sometimes, if you don't have enough money, hostels will allow you to clean bathrooms, etc, in place of paying. These guys obviously are hiker bums yellow blazing their way up the trail, hanging out and partying at the hostels. I mean, they are nice enough guys. It's just not my idea of hiking. Hike Your Own Hike, I guess. At 12:30 pm, seventeen of us piled into a 15 person shuttle van and went to the all you can eat (AYCE) pizza buffet. AYCE is a very important word for thru hikers. After stuffing ourselves with pizza and resupplying at the IGA across the street, we piled back into the shuttle and returned to Uncle Johnny's. Lumber Jill and the rest of the crew were there and getting ready to head out. I really hated to see them leave. I have so enjoyed hiking with that group; but, I respected that they were trying so save money by moving on quickly. It's so easy to overspend when you stay in town. We still needed to wash clothes. Uncle Johnny's only has one washer and dryer and the dryer did not appear to be working. I found out there was a laundromat in town, so I decided to rent a bike ($2) and ride to the laundromat. It was kind of funny. Everyone was amazed that I was going to ride 4 1/2 miles to the laundromat. First of all, I'm an avid cyclist who routinely rode my bike 8 miles to work, not to mention thousands of other miles on road, gravel, and mountain bikes. Second of all, I've just walked over 340 miles to get here!I went to the stable of rental bikes and picked out my ride. It was an ancient, rusted Specialized Rock Hopper with a Bell comfort seat and a loose kickstand. At one time it had been a noble steed. Now, it looked as though it should be relegated to the glue factory. Nevertheless, I set out for the laundromat with my and First Sergeant's dirty clothes in a borrowed book bag (it was included in the cost of the bike rental) on my back. The AWOL guide has a map of the town, so I knew where to find the laundromat. Unfortunately, when I arrived, I found it closed - as in "Out of Business" closed. I asked a couple of women I saw across the street and they directed me a mile up the road to the other laundromat. I found it right where they had said and proceed to wash our clothes. As I was folding our clothes, I realized that I had less than 45 minutes to get back to the hostel to catch the 5:30 shuttle to the Mexican restaurant for dinner. So, I jumped back on my trusty steed and started pedaling back, only to discover that the Weather Channel was right on the money with their high wind advisory starting at 5 pm. You guessed it - a strong headwind all the way back! Fortunately, after much hard pedaling since only about half the gears worked, I arrived back at the hostel with 9 minutes to spare. With the arrival of many more guests, 24 of us piled into two vans for the trip to the Mexican restaurant and subsequent shopping at Walmart. We are now back in our "cabin" listening to thunder and wind outside. I hope Lumber Jill, Strider, Darwin, Legs, Oz, Winter, Glim Glom, Wet Wipes, The Machine, and Honey Badger are all safe and sound in the shelter tonight. It sounds like a bad night to be on top of a mountain.