Date: 2007-05-08
From: Iron Mountain Gap

To: Indian Grave Gap
Miles today: 10.8
Weather: clear sky

May 8, Last Day of Erwin SlackpackingToday was a good day. I'll be honest though, I woke up not wanting to hike. I was tired this morning and I just wanted to relax. Seems like we've been running ever since we got to Erwin. I had time this morning to pack up a little and get my half of the room cleaned up - it's been a disaster. Tim came by around 11 a.m. to pick us up. It was just Certain and I today on a southbound slackpack. We got to Iron Mtn. Gap at 11:30 and ran into Talker Man. Talker Man is a guy I met in Erwin who has been following my journal - it's so exciting to meet him. So, I'd been spoiled the last two days walking on relatively level ground - today would actually require some work from my lungs. We started going up immediately. The weather was beautiful, a perfect day. We hiked over Little Bald Knob down into Cherry Gap and then back up to the shelter, running into 1/2 Pint on the way. I took about a 25 minute break at the shelter to get water, eat some granola bars, and read the shelter register. It was a nice break. After the shelter, we headed down into Low Gap. I scared some guy half to death as he was sitting alone in the gap eating lunch with his back to the trail. He jumped as the leaves rustled under my shoes. I apologized for startling him and he said his first thought was "oh no, I have tuna!". Haha. He was doing a section with his friends. We were all bummed to see pseudo trail magic - empty coolers!After that, I had to face what I'd been dreading all day - the climb up Unaka Mtn. It would be two miles of going up. The first mile was not bad at all, pretty gentle. We hit a spring and took a break for more snacks. After that, there were many rocks to climb, many tree roots to dodge, and other obstacles. I got the bright idea to take some video of our climb incase anyone at home would like to see what I do all day. So, the next mile was a little more rough but I made light of it with video Pretty soon, we were on the top of the mountain. It was spectacular! The summit was covered in hemlocks and the forest floor was carpeted in dried pine needles. It was majestic - even reminded me of the Maine woods. I can't wait to see more of that. It was such a reward to get to the top of that mountain - I'd been dreading the climb and it turned out to be well worth it. I reveled in the beauty of it all and hoped Maine would look the same way. The climb down Unaka Mtn. was also wonderful. We walked through what looked like an apple orchard with tall grasses. The trail got pretty rocky for a bit and slowed us down but we kept trucking. We hiked up through a meadow to Beauty Spot, a wide open space with great vistas. We spent about a half hour there just laying in the grass. I could have taken a nap if it weren't for the spider crawling on my neck and the gnats. Gorgeous spot though, even with the road below.After that, it was a gentle descent to Indian Grave Gap. We met Tim a little before the road as he was bird watching. He drove us back to town and we made dinner plans along the way.The hike today was refreshing. I felt so lazy this morning and the last thing I wanted to do was climb mountains. But, I got to see many new sights and I'm definitely glad.Tim swung by with Rosie, another thru-hiker staying at Miss Janet's, and we headed to Johnson City for Chinese food. Certain and I joked about going to dinner in our pajamas and I gave her a hard time because she was actually in her underwear. She has these multi-functional shorts that morph into underwear and town shorts when necessary. I'm the only one who knows she was walking around in public in her skibbies though.Dinner was good and it was great to meet Rosie. Now it's time to pack up - we're getting out of dodge tomorrow!- Sound of the hotel fan.Oh, I keep forgetting to mention - the day we were going over Clingmans Dome (long time ago), there were two snowmen along the trail. I know it's random to add that here but I wanted to.