Date: 2005-03-30
From: Bald Mtn.

To: Erwin, TN
Miles today: 16.9
Weather: broken clouds

Hey everyone.. I made it to Erwin, TN a day early! That's mile 338.7! Rolled in right about 2pm after 17 miles for the day.. Did a 20 and a 30 out of Hot Springs..the 30 was a little rougher than I expected so I ended up hiking the final 4 miles via headlamp..which i don't mind because it feels like I'm going faster at night. Spent the first night out of hotsprings at little laurel shelter.. and last night I spent on top of Bald mtn.. and how amazing it was! Great night for stargazing... didn't set up my tarp.. but staked my bag down as it was rather windy (25-30mph)..Woke up to a beautiful sunrise.. just layed and stared to the east for about 20 mins to watch the sun come up.. then I gathered my things and headed north to Erwin.. stopped at Bald mtn. shelter at 7am to make some oatmeal (cinammon and spice..2 bags..yumm) and had two poptarts.. apples and cinammon.. again.. yumm! My mom sent me some peach tea drink flavoring in my maildrop at hotsprings.. wow, amazing.. i'll be calling her to say we've found a lighter and much tastier replacement for the gatorade..the terrain throughout the morning wasn't too bad.. so I found myself jogging occassionally.. Stopped at "no business shelter" just 6 miles south of Erwin, TN.. broke out my last piece of pita bread and my last tuna.. to my suprise my tuna was "sweet and spicy"...it was.. simply.. bliss.. I laid there in front of the shelter for about 20 mins after eating and must say.. it was wonderful to actually stop moving for more than 10 mins during the day..Finally realized I was out of food and already hungry.. looked at my guidebook.. only 5.7 miles to Erwin.. so, I grabbed my things and flew down the trail.. Ran into some section hikers on the way down.. Two older fellows.. one who thru-hiked the trail in '77..his trailname is strider..he said, "looking at you is like looking at myself 30 years ago." He told me he hiked the trail at my pace as well.. and upon looking back wishes he would have slowed down and taken some 15 mile days to enjoy himself.. If I get far enough ahead of schedule.. maybe I'll do just that.. He had two younger boys with him.. one of whom I believe was his son.. The two.. full of energy.. are the only people who've been able to keep up with me for more than half a mile.. way to go guys! On the way down though.. I may have strained a muscle in my upper left leg.. it's pretty sore.. so I'm hoping it will be feeling better tomorrow.. I'm staying the night at uncle johnny's hostel.. which is right next to the AT and costs me 10 dollars.. yet, it's the nicest hostel I've seen yet.. After putting my stuff on my bunk "Strider" and the crew kindly offered me a ride to town.. which I gladly accepted! Many thanks to the boys from Indiana! Strider, leave a message in my guestbook and I'll help you out with going ultralight. They dropped me off at pizza hut.. where I ordered a large pineapple pizza .. and after 5 mins.. it was consumed! The waitress couldn't believe such "a tiny boy ate that entire pizza.. can ya'll believe that!?" I just laughed.. and ordered some breadsticks.. which were also consumed.. My appetite is unbelievable..! After eating I walked the mile to the library.. where I sit now.. the sidewalk was a little to flat.. and that mile felt more like 10! I'd rather be going up I tell ya.. really.. I would!.. or not! The weather for the next three days is supposed to be.. thunderstorms! So, I'm trying to figure out what to do.. I have planned 4 gruelling 30 mile days to get me from here to Damascus, VA.. that's right VA in four days.. according to plan..but, the profile maps from here to the kincora river are not promising.. and 30s seem like a stretch through this section.. even for me! However, from kincora to Damascus the terrain is suppose to be easy rollin'.. So i'm thinking, two relatively short days to kincora (20s).. then from there I'll bust out a couple of high 30s.. maybe a 40!? I don't know, I've got to break out my guidebook tonight and really do the planning.. The other thing is.. like i said a muscle in my leg is bothering me.. also, my feet are taking a pounding.. but not too bad.. and my knees are already bothering me.. plus.. 3 days of thunderstorms.. 30 plus miles under these circumstances will be tough.. but, if it was easy everyone would be doing it I suppose.. and we all know I like a good challenge.. so, we'll see what happens! Another thing to note is I've passed everyone that started in March.. or so I've been told.. and I'm passing most who started in late Feb.. I think there are a few mid-feb. starters a few days ahead of me.. so, I'm thinking within the next week and a half I'll be at the front of the pack and won't be running into anymore nobos.. oh well.. I'll hit early sobos eventually.. and lots of section hikers through the shenandoahs and up north as summer ensues..Anyway.. The library is about to close.. so I'm off for now.. tomorrow morning I'll try to make it back to add another entry to let you know my plans for tackling the 120 miles between Damascus and I.. 120 miles in 4 days would sound good wouldn't it.. eh, we'll think on it.. by we I mean.. my ego and my legs will have a debate.. we'll see who wins. Mind over matter.. or is it.. listen to your body..Out for today.. time to shower, do laundry.. and make the phone call homeTake care everyone and thanks again for the many guestbook entries.. truly brightens my spirits (not that I'm not cheerful as it is)..yours truly,-Traction April 4, 2005Notes from home:Traction is still in Nolichucky. He did decide to wait out the thunderstorms and give his legs a rest. The next day (saturday) he and two other hikers Train and Not Yet decided to catch a ride up the trail 20 miles and hike back to the Hostel they were staying at. They got up there and Kenny (Traction) said it was blinding snow. He went on ahead and did not realize the other hikers turned around. He said it was the worst experience yet hiking, he could'nt see the markers and he was cold as he did not have his sleeping bag. He did finally make it back to Nolichucky to find the other hikers there already. So since Train and Not Yet were not able to hike it Saturday they dicided to wait until Sunday. Well Sunday the mountain was covered with 3ft of snow and hikers were not able to hike. He called this morning and told me that they were given 4 free tickets to the Busch race at Bristol and he sinply could'nt turn that down. Plus it will give the trail time to melt. He plans on either getting a ride back up to the 20 miles up where he left off, today after the race or first thing tomorrow. He plans on being in VA either Wed. or Thur. He is still hopefull that he will be able to get back on schedule by making up some miles on flatter terrain. At least he has had some time to stop and smell the roses. He mentioned he bought a bible. Good time to read. -Mom