Date: 2003-05-13
From: Bald Mountain Shelter

To: Erwin, TN
Miles today: 19.9
Weather: clear sky

Departed Bald Mountain Shelter   Destination Erwin, TN 19.9 milesI hiked 19.9 miles into Erwin, TN, and Miss Janet¢s Hostel. For the past few days, I have hiked alone and usually end up seeing other hikers at the shelters. Today¢s hike held some grand views from Little Bald and High Rocks areas. My shin is still sore and my heel blister still hurts, but the weather was so good I just kept on hiking right into Erwin and then on to Miss Janet¢s. There were several hikers at the hostel that I knew or had met - Muk Tuk, No Pepsi, Half Pint, McGyver, Weaver, Vic, Spoon, Mr. Pumpy, Very Small Animal, and Psychedelic. I also met Wildflower. She had a friend¢s car and would drive us around town. Breakfast comes with your stay at the hostel and it was delicious - vegetarian omelet, French toast, fresh fruit salad with a cream cheese sauce, orange juice, and coffee.Over the next week, I went to Trail Days in Damascus, VA, slack packed part of the trail, went to a Ramp Festival, and helped Crazy Jim hike up MT Rogers ( I drove his van as his support team). Trail Days was a great event. There must have been at least a couple of thousand or more of past and present AT hikers. I caught up with Constant Motion and Crazy Jim while in Damascus, and really enjoyed their company. Jim had sold his truck camper and bought a 15 passenger van. He had taken out three seats, and we had a great place to sleep - especially when the rains finally came! This entire week has been full of activities, events, slack packing, eating, and fun. Now it¢s time to get back on the Trail and head north. Jim is such a great guy. He drove me down to Hampton, TN, on his way back home. He has really been a help and a friend to me. It was like watching family leave when he dropped me off at the hostel in Hampton. Well, I have done a lot of slack packing these past several days trying to make up for lost time. If Lou comes into town, I¢ll slack pack another day or two, and I should be back on schedule. Let me add something else about Trail Days. It is a huge festival for hikers - past, present, and future. The town of Damascus sponsors the annual event, and the town¢s people really go out of their way to make the event fun and educational for all those attending. My hat goes off to them.The hostel in Hampton is an old stone structure built around 1909 to house the offices and company store for the Pittsburgh Lumber Company. It is called Braemar Castle Hostel, and it¢s owned by Sutton and Beverly Brown (Sutton¢s grandfather owned the Braemar Castle). I have slack packed most of the Trail between U.S. 19 and U.S. 321. I¢ll head north of U.S. 321 at Watauga Lake in the morning. There is a short section from U.S. 19 to Iron Mountain that I will have to do later, since old Lou Cook stopped only long enough to say he was going on to Nashville. I had planned to slack that section with his help. Oh, well, that¢s life. I picked up my mail drop and had another card from Ida Nissen. She is so thoughtful and caring. She has sent a special card to all of my mail drops to date - Thanks, Ida! Well, that should bring my journal up to date. The entries should get back to normal tomorrow. More later.