Date: 2016-04-23
From: Erwin, TN

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 127.8
Weather: broken clouds

Day 30 on the trail (Sunday, April 17th) started out wet when my small platypus bladder leak turned in to a huge problem. I had noticed the lining toward the top had a small hole the night before but figured it was still okay to use... Wrong! Seconds after putting my pack on I felt water running down my back. In a flash I removed it and pulled out the bladder which in combination with my gear and pressure from my back against it had caused a liter of water to leak out of the top. I was lucky that the trash compactor bag kept the items inside of it dry and by flipping over the pack I was able to get rid of most of the water. However, once the leaking bladder crisis was handled I then had to face the issue that until I get a new one sent to me from REI to replace the defective one (already ordered and should be waiting for me in Damascus, VA) I would have to use my two water bottles. That means at most I'll only be carrying one liter of clean water (using Aquamira drops) on me at the start of the day and will have to fill up the other bottle with the Sawyer filter attached whenever water is available. This method is preferred by some since you carry less water weight but I don't like it because I have to make a lot more stops both to drink water and to go to the restroom since you end up chugging water rather than sipping it over time. Thus the 17.8 miles we hiked to get to Clyde Smith Shelter was just a bit more challenging. I did have lunch with a nice man named Hot Soup who has been hiking the Appalachian Trail Southbound since 1982 in short sections. Another interesting character at camp was Bear Claw a man who hikes in a kilt and carries a sword (used mainly to make fires) haha. Monday was just a great day, the weather was sunny and breezy and we only went 15.5 miles which is an easy day (crazy huh, my trail legs are here). We hit the trail at 8am and hiked up and over Roan Mountain in time to have lunch at the top of Round Bald. We made it to Overmountain Shelter which is a converted barn just after 3pm and spent the afternoon resting on the grass taking in the sun (I sure do have some interesting tan lines already haha). We were making better time than I'd expected so I had a bit of extra food and made a Ramen Bomb... First cook Ramen noodles, when they are soft add 1/2 a pack of instant mashed potatoes and then once it is all mixed in put it on top of cheese and spam in a tortilla then enjoy! Just after dinner a few of our friends showed up who had left Erwin,TN a bit after us so we had a fun little reunion.Tuesday began with a decent climb over some balds that provided spectacular views of the surrounding area. Before lunch I'd officially crossed in to Tennessee for the last time and left North Carolina. I had lunch with a nice guy named Spicy and in the afternoon checked out Jones Falls which was beautiful. I ended the day at Mountaineer Shelter which put me at a total of 402.6 miles for my first month on the Appalachian Trail!! Wednesday started off just like any other day until a bit over 4 miles in to my hike the trail was closed off and a man provided me with a map of an alternate route along a forest service road that was a 7.2 mile detour around the AT. I had seen a fire in the distance the day before which apparently some idiot started and it ended up engulfing a significant portion of the surrounding forest including the trail. As I hiked along the road I saw several fire fighters and trucks passing by but just kept going figuring the best thing I could do was keep hiking and get away from the area. When I was finally able to get back on the trail I could see the fire getting closer and as I climbed up the mountains when I looked down in to the valley I'd come from all I saw was smoke. (I found out from hikers the next day that I was one of the last hikers to be allowed to take the detour. Soon after they stopped letting people through and kept them there for 6 hours before they escorted them through the burning forest to safety, no one was hurt.) Getting taken off and then put back on the trail at random spots caused me to lose where I was on the trail. Fortunately shortly after stopping for lunch I reached the road to head to Kincora Hostel run by none other than Bob Peoples (basically a hiking legend who now helps maintain portions of the trail). The last bit of excitement for the day was when I spotted a lot of movement across the road from Kincora and after a few seconds of waiting saw a coyote (it was so much bigger than any I've seen in Texas). Thursday was the day we hiked to and past the infamous Watauga Lake area and shelter which was closed due to recent bear activity. We (Sweeper, Caboose, Sea Biscuit and me) hiked as a group that day and made it out of the "Bear Closure" unscathed (although I'd kind of been hoping to see a bear). After crossing the dam we stopped for lunch and then I high tailed it over the next 4.5 miles since I only had half a liter of water and it was a hot day. I got to Vandeventer Shelter and thought my day was finally over but oh no getting water proved to be quite the trek. Not only was it .3 miles to the water source but it was all down hill and while getting down there stunk coming back up with an almost full water bladder (keep in mind the top leaks so I had to be very careful not to tilt it) and bottle was a pain in the butt! On the bright side the view of the lake and town below was gorgeous from the shelter. Friday was a crazy, wonderful kind of day. It started raining during the night and was still going in the morning when I began hiking. A fellow hiker named Nail Gun was getting picked up by his wife at the TN91 intersection 11.4 miles from the shelter and trail magic was supposed to be waiting for us when we arrived so we were all super motivated to get there regardless of the rain. Just before the road there was a big, orange box chained to a tree which ended up being a permanent trail magic box provided by a local Baptist church which had a cooler of drinks, snacks and some toiletries. Caboose and I had a soda and zebra cakes before moving on. As promised Mrs. Nail Gun (she really deserves her own trail name as this is the second time she has given us trail magic, the first being before Max Patch) was there and had an even bigger spread then before. I ate at least 6 Krispy Kreme donuts, 5 bags of chips (the variety pack kind) and an assortment of other goodies . It's always fun to just eat and hang out but about an hour later we braved the rain again and hiked on. Only 6.5 miles later at Low Gap we arrived to more trail magic provided by a group of old thru-hikers! The coolest thing was that one of the guys hosting the cookout was Bubba a hiker I'd reached out to for advice while preparing for my hike, it sure is a small world. After enjoying a burger, hot dog, snacks and even a beer I continued hiking and with all of the sugar and breaks ended up hiking a total of 22.7 miles to Abingdon Gap Shelter (my new and probably will be for a while highest mileage day)!! Saturday I hit the trail early and was hiking just over 3 miles an hour due to the easy terrain and motivation to get in to town. I crossed in to Virginia (the never-ending state so I've heard) and met a lovely Southbounder named Mountain Man. My first impression of Damascus is that it is a great hiker town and I'm excited to hang out here for the day! PS...1) I went 8 days without showering and surprisingly wasn't too gross (at least not to me haha) but will make sure to take one at least once a week for general hygiene maintenance. 2) I almost never drank soda before the hike and now am constantly dreaming about ice, cold Mountain Dew when it gets really hot.3) I have some how managed to lose 5lbs even eating so much food.4) I am horrible at posting pictures on this site so if you would like to see pics just check out my Instagram: noshingthrulife