Date: 2004-05-21
From: No Business Knob Shelter

To: Curley Maple Gap Shelter
Miles today: 10.5
Weather: clear sky

Once again, in the morning the others got out before me. Before too long I caught up and passed them. After all we were heading down, my forte, and into town. The trail delivered me to a road just east of an intersection with the Chestoa Bridge over the Nolichucky River. What great names. There was a cool establishment on the corner that catered to thru-hikers, Uncle Johnny¢s Nolichucky Hostel. There was a big sign inviting hikers with words like showers, bunks, shuttle and the like. I dropped my pack on the awninged deck and broke out my fuel bottle. There was a sign beside the door explaining the refueling process and prices. It was something like nine cents an ounce but with an eleven ounce fuel bottle who really cared, surely not this hiker. Uncle Johnny¢s wife greeted me at the door and took care of the refueling while inviting me inside. They had a little gear shop here with most everything a thru-hiker could want. There was even one of those full color strip map posters of the whole AT. I got the poster to mail to camp so they could keep track of my adventure. Of course my appetite required a bottle of juice and a couple of snacks.Johnny struck up a conversation with me. He offered me a ride into town about four miles away. In fact he insisted even though I had no intention of spending the night at his place. We piled into an old jeep that had a hard time getting into gear. Johnny regaled me with stories of the history of the good old jeep. He dropped me at a local White¢s Supermarket and told me where all the AYCE (All You Can Eat) spots could be found. He was a mighty nice guy.This grocery store left a lot to be desired. Almost none of my favorite foods could be found, Knorr Tomato & Basil Soup Mix, Knorr Pesto Mix, Nature Valley Granola Bars. There was a big chain Food Lion somewhere in town. With a few purchases in my pack and the sun beating down on the pavement I headed across the parking lot for the dreaded in-town hitch.It¢s just plain weird hitching through residential areas. There were plenty of cars full of plenty of nervous people. There was also plenty of walking backwards into sign posts and off of curbs. It was only a couple more miles but on three or four different roads. After about 15 minutes a pickup with two guys in it pulled over. They were probably in their mid twenties. They told me to hop in the back and they would take me to the Food Lion. The wind felt good. It was miserably hot out there. The Food Lion had everything needed.The next stop was the post office to mail the poster to camp before it got destroyed. It was so hot that on the way I stopped into a gas station for a Klondike Bar. Mmmm. On the way to the library my gut had other ideas and lead me to The Erwin Burrito. This was a pretty special place in an old downtown building. It had real character that began with the big sign painted on the exterior of the building above the windows. Inside, the girl at the counter pleasantly took my order. There was a Thru-hiker register to sign. There was a guy sitting at a table. He was thru-hiking too. We had a good talk. We observed the girl climb up on as swivel stool to dump a bucket of ice into the top of the drink dispenser. That was a worker compensation claim in the making. We talked to her about it. She said it was better than the way they used to do it. It was a late lunch but it was good.The library was in an old restored train stations. I took some nice pictures of the train station and the Burrito that will of course never be seen. The library folks were happy for me to use one of their three computers to send my AT update 3. It was close to 5pm when I left the library. It was time for more in town hitching. Now there was even more traffic. Not a good thing. A really fat guy sitting on his porch as I thumbed by asked if I was headed to Chestoa Bridge. He offered me a ride for two dollars. He put his beer down and squeezed into the car. It felt like this guy was just lying in wait but who cares. He gave me some more local color and dropped me at Johnny¢s. There were some other hikers sitting at the tables on Johnny¢s deck. They were spending the night there and a bit surprised to hear that I was not. After a few more snacks it was time to set out across Chestoa Bridge for the third time but on foot this time and into the woods along the Nolichucky river.It was about four and a half miles up to Curley Maple Gap Shelter. The trail followed along a cascading brook for much of the way. Even though it was late, how long could it take. The rushing water was just too enticing. The dip didn¢t take too long and the feeling of a clean body was well worth it. Oddly enough there was no one at the shelter but me. That was actually nice for a change. Darkness fell at the end of diner and it was time to sleep.