Date: 2011-06-04
From: Nolichucky River Valley Campsite

To: Beauty Spot Bald
Miles today: 9.3

I sleep really well and wake up late, 9am, need to piss badly so head off down to the private campground, the others aren't awake yet. A tall weedy guy is raking leaves and asks if I need help, I ask for the bathroom and he asks if I'm a guest, there are no "public" restrooms, it's private property for gods sake! Wonder how he spotted me so quickly, they must be able smell hikers by now. I'm pissed off cause I need to poop as well and don't relish the thought of digging a hole out in the woods. Speed Demon wakes up and goes down to check it out as well, the guy spots her right away and escorts her back to the connector trail. Jelly Bean wakes up, it's already 9:30, tries to move her right foot, it looks really stiff, we get her up but any pressure on her foot is agonizing, she can hobble a little with her poles, hiking seems outa the question so Speed Demon helps her down to the campsite hoping someone can shuttle her back to town, Bear Bait carries her pack, maybe she can get to Carvers Gap on Monday with James if her ankle recovers? The weedy guys wife drives her back to Erwin and I feel a little less hostility towards them after he chased us outa the campground, maybe they have some humanity after all. We take off a bit sadly, not knowing if we'll see Jelly Bean again. On to Curly Maple Gap shelter for brunch and a large group comes in, including Jude who met the day before at Nolichucky, he reminds of a guy I used to know in Darwin and the Central Coast during my meditation days back in Australia, John was his name. Jude looks like he could belong in an Ashram too. Off to get water, it's a really nice source, a pipe with plenty of flow and easy to fill water bladders, mix the aqua mira first so it'll be ready to purify, and drink some straight from the spring so I'll be used to it. Chat with Chef Boyardee for a bit, he seems really nice, he's from Alberta. There are 2 women from North Carolina and an older guy from CA, can't quite work out what they're up to on the trail, not thru-hikers apparently, we chat with them a bit about where to stay tonight. Speed Demon and Bear Bait seem anxious to be in front of them so we pack up and head off, stop at the top of a hill and one guy named Turbo catches up, he goes ahead with Speed Demon and they chatter away, seem to hike about the same pace (fast) and pull away, Bear Bait gives up trying to keep up with them. Next rest stop is Indian Grave Gap, we stop on the roadside and soon hikers start crawling outa the wood work, the group from the last shelter arrive and then up comes Sarge in his big old pick up with a cupla shuttles on board, Smore and some others, it seems really funny to see him again, just can't quite think why it's SO funny. Some others have arrived as well, Waterboy, Jedi, and Chef Boyardee. Jude jumps up and off he goes, Jedi and Waterboy follow us, the plan is to go to Beauty Spot since there's a campsite, not really sure what it is though, we can see Jude bobbing along ahead of us and he gets there first, it turns out to be a big grassy bald with a delicious cool breeze wafting over it. The water source is not great, just a trickle of water from the spring and bugs everywhere, mozzies and gnats, end up with lumps from the mozzies. Having a filter is definitely missed, Jude can pump water which makes it a lot easier than trying to feed it into the small opening of a bladder, makes you a nice easy target for the bugs. Off into the woods to poop for the first time, it doesn't seem too "polluted" here so I don't feel like I'm adding to the nasty scene of little white pieces of paper sticking outa the ground, gross! Seems like a good supply of firewood around so head on back with a few armfuls, there's a branch by the fire ring, a bit green though except for one log that burns well. Heat up water by the fire, it's Backpackers pasta for dinner, not really a lotta fire wood, the others want to keep the fire going but won't go out for wood, oh well you can't have your firewood and burn it too. I had wanted to keep some aside for the morning, one section hiker decided to throw some of it into the night fire, a little annoying and finally told him to stop, if ya wanna keep the fire going, go get some wood. The sun sets behind the clouds and haze as we chat and joke, and start to fall off to sleep, some headlights come up towards the nearby parking area which sets off alarm bells, locals sometimes like to harass hikers or just make a nuisance of themselves with a lotta noise, fall asleep anyway and nothing happens, nice locals.