Date: 2012-06-20
From: Bald Mountain shelter

To: Nolichuckey Hostel, Erwin, TN
Miles today: 16.9
Weather: scattered clouds

Fell asleep around 6:30 pm last night. Woke up a few times during the night but went right back to sleep. Finally got up with the alarm at 5:30 am. No one else was at the the shelter and I was surprised I slept as well as I did - no heebie-jeebies. Had a great day hiking - think getting enough rest is key. Long long day of hiking - lucked out with weather again. I came face to face with a deer - until now I have heard them running away from me but hadn't seen any. At one snack break a butterfly was fluttering around me. I looked over my shoulder and it was on my back licking up sweat. It must have thought it hit the mother lode.Came to the No Business Knob shelter much earlier than I expected, which was good. But I had missed the spring 0.2 miles north of the shelter and had to walk back, which was bad. Had lunch there because with a great name like No Business Knob shelter, how could I not?Finally spied the Nolichuckey river that runs through Erwin around 5:30 pm. Kept getting closer and got to the Nolichuckey hostel (aka Uncle Johnny's) at 6:30. And the nightmare began.The surly hostel worker finally deigned to stop folding towels and check me in. I asked about my mail drop but was told to wait. I asked about cabins and he said he could give me a single rate for a 2 person cabin, but only if it were for one night. I said I wanted to stay 2 nights (to do a zero and and go rafting or tubing) and he sort of made me take the bunkhouse. I don't understand why he couldn't have given me the cabin at the 2-person rate for 2 nights, but he sure wasn't going to shed any light on the matter. He insisted I go pick out my bunk before anything else. One guy told me that a bunk was available even though there was a dirty towel and dirty blanket on the mud- smeared vinyl mattress. After that, the surly dude rang me up and asked if I wanted anything else and I asked for my mail drop to which he snottily replied "There's no charge for that". I said, actually, I do need stove fuel and he glared at me so hard I said "I'll get it tomorrow." I could go on and on about how rude this guy was.Went to the wash house. I figured the women's side wouldn't be too bad but there was hair all OVER the shower. I've travelled a lot and stayed in some dodgy places, and I'm not super fastidious, but the whole bathroom - showers, sinks, toilet - was filthy. What the heck, took shower anyway.After that, did laundry. While waiting for that to go through, I tried to figure out how to cook my gnocchi - just needed to be in boiling water for a few minutes. Microwave was gross, started to try to do with my stove. The guys on the porch were having a conversation about girls that was so offensive I gave up on dinner and left. Later, when one of the guys got really drunk, he apologized profusely for the vulgarity, but the vulgarity didn't bother me as much as the misogyny. Made me despair for humanity.Tried to go to sleep but some 40-ish dude came in and talked my ear off for hours. He had been hanging at this place for 11 days. Finally, he left coz the guys wanted to get in their Hike Naked Day hike at 11 pm on June 20. They insisted the 20th was the summer solstice but I thought it was the 21st.Finally, they started to settle down after midnight. The guy in the bunk above me was playing reggae music on his Pandora radio really loud. Around 2 am, the Canadian guy on the bunk next to me tried to turn it off. He finally resorted to stuffing it in a sock and shoving it under a mattress. (sad that 2 decent guys were a Brit and a Canadian)Was lying there in a quandary (and hungry to boot) - should I insist on a cabin the next day? Move to the Holiday Inn a couple miles away? Wished I had stayed at the No Business Knob shelter - there was a couple there with a sweet dog that were setting up a fire. On the way to town, I met some hikers that were heading there - a young couple and a couple of older guy section hikers. Sigh.