Date: 2019-04-16
From: Whistling Gap

To: Erwin
Miles today: 13.3
Weather: overcast clouds

The wind calmed down overnight at Whistling Gap, and it does not seem it reached the mid-30s as forecast. No complaints here! Clammy's the first up as usual and his hearty greeting to a neighbor is our alarm clock. It's ten of seven. Today is town day - Erwin is thirteen miles off. I skip a hot breakfast and shove some snacks in my hip belt, knowing I probably won't touch them. Last out, I catch up with UNICEF near Spivey Gap and we hike the next eleven miles together.The sun is warming us up, but the trail is easy and mostly downhill. We pass many hikers, both thru- and section, none of whom we know. One lady is named "I'm Not Dead Yet", or INDY for short (conveniently she's from Indiana). The morning passes quickly, until we start seeing Erwin about four miles out and are tantalized by its proximity for over an hour. Every turn away to follow the hill's contour is a disappointment, every bluff with a view to the Nolichucky River and town is a promise.Finally the trail dumps us at a bridge over the Nolichucky where Uncle Johnny's hostel sits. We're just in time to hop the hostel shuttle to town, driven by Zoso (AT '17). Uncle Johnny, a trail icon, sadly passed away last year and his widow Charlotte runs it with the help of several ex-hikers.Most of the van empties out at an all-you-can-eat pizza joint. Odie is walking by and chats. He's trail-famous for the Hiker Yearbook he publishes every year and can be found up and down the trail wherever most hikers are so he can get their photos for the yearbook.No pizza for us, we're headed into downtown Erwin to the Super 8 motel, more economical than a hostel for four people and closer to more restaurants!Eating is my first priority since I've had nothing all day. Higher than a shower. Sorry townspeople of Erwin! Bojangles is my target and Clammy joins me. I've been craving a Chick-fil-A chicken sandwich for a long time, and this is the closest I've seen. It does not disappoint. The girl behind the counter knows hikers and upgrades our fries for free, probably thanks to Clammy's charm. They sell a lot of "tailgate specials" to hikers, which is a ridiculous amount of food intended for a family for thirty bucks. The sandwich is enough for me. I feel like a piker.A mile walk brings us to Food Lion for resupply. I need little. As usual I haven't eaten as much on trail as I predicted. Zippy is here, but is headed back to the trail to tent rather than pay the hostel. We walk her to the library then head back to the motel. The others have lots of bags, me just one. (No food + no water = ultralight!) Fast Lane buys mostly fresh food to stick with his healthy diet. Clammy and UNICEF try a different tack and hit Dunkin Donuts.Laundry and movie time consume a few hours. Ready Player One is still a decent movie, if formulaic. (I know, move over Siskel and Ebert!)I'm getting spring fever doing nothing, so UNICEF and I take an evening walk around downtown. We're on the wrong side of the interstate and railroad so it's a little sketchy walking alongside traffic to town. The main street is, predictably, dead at 7pm. Heading down a side street to peer through the (closed) outfitters' window, we discover the one open business, a bar. With a food truck outside! Hikers wave to us through the glass so we stop in. Spruce Lee, Shiitake, Sea Legs, Tulsa Time, and a skinny kid named Fat Bastard for his voluminous appetite are here playing the bar trivia tournament and waiting for the shuttle back to Uncle Johnny's. Spruce Lee offers the sparse remains of his Bojangles tailgate special. Impressive. He's another skinny little guy. A bar patron wanders over and offers us a shuttle back to the hostel for gas money, so we arrange a ride for tomorrow morning. More serendipity! I get a delicious burrito from the food truck and help team "Hiker Trash" maintain first place in the trivia contest. That is, until I whiff the president who was assassinated by Charles Guiteau. James Garfield. Duh! The leading teams are furiously Googling everything though. Not much skill to that, folks!We slink out in defeat and circle the rest of downtown, passing four churches, beautiful blooming dogwoods, and many Victorian and Arts and Crafts influenced homes before our trek back to the wrong side of the tracks.Game of Thrones is on at 10:30, way after hiker midnight, so it'll be a late night. Never seen it, but apparently it's popular?