Date: 2007-03-27
From: Uncle Johnny's Hostel

To: Troutdale, VA
Miles today: 0.0

Hopefully you were all able to read the previous post, as I am posting two on the same day. I thought I would take an entry here to tell you all of some of the neat things I've seen and the people I have met so far.   On March 3rd, I was officially the 100th hiker to leave the southern terminus of the trail at Springer Mountain. I hiked 7.6 miles that first night and stayed at Hawk Mountain Shelter. That night I got to see a lunar eclipse, and meet some great people. Staying at the shelter with me were Dre and his dog Samantha, Forgetful, Mickey One Sock, Trail Dust, and Martini and Rossi. I enjoyed sharing some Girl Scout cookies I had been given before I left Springer. That night it dropped down to 18 degrees, and I got to see a few snow flurries in the morning.   Then next day, I hiked 22.5 miles to Neels Gap, where I stayed at the Mountain Crossings Hiker Hostel. Along the way, I crossed Blood Mountain where there had been recent sightings of "skunk-like" creatures living under the sleeping platform inside the shelter. At the hostel, I enjoyed a microwave pizza and a shower. On day 3, I left Neels Gap and hiked 17.8 miles to Blue Moutnain Shelter. There were several steep climbs that day. I got to watch a nice sunset at the shelter with hikers Jeb, Mark, Paw Paw, and Silver. Jeb and Mark were fun guys. Paw Paw, an interesting character, will be turning 90 years old this Spring. He has two hearing aids, a pacemaker, and the hots for Silver! She denied this, but at 60 years old, she did hike 15 some odd miles to camp with Paw Paw that night. Paw Paw was on a submarine at Pearl Harbor! He had some neat stories.   My fourth night, I stayed at Deep Gap Shelter after hiking 14.8 miles. On my previous hike, this shelter had been deemed haunted by another hiker I was with, so I kept my flashlight at the ready during the night.   As I stayed at the Hostel at Neels Gap a few days ago, I skipped the trail towns of Helen and Hiawasee. I hiked 15.1 miles and stayed at Muskrat Creek Shelter. It was a good day, as I hit the 75 mile milestone and crossed into NC from GA! My second state! That night I stayed with Socrates and Highlander and had a great time talking as we watched the stars.   My 6th day, I covered 24.6 miles and stayed at Rock Gap Shelter. Along the way to the shelter, I climbed Standing Indian Mountain and Albert Mountain. Albert Mountain had a fire tower at the summit. I was able to climb to the top and take some neat photos. That night, I stayed with hikers Ansel, Diablo, and Snakebite.   The next day, I hiked 19.6 miles to Cold Spring Shelter. That night I about set the shelter on fire as I accidentaly kicked a log that a liquid fuel stove was balanced on top of. The burning fuel spilled out, but no damage was done, and everyone around got a good laugh out of it. I spent this night in my tarp shelter out behind the wooden shelter as it looked like several mice families had taken up residence inside the wooden shelter. My tarp was wonderful, but I learned the importance of verifying that the ground is flat/level prior to going to bed, and not just eyeballing it. I woke up during the night and found that I had slid down hill and my feet were poking out under the side of my shelter.   The next morning, I hiked 11.4 miles to the Nantahala Outdoor Center. The center has a restaurant and a hostel for hikers and rafters. I enjoyed Chili-Cheese fries and onion rings at the restaurant for lunch, did some laundry, then came back to the restaurant for dessert. That night, there were 15 hikers staying at the hostel. We all congregated in the common area of the hostel and shared stories from the trail. There that night were Butch and Sundance, (a father-son duo), Tito The Love Making Bandito, and several others I had stayed with the night before. It was a fun night.   The next morning I skipped breakfast at the restaurant and got down to business. The Hike up the mountain from NOC was steep. I hiked 22.2 miles that day to Cable Gap Shelter. That night I met a father/son duo from Florida that were out for a Spring Break hike. Terry and Todd shared their campfire as well as their food. It was a great night.   On my 10th day, I hiked into the Fontana Village at Fontana Dam. I resupplied, picked up my bounce box (a box a supplies that I re-mail or bounce to myself at various points along the trail) and had lunch at the restaurant. During lunch, I could look out from the restaurant windows overlooking Fontana Lake and see the Smoky Mountains beyond. I wasn't really looking forward to the steep climb from Fontana Dam, but I eventually moved on. I climbed up into the Smoky Mountains National Park from Fontana Dam, and snapped some good photos from atop another fire tower along the way. After 17.9 miles, I stopped at Mollies Ridge Shelter. During the night, I heard an owl come to roost nearby, as well as a pack of coyotes come by the shelter on the hunt. I later heard that that pack of coyotes killed a wild pig just outside of the next shelter up the trail.   The next day I hiked 17.0 miles to Silers Bald Shelter where I was treated to a nice camp fire built by some nice section hikers. I got up early the next morning and hiked 15.5 miles to Icewater Spring Shelter. Along the way I saw some great balds, or areas on top of mountains where there are no trees. I had some great views. I also climbed to the top of Clingman's Dome, and the observation deck at the top. I was very lucky to have a clear day and was able to snap some good photos. Leaving Clingman's Dome, the trail became very wet and muddy. In some places, the trail had frozen over and become a sheet of ice! Just before the shelter, I came to Newfound Gap. There were many tourists there, but I didn't run into any trail magic. The was also the day when my tooth problems began.   The next morning, I was tired of all of the nasty wet trail (see photos) and made up my mind to get out of the Smoky Mountains. I hiked 30.7 miles to the Standing Bear Hostel in TN. It started raining (my first rain of the hike) with about 3 miles to go, and I actually jogged the last few miles to the hostel. You can't do that with a heavy back pack! The hostel was great. I stayed with Chaco, Caterpillar, Hike, and the Happy Hiker. Happy was able to get a fire going in the wood burning heater inside the bunkhouse. It was a fun night to be inside. I spent a zero day at the hostel, and spent the day talking with the other hikers and listening to the rain outside on the tin roof.   The next day I woke up early and got an early start. I hiked 33.4 miles to Hot Springs, NC. It was a long way, but another hiker had given me a hard time about hiking long distances, so I enjoyed skipping into town at the end of the day just to show him that it could be done. Along the way I crossed over Max Patch. Last time this was my favorite point on the trail. This time, I couldn't wait to get over it. It is basically a giant bald. When I went across it this time, the temperature was 20 degrees and the wind was gusting almost 50 miles per hour. It was COLD! I snapped some quick photos then ran down to a lower elevation. In Hot Springs, I stayed at Elmer's Sunnybank Inn. It is a big victorian style house that he rents rooms from to hikers. I met Guthook, Toesocks, and Clem, a hiker carrying a french horn with him on the trail. I ate a double hiker burger at the diner in town with FedEx Man and had a great night's sleep.   On my 16th day, I took my time leaving Hot Springs. I resupplied and hiked 11.0 miles to Spring Mountain Shelter. I had a great night in my tarp. I listened to owls hooting and watched the stars. It was neat to think back to the last time I was at this shelter. This was where I met the famous Sean O for the first time. He ran up and simply said, "privy?" I look forward to seeing Sean O again when I get to Maine!   On my 17th day, I ran into the greatest trail magic ever shortly after leaving camp. I saw a sign that read, "hikers turn here for waffles and ice cream!" I couldn't believe it! As promised, I was welcomed into a wonderful log cabin by two former thru-hikers. They served me belgian waffles, BBQ, cookies, soda, even a brownie sundae! I had to take pictures of the food it was so awesome! I didn't want to leave their company. I stayed about 5 hours, just eating and talking. As one plate was cleared, the next would be put in front of me before I could even decide if I had room for more! The great couple that lived there gave me some good reading material to take with me. I look forward to talking to them again soon and updating them on my progress. After leaving and hiking another few miles bringing the day's total to 8.6 miles, I met Steve and Daniel at Little Laurel Shelter. They shared their food, campfire, and personal testimonies with me. It was another great night on the trail, and I look forward to talking to them again in the future as well.   The next morning, I found that my tarp would keep me dry in the event of rain as it rained off and on all night. As I hadn't tested it in the rain before, this was comforting to learn. I hiked 12.7 miles to Flint Mountain Shelter. At the shelter, a section hiker named Hannah shared her just-add- water strawberry crumble desert with me!   On my 19th day, I hiked 18.8 miles to Bald Mountain shelter. Along the way I saw a bunch of wild turkeys run across the trail. I met a newly-wed couple out for a honeymoon hike, and had the best views of the trail so far from the top of Bald Mountain. That night I stayed with Santa's Helper, Backyard Boogie, and two section hiking brothers that shared a power bar with me!   On my 20th day on the trail, I hiked 16.9 miles into Erwin, TN, where I met Nita at Uncle Johnny's Hostel. It seemed to take forever to come down off of the mountain and reach Erwin. The last couple of miles seemed to take forever as I knew Nita would be waiting at the bottom!   I'm sure that I have met more people or seen more things that I have forgotten to include here, but this at least is a good description of my hike so far. I will try to upload some of the photos I've taken so far. I had to use a disposable camera at one point along the trail when my camera battery died. I have those photos on a disk and will get them uploaded when I can.   Thanks for reading! I will post again when I can. Onward to Virginia!