Date: 2006-09-28
From: Erwin, Tennessee

To: Hot Springs, North Carolina
Miles today: 68.0
Weather: scattered clouds

We had a fairly sizable hill climb once we hit the trail again after our town day in Erwin. It had been raining on and off all day long, but we made it to the shelter without rainfall. At the No Business Knob Shelter was a nice group of section hikers from Texas who are trying to complete the whole trail. They had a nice fire going and we had a nice evening. A short while after we arrived at the shelter the skies opened up, and we revelled in the presence of a roof. Our first full day out of Erwin it was cold and there was a healthy dose of fog. We set off early and I don¢t remember a great deal about the morning. Lunch was eaten at Bald Mountain Shelter, and it was so cold that I put on almost all of my clothes and ate quickly. I wasn¢t in a superb mood as I entered the bald itself. Entering the clearing I immediately saw a bird blind and a number of bird nets that I initially mistook for volleyball nets. I briefly talked with a woman who suggested that I go and talk with her husband who was banding birds behind a large rock. I paused due to a nagging feeling telling me that I didn¢t have the time, but I fought back and went to have a chat with him. We talked about hiking and birds. It looked like an interesting scene. I was lucky enough to hold a little Tennessee Warbler which only spends a period of 1-4 day on its migration in that state. The weather cleared while I talked with the Forest Service volunteer and I set off down the trail with a distinctly better attitude. The hiking was pleasant, mostly downhill, and I had thoughts of birds to occupy my mind. At the hogback shelter that evening we stayed with two other guys. Jon collected a healthy number of really delicious apples which supplemented my meal. One of the kids that we were camping with remember that he had forgotten his wallet a few miles back down the trail. Around 6:45 at night he headed back down the trail to collect his property. He didn¢t show back up for a good long time, and after 9 at night The General went out to mount a search. Jon didn¢t get out of hearing distance before he ran into the kid returning from his adventure. It turned out that he had forgotten his flashlight and was forced to use the light of his cellphone to find his way back. He seemed fairly shaken. That next morning I woke up to more cold temperatures and set off for the day with hopes of clear skies and a bit of warmer temperatures. I passed The General after a short amount of hiking while he relaxed in a sunny clearing. It did look inviting, but I was still fresh and didn¢t feel like breaking quite yet. On the way down a long ridge descent I passed an older couple named Pacemaker and Buckaroo. They had hiked this year from Springer to the Hudson, but had missed a few section for personal reasons and were going back through to make them up. In the afternoon we hiked up a fairly tall hill that was made pleasant by a very nice job of grading the trail. On top of the ridge we followed a nice 4 x 4 road that was poorly graded and overgrown. There were a few times that I questioned whether I was still on the trail, but everything worked out well. Later in the afternoon I had a snack in a warm sunny field. Off in the distance I could see a hill with towers that marked the approximate location of our evenings camp. The trail between the field and there was more level than it looked, but for awhile there was a bit of slow going over an exposed, rocky ridge. The views from up there were great. I ate dinner up on a fire tower and watched the sunset. We had planned on camping right there, but for some reason jon didn¢t walk up to the top so after dinner I packed up again and headed down to the next shelter 1.3 miles south. I was a bit angry at him for not putting in the effort to find me, but that soon past. The third full day out of Erwin was already our last before going to Hot Springs. We were both excited about the prospect of staying in a hostel and eating a nice restaurant meal. The day was extremely pleasant and the trail was easy and time past quickly. All morning was one large downhill followed by a large uphill. Lunch was eaten at the Spring Mountain Shelter and there was a great patch of warm sun. At this point in the trip a little bit of sunlight at a convenient time is really enough to make my day. In the afternoon we hiked through some beautiful forest with giant trees. We met a male flight attendant by a stagnant pond and learned that he was hiking from Springer to Harpers Ferry. The descent to the French Broad River was a very dry hillside and it reminded me strongly of many south facing slopes along the Jon Muir Trail in California. It was a comfortable evening and we camped along the river just north of town. I walked to a nearby store and picked up a snickers bar and a six pack of Black & Tan¢s to enjoy that evening. The next morning we headed into town with the prospect of a full 24 hours off. Ate a tasty breakfast at the Smoky Mountain Diner before checking into the Sunnyside B&B. All day we lazed around the house, checked out town, and watched Apocalypse Now during a ridiculous downpour that came on very suddenly. In the evening we both ate a 100% fried meal again at the Smoky Mountain Diner. After that I called my parents before both Jon and I both headed to the Paddler¢s Pub for a few pitchers of beer. It was a lively local crowd and we played a bit of pool. It felt like late when we left, but we decided to watch another movie anyways. Once the movie was done we headed up to bed and we realized it was still only midnight so it must have been early when we left the bar. That evening my fried fare really upset the stomach and I had a difficult time getting to sleep. Also it seemed that the place had a bed bug problem since both The General and I awoke with a number of unexplained bites on various parts of our bodies.