Date: 2014-05-23
From: No Business Knob Shelter

To: Uncle Johnny's Nolichucky Hostel
Miles today: 5.8
Weather: clear sky

No Business Knob shelter to Uncle Johnny's Nolichucky Hostel. 5.8 miles - a "nearo."Anticipating a three hour stop in Erwin, TN at mid-day, I told Laura that we needed to get up early this morning and get an early start so that we would still have time after reprovisioning in Erwin, to hike to a shelter 5 or 6 miles beyond Erwin. We followed our normal routine: Laura made breakfast while I packed the sleeping bags, deflated the sleeping pads and packed up the tent. As I worked, the sky grew dark and it became very still. We heard a roar in the forest as a downpour headed toward us, but we were able to get all of our belongings (which were mostly packed) into the shelter before it hit. So, despite having no water, no privy, no bear cables and no picnic table, we were indeed thankful for No Business Knob Shelter. It kept us dry. As we finished our breakfast, the young adults who were tenting nearby came into the shelter - some wetter than others - to get out of the rain. We had a good conversatino with them about the purpose of their camp-out: they are all counselors in a church run camp that will be bringing disadvantaged youths on a several day trip here in June.We ran into 3 day hikers from Ashville, NC similar in age to us and chatted with them for at least 20 minutes about our children (one has a daughter who's a doctor at UCSF), wild flowers and plants, the storm that hit us this morning, etc. I learned the difference between Solomon's Seal and False Solomon's Seal from one of them. On False Solomon's Seal, the flowers grow above the leaves (see photo) whereas on Solomon's Seal, the flowers hang underneath the leaves.We arrived at Uncle Johnnys Nolichucky Hostel around 11 and immediately bought and consumed several bottles of gatorade, Dr. Pepper and Coke and ate chips. We got the re-supply box we had forwarded and slowly put together a plan for the rest of the day. We also decided to spend the night in a private room at Uncle Johnny's.We rented bikes from Uncle Johnny and took a really nice bike path into Erwin for lunch at a Barbecue place called Hawg-N-Dawg. The streets of downtown Erwin were under major construction as the hundred year old storm sewer system was finally being replaced. The owner of the Hawg-N-Dawg explained that he was thankful for this despite the temporary loss of business because the Hawg-N-Dawg had been flooded several times. Laura's bike was difficult to peddle (bad bearings), so we decided to take an easier route back to Uncle Johnny's - one that was more direct and had fewer hills. It was a beautiful afternoon, and the ride back was very enjoyable, despite being on roads, some of them narrow.Uncle Johnny's runs a dinner shuttle into Erwin every day at 5 PM, and we took that back into town to reprovision at Walmart and then have dinner at a Mexican restaurant. The restaurant was packed, it being the beginning of Memorial Day weekend, and the food was decent and filling, but I had too many chips and refried beans and my tummy is groaning as I write this back in our cabin. We will try to get an early start tomorrow.