Date: 2014-04-24
From: low gap

To: erwin, tn
Miles today: 22.0

Thursday, April 24: Day 26Long day into Erwin, TNPushed into the small town of Erwin, TN today. A warm day with some breezy weather but the lasting impression of the day came right at the end.Another 20+ mile day pushing into the mountain town of Erwin, TN. Started the day off slow at 9:30 at Low Gap, had a couple mini payday bars as breakfast and head off into the day. The weather was beautiful today with temps probably pushing into the mid 70's, a bit high for the winding slopes of the mtns but great otherwise. From incredible views from balds through to the winding curves and narrow mtn passes this day had a lot to see. I kept ratting at 2-3 hour intervals again and felt good about my progress. I'll get into camp a bit later than 3-4 but I'll have plenty if energy to push long miles as the day goes by. At about noon I pushed on into a bald where we could see homes surrounding the national forest. It's the first time that, as hikers, we've seen so many homes so close. I guess since we're still pretty close to Asheville by car many people have mountain homes near the area. The views were great and you could see the AT grass path rolling along, stretching from hill to hill and then disappearing into the forest below. Quite a cool sight. By mid afternoon, I passed a shelter and was about to push up another mountain when I just stopped, took in the natural world surrounding me and stopped for a bit to eat. "The journey, not destination" crept into my mind and told me to listen to the forest. I took it all in for some moments but then my stomach rumbled and that was that. As I grabbed a bit to eat, a large group of guys (6-7) on a 4 day hike came down the path. Big, burly guys with a ton of weight on their packs. They were nice and we chatted about where they were heading but all I could think about was how poorly their packs were packed. Items swinging about water jugs half full and swing side to side. All things that cause a hiker to lose a ton of energy and cause more aches and pains than a few minutes of careful packing will fix. Off they went complaining about large, heavy packs and onto their next adventure. Up and down the mountains I went, and as the day got hotter, I washed up at a river cascade. So, good. The almost freezing mountain water felt amazing as I poured bottle after bottle over my head. On I went, passing amazing falls and small rivers. As I reached the second shelter of the day the map said no water ahead. I ignored it and went ahead only about two cups of water left in my bottle. I thought a small outlet would come out of the mountain. Boy was I wrong! I should have listened to the trail map. The trail leading to Erwin is bone dry. Not a spout coming out of the mountain. It's a good thing it was the end of the day, the temps were falling, and I was close to. Town and a major river. I was to cavalier with my water supply.I was almost out of water (down to a couple sips) going down the mountain into the town when I ran into a young couple going up to see the sights and see if they could find a local spot that I didn't know about. We ended up talking on the trail for a bit (they never did find their spot) but struck up a nice conversation with them and got a ride to a campsite for the night. Harley & Alyssa, both really nice folks with great personalities and a wonderful small town old southern charm about them. Just in college & coming out of high school the couple was a great introduction to Erwin & the friendliness that the town had to offer. Harley drove me down the road, across the river and to the a wonderful river beach campsite. A really short drive but good to save my legs a bit. The campsite was located in a national park recreation area so I wasn't to worried about staying the night. I was expecting them to take-off right after they dropped me off but Harley's a really nice, chatty guy and he and his girlfriend stuck around to help me out.After checking out the campsite, and making sure I was okay with it, he asked if I needed anything else! It was pretty amazing hospitality. We drove for a mile or so so he could get some gas then we tooled around town for a grocery store. He remembered a store that sold 50 cent beef jerky sticks but by the time we got there it was closed. After grabbing some supplies at the IGA, he drove back to the beach campsite. We made a fire on the beach and all talked while the sun went down, warming ourselves by the nice fire. After a couple hours of chatting and watching me setup my tent, I went to put up the food bag on a tree. My rock wasn't large enough and when I threw it over a branch it got caught. After a few minutes of trying to pull it down (and almost climbing up the tree) Harley thought of grabbing the branch