Date: 2016-02-12
From: Indian Grave Gap

To: Johnson City
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

It¢s supposed to get even colder this weekend so today I¢m leaving the Poplar Creek Farm and Hostel to take a few days off from hiking. I¢m going to take the bus home tonight from Johnson City so I can celebrate our 22nd wedding anniversary. I thought it was just 21 years, but my wife reads this journal and reminded me that it¢s been 22 years. No matter how long, it¢s been a wonderful and amazing time : ) More snow is drifting down as I pack my stuff into my Honda Accord. After 3 tries I finally make it up the snowy driveway and wind my way Westward out of the Tennessee mountains. I gave the AT a wave as I went by knowing that I¢d soon return to Indian Grave Gap to resume my hike. I stopped for lunch in Johnson City at Ole¢s Guacamoles and had a delicious molcajete stone bowl full of chicken, steak, hot peppers, beans and various spices floating around. My bus doesn¢t leave until 9:30 tonight so I fill the afternoon by searching AirBnB and Craigslist for a reasonably priced place for me to stay over the next month or so during my ¢Zero¢ days when I¢m off the trail resting up. The name zero comes from the fact that you are hiking zero miles anytime you take a break from hiking up the trail.Last Spring I stayed where most hikers do, right close to the AT in either a hostel or a ¢Hiker Motel¢. Most of the time my decision on where to stay was based what was closest to the AT or who perhaps offered a free shuttle to and from the trail. This year I have my car nearby. I usually park it along the AT at the location I plan to reach by hiking another 3 or 4 days. Then I hire one of the AT shuttle services that are shown in Awol¢s guide to take me back to my starting point further South so that I can resume hiking where finished a few days before. This isn¢t the most environmentally friendly method of hiking, and that bothers me some. However, to make the AT experience work for me and to make it easier with my injured leg, this is how I¢ve decided to do it. This allows me to have my own ride waiting for me (as long as I don¢t lose the key¢¦ heh,heh,heh..) and head into town to get food, resupply, and choose where I would like to zero for a day or two. I thought of renting a room somewhere, perhaps in a house, where I could keep my extra supplies and return to one central location over the next month or so. This would remove the uncertainty of WHERE I would stay and also help make sure that I had a clean and quiet place to rest up as I zero. I will tell you that so far I¢ve stayed in some really nice hostels/motels and also zeroed in some that are not so nice¢¦. Kinda cruddy actually. I realize as I¢m making calls and emailing people that it may be hard to find someone who¢s ok with an AT hiker who¢s only willing to commit to a 30 day lease. So after contacting 10 or 15 possible places, including driving most of the way to one that changed their mind about accepting a 30 day tenant, I discovered a really nice furnished basement room for $400/month on Holston Lake. This one was near mile 450 on the AT, and about an hours drive from where I¢m hiking now. The plan is to hike from Erwin up the AT past Damascus and be able to get ¢home¢ when I take a zero day within an hour or less. This does involve more driving compared to staying right along the trail, but it¢s part of my ¢Hike Your Own Hike¢. I left my car up on the road and walked down the winding snow covered driveway. I didn¢t want to get stuck again. I met with the owner who lives in the immaculately kept main floor of the house. He seemed a little unsure about taking an unknown hiker into his house, but after we got to know each other better he warmed up to providing a place for me. I wrote him a check and let him know that I¢d be back Wednesday night after taking the bus to Washington DC and back for our anniversary. As I was about to leave in my car I realized that I could probably store my hiking gear and the piano keyboard I¢d brought from home in my new basement room rather than leaving it exposed to possible theft in my car parked at the Johnson City bus station. A quick call to the owner confirmed that this would be fine. I grabbed the big Hefty bag full of all my pack contents in one arm and hoisted the rather heavy full sized piano keyboard under the other arm. I made my way down the now darkened driveway in small steps due to the steep hill, the slippery snow, my wacky injured leg, and the amount of weight I was carrying. I had stopped and put my things down to rest for the 4th or 5th time when my sleeping bag in its compression sack jumped out of the Hefty bag and started rolling down the driveway. It was doing a decent job of finding its way down until the driveway made a sharp turn and it went off the side and appeared to go over the edge of a steep embankment that went down to the lake. As I got closer I could see that a small tuft of grass had reached out and saved it from the cold certain death in the dark waters below. As I put my sleeping bag back into the Hefty bag with the rest of my gear I realized that I was further down the hill than I remembered walking before. I quick look around at the one set of downward footsteps verified that I¢d made an incorrect turn down the wrong driveway. As I shuffled my way back up the hill I was surprised that the hilarity of the situation had me laughing at myself rather than getting mad for turning the wrong way. Here I was carrying 20 pounds of gear in one hand and a bulky 50 pound keyboard, up a slippery driveway in the dark. And because it¢s part of the hiking experience I was enjoying it¢¦ I don¢t understand it, but somehow hiking the AT is able to change my outlook on life. I made it back to the - correct - house, left my stuff there, and drove down to Johnson City to catch my bus. It¢s extra warm here on the bus and the noisy person behind me finally stopped talking. So I¢m going to try and get some sleep. Thanks for tagging along with me on my adventure.