Date: 2005-10-14
From: Unaka Mountain, TN

To: Erwin, TN
Miles today: 13.7
Weather: broken clouds

13.7 miles todayMiss Janet's HostelErwin, Tn I woke up at 4:30am and checked my watch. It was still way to early to get moving, so I rolled over and went back to sleep. It seemed like only another few minutes, but when I checked my watch again, it was 6:25. It felt really good to sleep in my tent again. I duct taped the pieces of the Z-Rest together that Chief gave me because my old Z-Rest was so worn out. It really made a difference to sleep on the new Z-Rest. It was the coolest morning I've felt in a long time. I did sleep at over 5000 foot elevation though. I made my coffee and had a couple BlueBird fried pies, but they weren't nearly as good as most other brands I've had. I packed up and rolled up a wet tent. It's been a long time since I rolled up my tent wet on the trail. It didn't rain, but the clouds were blowing through on top of the mountain all night and the dampness from the trees dripped down on the tent. It's getting light later all the time. I started walking at 7:15 and had to use my headlamp for about 10 minutes until I could see good enough.That might have been because of the thick trees on the summit of Unaka Mountain though. I descended 1000 feet to Deep Gap, then climbed up to Beauty Spot. It was nice, but the clouds kept some of the views from me this morning. I kept walking until I got to Indian Grave Gap where I was supposed to meet Miss Janet and walk Fabian into Erwin. I got there at 9:10am and waited until 9:40 before I hiked on. Miss Janet didn't show up. While I was sitting there, leaves kept falling all around me. I tried ignoring them because I got caught up in catching as many falling leaves as I could last year and I knew if I caught any, I'd start trying for more. Well, one landed on my hand, so I started counting. :-))) I just sat there and caught 3 of them. I really hate to get started catching falling leaves because it's so dangerous. I almost busted my knee last year when I went running after one and fell. I walked on and in about 4 miles I stopped at Curley Maple Gap Shelter and signed the register. I checked again to see how many sobos passed me while I was off the trail for a little over a week and the only ones that signed the register were Trek who passed by 3 days ago and Blaze who passed by 5 days ago. I really thought there would have been more. I hiked on and in about a mile I ran into a guy walking north. His name was Tadpole and he said he's just out making up some areas he missed on his northbound hike this year. I got to a campground and went over to use the phone, but it had been taken out. I hiked on and in about a mile, I came to the Nolichucky River. I saw my truck sitting there waiting on me. Miss Janet knew I would be by Indian Grave Gap when we were supposed to meet and figured about when I'd be at the river and drove down to pick me up. That was great because we went right to Elm's Restaurant and ate lunch. The candy bars I had today while I was walking just didn't do alot for me...I was hungry!! We went back to the hostel and I helped her move a few computers around, then went into the bunkroom and checked my email. I started getting tired and layed down and took about an hour nap. When I got up, Miss Janet was still in the kitchen working on the computer. I told her I was going to Johnson City to resupply. The stores here didn't have any Starbucks coffee and I didn't want to hike out tomorrow without any. I've tried Dunkin Donut's coffee and Seattle's Best and while each one is better than average, they still ain't Starbuck's. I'm spoiled!!! :-))) I drove up there and stopped at an Outback and had a good steak for dinner, then went to Wal-Mart and resupplied. I noticed my gas tank was full. I found out later from Miss Janet that Hikerhead had filled it up for me when Miss Janet took him to Kincora in my truck. Hey Hikerhead, thanks, but you realli need to learn how to recieve trail magic. :-))) You didn't need to put that gas in my truck. It was great how it worked out for you to have that ride to Bob's right when you really needed it. I decided to take a ride up to Sam's Gap and leave a food stash so I didn't have to carry all of it up a 5500 foot mountain tomorrow. By the time I got all that done, it was almost 8pm. I sat in the kitchen and talked to Miss Janet until I started getting tired, then took a shower and hit the sack.