Date: 2010-05-08
From: Erwin, TN

To: Hampton, TN
Miles today: 65.6

Sorry for the delay in writing. I am adding 4 entries now so please go through them to see all of the updates.I have never been so happy to leave a hostel as I was to leave Uncle Johnny's. Having a toothless alcoholic drive me around a beat up van was not my favorite experience on the trail. I got my package from my wonderful mother and rolled out of there around 12:45 in an effort to catch my crew of Hand Me Down, Avatar, Squirl and Paul Bunyan. There was about 6,000 feet of elevation that day. Lots of ups. It always seems that when you go to a town you inevitably will be walking a few thousand feet uphill to get back into the mountains. I had to go over 17 miles and I did not want to do night hiking. I hauled myself up those mountains. After climbing the first 2500 feet I took a break and realized I only had 2 hours of sunlight left. I am not kidding when I say I ran up the last thousand foot climb.The climb up Unaka Mountain was beautiful. It was a rocky switchbacked trail with budding trees. As I got closer to the top the trees began to dwarf and I thought I was near the top. I wasn't. I probably climbed another 400 hundred feet to an incredible red pine forest. If it hadn't been for the white blazes I think I would have gotten lost up there amongst the evergreens. I enjoyed walking up there because the pine needles made the forest floor soft against my feet. It felt almost magical up there. The next day we pulled a 22 miler up Roan Mountain, the last of the 6,000 footers until Mount Washington, to a shelter in a barn. I was hurting. The ball of my right foot had been bruised on a rock and my feet were in pain. I had to climb 2,000 feet over 2 miles and it felt like it was an 80 degree incline. The white blazes were few and far between and I didn't realize I had run out of water just before the climb. Water is very important for climbing a mountain, especially a steep one. I was spitting dust the whole way up and was concerned I wasn't going to make it. Thankfully hip hop's greatest hits propelled me up the mountain. I made it to the top and ran into Miles who had a liter of water waiting for me. There is nothing like mountain spring water to satiate thirst. My feet throbbed for the next six miles and were rejuvenated when I came across some trail magic in the form of mountain dew. I would never, ever, ever - in normal life - drink mountain dew but on the trail I chugged that can to get me to Overmountain Shelter. When I got to the turn off I didn't read below the Yellow Spring Gap sign so I moved on. As I started walking up an unindentified mountain I realized how much pain I was in. My breathing became shallow, I began wheezing and then I think I had a panic attack. After going another mile or so I threw off my pack and realized I had no idea where I was, how far I was from the shelter and had no way to contact anyone. I didn't have enough water to camp and so my freak out began. Tears were thisclose to being shed. I got out my guidebook one last time and read and re-read where I was. It was only then that I discovered Yellow Spring Gap was the same place as Overmountain Shelter. I had walked an extra 2 or 3 miles that day once I got back to the shelter. I have never been so thankful to be off my feet. Now I have learned that you have to read every sign you pass, even if they are long. The next day was an easy 18 and I got to stay on the third floor of a shelter. This was good because I didn't hear the snoring as badly and it was warmer. The negative side of staying on the third floor is if you have to go to the bathroom at night. I now go to the bathroom every evening at 11:30 on the nose. You could time a clock to it. Navigating 2 sets of ladders with a head lamp over other hikers scattered throughout the shelter was not something I wanted to do. So instead I got very little sleep and waited until an appropriate wake up time, 5:45, and got moving. I think that experience reconfirmed why I will pitch my tent instead of sleep in shelters. It is so much nicer, I get better sleep and I don't have to worry about disturbing anyone else. I ran down the mountain that day to get to Kincora Hostel and the legendary Bob Peoples. I am not kidding when I say ran. My feet hurt so bad that I sprinted the last half mile so I could take my shoes off. Ah, the simple joy of being bare-footed.