Date: 2006-04-11
From: Bald Mountain Shelter

To: Erwin, TN
Miles today: 16.9
Weather: clear sky

On the trail by 8:30 today... not a bad start, but I would have liked to get moving sooner. For the first mile or so I didn't feel too good, but eventually got into a really nice rhythm and the miles seemed to fly by. Todays section of the trail was mostly down hill but there were a few steep ups, but overall there is nothing of note about the trail itself. No great views, no summiting of mountains, etc.I did get a wonderful surprise at Spivey Gap, however. I turn the corner and see a big white box sitting on the ground in the distance with Oranges in a bag hanging in a bag above the box. "Holy Crap! A Cooler!" I ran the 100 ft or so to the cooler and see the words "To the class of '06, GOOD LUCK! Dejavue & Songbird '03" Sweet!! Trail magic is wonderful! I pull off the lid of the cooler to find it stuffed with Coke, Sprite, Coors Light, Pudding Cups, Snack Cakes and Mini Candy Bars. WOW!! The debate between Beer and Coke rages through my head. Since it is still 11:30 in the morning and I still have 11 miles to hike I decide on the coke, a snack cake and a couple mini candy bars. It still amazes me how willing people are in the AT community to help out complete strangers. It's really the way the world should work. But then again thru-hikers are easy to please... $1.50 worth of snack food totally made my day. Thank you Dejavue and Songbird!!!I hike on... first thing coming out of Spivey Gap is a big up. Dammit why did I cram my belly with so much sugar and candy. I am now in limbo between being completely ecstatic about the trail magic and wanting to double over due to my growing stomachache. I tell myself to stop whining and I continue on.The rest of the trail going into Erwin was a piece of cake. I arrive at the road and walk over to where I can see soda machines. I am immediately flagged down by Lab Dad and Blue Belt who I had hiked with a little bit way back near Franklin, NC. They hike with their 2 chocolate labs and since their dogs can't hike through the Smokeys they decided to skip past them. I tell them that I have a trail name now and we play catch up on what has happened in the last couple weeks. I find out they are walking to the Holiday Inn which is a mile away so I decide to walk with them for a bit.About a half mile up the road a guy in a pickup truck stops and asks if I need a ride so I hop in. It is a former thru-hiker named Redneck who funny enough is from Columbus, OH. It is at this point that I recognize him from the Outdoor Source (an outfitter in Columbus) as the guy who sold me my backpack. It is a small, small world.He takes me to Miss Janet's hostel, which looks just like a normal house except for all the old hiking boots on the front porch with flowers planted in them. I receive the tour, shower and do my laundry. A group of us then head up the street for dinner... I am told this dinner we are going to has big burgers. Let me just say that big burger is an understatement... they where huge, like as big as my plate huge. I am still kicking myself for not bringing my camera.We then went back to Miss Janet's and I was able to update about 4 days of my trail journal. I hope to get pictures up tomorrow. I also talk with The Senator and we decided to Slackpack 20 miles tomorrow and then stay at Miss Janet's again. (For those who don't know slackpacking means to hike a section of the trail without your full pack. It generally means that you start hiking and then someone agrees to pick you up from the trail at a designated location.)Novocaine and I decide we are still hungry so we walk over to Sonic to get some milkshakes. When the girl brings out my shake she totally checks me out and then says "You know, we give out free icecream cones to hikers." Excuse me? Free what now? Nov. and I tell her we would like a cone as well. She smiles, walks inside and fairly quickly returns with two of the biggest icecream cones I have ever seen. It was like a half gallon of icecream on a baby cone, it was ridiculous. The server then winks at us and says "If you can find anything bigger than what I just gave you... then you best come seen me." Ok... wow! People sure are friendly in the south. Nov. and I leave Sonic as happy as can be... one hand trying to balance my ridiculously large cone, the other clutching my quickly melting milkshake.