Date: 2004-04-27
From: sam's gap

To: erwin,tn
Miles today: 24.5
Weather: broken clouds

well, perhaps i am flattering myself thinking that some of you may have noticed i have been getting further and further behind on this thing. its because of ms janet's. i have been writing since then, but have been hesitant to write this entry since it is such a difficult one. alas, i will not rise to the challenge as i had perhaps hoped and crank out the perfectly articulated description of ms janet and what she does. rather, im just gonna peck some keys understanding that some feelings, kindnesses, and experiences are beyond my description.ms janet is the friendliest, best, person on the trail in my estimation. when i first came though erwin, a large sprawling tenesee town, in 1999, miss janet was picking up hikers wherever she could find them and driving them wherever they needed to go whenever they needed to go there. and through the madness of taking smelly bearded guys one through four to the all you can eat, driving injury plagued smelly girls and guys 5-7 to the doctor, driving 8-12 to the food lion, 13-17 to the holiday inn express only to realize they would rather stay at the super 8 and then drive them there, then swing by the trail to greet 18 and 19, all the while picking up those she had dropped off, well she was always-in my experience and the experience of everyone i talked to- nothing but the nicest person in the world. and get this. free.some people will offer such a service motivated only by kindness but soon get so frazzled that you tread lightly on them, and feel guilty running them into the ground even if they are reassuring you all the while that its no big deal to take you to the trail head, you still just wanna walk to save them the ulcer. so what on earth am i saying? its is a rare person that will dedicate so much time and energy to helping others. it is a miracle of a person who will dedicate that energy to freekin hikers and stay sane. thats miss janet.she is not a hiker. at all. she went to high school in Erwin. and so with her hostel, opened in 2002, the weary traveller gets a taste of boundless kindness and true hospitality. many services on the trail are now bona fide buisiness opportunities or insular AT experiences. miss janet offers her home in tenessee to whomever treks through.its her house. its not at all, not at all, a big house. small kitchen, small living room, two bunkrooms with 6 beds each, and a backyard. there is an upstairs but it is off limits to hikers. when i arrived wet from sams gap i was lucky enough to grab the last bunk, but as the afternoon progressed, dozens of hikers would slide through the door, wet, looking for room at the best place in town. although they could not be accomidated, they were welcome to dry off, watch a movie, catch up with friends. wait for janet to drive them to the motel(she is too much!). all this activity in a small house, and somehow it feels like home. its insanity when you look at it objectively, when i consider what else my 15 dollars could buy me. i could have space to hang my wet gear, space to spread out, a kitchen to use. but i sit on the small front porch, backpacks falling on my knees, wet tents draped above my head, staying out of everyones way, knowing that for some strange reason everyone here knows that there isnt a better place to be.well its no strange reason, the reason is simple. miss janet is remarkable.*******************************************************i hiked today, too! janet runs shuttles all over gods green earth in addition to running the house. and so i got dropped off at sams gap at 10:00 with a day pack and 24.5 miles back to erwin. this is called a slackpack. with ten and a half hours of daylight to do 24.5, this is called a little nuts, dude.over the biggest bald of them all, the venerable big bald, launched up into the sky at over 5000 feet. a steady 8 mile climb affords views over grassy fields with scattered big trees to the big, bald summit. i really love this mountain. its an exciting day. a bit cold, i am hauling uphill shirtless and a mild mannered middle aged woman, sue from vermont, looks back once and coninues hiking. when i catch up she says "oh, milo, its you. i saw some guy without a shirt rushing up the mountain behind me and thought i am glad there are other hikers around!" some of you may not believe it, but i sort of go loony on these trails.trucking up and up as the forest changes to gnarlyer smaller trees that can survive the elevation i can see a grey cloud stuck to the summit. i break tree line and whoooooooeeee! wind! i throw off my pack and fumble shivering for my rain jacket, throw it on, and keep hauling just to stay warm. then its snow! only a little, being blown horizontal. wild. and so i hoot like hell into the wind. then i bellow an original improvised song with an opratic feel that goes "craaaaazy. this muh funking weather is craaaaazy. no view to see, well glory be, this weathers almost crazy as me...." second verse same as the first.fun as hell. then at the bottom i see hobbes laughing his ass off and ask him for money for the performance. good to see his spirits up too in this insane weather. what a fun trip!the weather calms and after big bald it is more or less an athletic challenge, using my watch, keeping my pace up, harldly stopping, making miles like a mo fo. around 730 i come over the last ridge of the day and can see a glorious view of the sun setting over erwin. the town split in half by the big nolichucky river and looking like cereal in the bowl of these glorious, green, ridges. yes, spring is really cracking. much is in bloom. dogwoods are espescially kicking. from a view like this i can scan the ridgeside for little white bouquets amidst the fresh spring green. the churches of erwin glow orange. descending down, a bunny rabbit crosses my path and runs away 4 feet at a time but doesnt get off the trail, and so essentially this cute little thing runs in front of my delerious self for a quarter mile as if to say "follow me to burritos." anyway, i emerge in town and walk past a hostel that is run by scetchy ownership that has earned it a bad reputation. the place is dead. creepy. and as a walk down to the highway along the river looking up at tinted billowing clouds, two employees are having a smoke outside and just kind of stare at me. dude, wierd. i get a hitch the 3 miles to downtown and tell the guy i am going to the burrito place. i hop in the bed of his truck and he cruises, flys through town and takes several sharp turns and slams the breaks about 3 feet from the door of the burrito place. i get out and he just gives me a big grin. kick ass. i inhale a burrito and return to janets.