Date: 2018-04-14
From: Indian Grave Gap

To: Greasy Creek Gap (Hostel)
Miles today: 15.9
Weather: broken clouds

DAY 3915.9 miles on the trail, plus another .6 to the hostelGood start to the day, everything is still dry and it is cool but not cold. It was nice to enjoy tea and breakfast and not feel like we were freezing. First order of business today is to finish the climb we started last night to Beauty Spot and then continue climbing up Unaka Mountain. Our packs are still full and quite heavy, but by the time we made it to Beauty Spot the sun was fully out and it was quite breezy, so we had really nice views. Once again we look in the distance near the parking lot ahead and who do we see but "Papa Dale", "Kingsman", and "Tobasco". They had gotten a shuttle and were going to head south back toward town. We gave them my usual greeting "Hey, you guys are going the wrong way." We chatted with them for a short while about each others plans and the weather and then we headed our separate ways. When we finally reached Unaka Mountain it was getting quite warm, we stopped at a spruce tree near the top decorated sort of like a Christmas/Easter tree in honor of Max. Max's parents decorate the tree in memory of their son who lost his life. We took a moment to pay our respects and sign the log book. We started down the switchbacks getting hungry for lunch, but just couldn't seem to find a suitable place to stop. About 1:00 we could wait no longer and just found a downed tree not too far off the trail and took off our packs and sat on the tree for lunch. By this point we were already quite tired and still stressing over where to stay and how to avoid the upcoming weather. We were on Little Bald Knob when we were passed by "Jo" and "Two" who were slack packing from Erwin to Greasy Creek Hostel. "Jo" was quite happy because here knees were hurting less with no pack even though they were doing a 25 mile day. They mentioned that tomorrow they were going to slackpack south from Carvers Gap back to the hostel again. Once they left it got us thinking that maybe their plan was a good way to get some mileage in, but still be out of the weather at night. Tomorrow it is supposed to rain heavy and then on Monday it is supposed to get cold and possibly snow. Even though it was getting late we decided to push farther than we planned and try to make it to the hostel tonight. About 30 minutes later as we were coming up the final little rise into Iron Mountain Gap road I hear Mary say "I smell burgers cooking". Shortly after I began to smell it also. I nearly knocked Mary over as I pushed passed to see where the smell was coming from. Sure enough, at the gap I see a pop-up canopy with a small group of hikers and a couple of guys saying "hikers? come on over". Trail magic! Mary and I quickly went over to find a couple of last years hikers and their friend cooking hot dogs and burgers. They also had coolers with soda and beer. "Lookout" and "Crusher" hiked last year and their friend "Clincher" is with them and plans to hike with them after they finish with the trail magic. "Jo" and "Two" were there with a couple of other German hikers. Once again, just when we needed it most at the end of a tough day, we received what we needed. We each had a cheeseburger and soda. We just made it because as we left they were picking up. They plan to hike the same section we are going to do tomorrow and plan to pack out the remaining soda and beer to give out to hikers they meet along the trail. Trail magic was just the lift we needed to make the final 4+ miles to the hostel. When we made it to the gap where the trail to the hostel is we had some difficulty finding the trail down to the hostel. When we did find what we hoped was the trail we started down an old road that was washed out and rocky. It was a steep downhill over 1/2 mile, so we really hoped we were on the right path. It was the correct trail, but when we arrived the owner was out, so the other hikers filled us in on the rules and what we needed to do. We got our showers, but didn't need dinner thanks to the trail magic. We waited for the owner to return, but it got late so we just grabbed a bunk in the bunkhouse and went to sleep. Our plan is to try to share a shuttle with "Jo" and "Two" up to Carvers Gap, which is just north of Roan Mountain, and hike back to the hostel in the bad weather and then try to get a ride back to Erwin where we will zero on Monday and wait out the cold and snow. If it works, we will get some good miles and still avoid the worst conditions and be able to go over the beautiful balds on a good day.