Date: 2022-11-07
From: Greasy Creek Gap

To: Indian Grave Gap, TN 395
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: overcast clouds

We packed up camp at Roan Mountain State Park this morning and got the crew back to Greasy Creek Friendly. They had Unaka Mountain and Beauty Spot on the map today. The walk is again above clouds along a high ridge and, unfortunately, looks like it will be cloud-covered most of the day. Thankfully the winds that pushed them off the trail two days ago aren't forecasted to return soon.Baxter and I left Greasy Creek and headed to Erwin via Iron Mountain Gap on NC 226. We crossed into Tennessee and soon found ourselves through Unicoi and into Erwin. We scouted Erwin for only a short time before heading back up the road to Indian Grave Gap, where the trail crew was planning on ending the day. We turned left onto Beauty Spot Road and drove the gravel to Beauty Spot. The high knob has a parking lot less than 100 yards from the grassy bald. We parked and took chairs and entertainment up the short trail, making a place in the fog where we'd sit for the next several hours. We read, whittled, talked with hikers, made hot chocolate, and caught fleeting glimpses of the forest around us and the views beyond.A rain settled in just before lunch and we gather up our things and hurried back to the car. We pointed the van further up the road towards Unaka Mountain with an aim to cut off the trail crew as they came through Beauty Spot Gap. We met Miss Janet in her van as we were going down the road and chatted for a bit. She invited us to her hostel for the evening and we exchanged phone numbers. We parked in Beauty Spot Gap and waited for the crew to arrive. We were able to track their hike over Unaka on the GPS. "Unaka" is pronouced YOO-nuh-kuh by folks from afar, yoo-NAH-kah by Erwin city-folk, and yoo-NAH-ker by Erwin country-folk. As we waited we were passed several times in both directions by bear hunters in their pickup trucks. These trucks were all smaller model Tacomas and Rangers and had high-end dog kennels in the beds. Each kennel held from 3 to 6 dogs, all hanging out doggy portholes in the sides. These dogs each wear a radio tracking collar and are turned loose into the woods in packs ranging in size from 4 up to more than a dozen. They find a bear's scent in the woods and track it over many miles. The hunters follow along in trucks on woods roads. When the dogs find a bear they give chase. The bear "trees" and the dogs surround the base of the tree. The hunters wade into the woods to where the dogs are and finish the hunt with a rifle. We saw one bad-luck-bear on the top of one of these kennels.The trail crew arrived in great spirits about 1:30. We chatted for a bit (as we drove the 2 miles back to Beauty Spot on the road that parallels) and arrived at the top of Beauty Spot together with views in all directions. I took Fish's pack in the van and they headed south on the trail towards Indian Grave Gap. Baxter and I drove.While walking through the 100 mile wilderness in August, I met Farther Along on the trail as she walked south towards Jo Mary Road. She would finish a 24 year section hike of the Appalachian Trail that day! We were all excited for her and traded stories as we rested. We later spent the night with her at the 100-Mile Wilderness Inn. She offered to meet us on our way through North Carolina and bring us dinner on the trail if we kept her posted on our progress. Tonight was the night that we'd be closest to her home near Pigeonroost, NC. We planned on meeting her at Indian Grave Gap at 4:00.Farther Along met Baxter and I at 3:30. As the trail crew arrived in the predictable order (NinjaSquirrel, North Star, Fish), she pulled out a table and set a spread worthy of a Free Will Baptist Covered Dinner. Meatballs, Pasta, Salad, Sodas, and Dessert were a real treat. As we talked she showed us pictures of the shed she's been converting to a bunk room. In the end, we all decided to follow her back to her place in Pigeonroost and stay the night. A short 20 minutes in the car brought us through another beautiful nook of the Appalachians, down to the North Toe River just above it's confluence with the Cane River. We turned up Pigeonroost Creek and were at Farther Along's mountain home in no time. The boys took up residence in the "bunk room" while Joni and I pitched a tent on the grass outside. We talked around a campfire that Ninja Squirrel built until the late hour of 8:00 pm. The full moon is keeping the forest bright tonight.