Date: 2017-04-05
From: Moreland Gap Shelter, TN

To: Boots Off Hostel, Hampton, TN
Miles today: 14.9
Weather: light rain

4/5/17 Boots Off Hostel, Hampton, TNMiles hiked: 427.0, Miles to go: 1762.8We awoke to sunny skies and a clear day. We fixed breakfast, broke camp, and headed out by 8:15 AM. 1st Sgt, Bo, and I hiked out together and were quickly passed by the rest of the pack. Based on the elevation profile, we expected a fairly gentle hike. Wrong again. We had a fairly steep hike out; but, it finally settled down and was a rolling hike. A quick aside about Bo. He is a professor of anthropology at Duke. I assumed his name was an allusion to Bo Duke, as in Dukes of Hazzard. It seemed a bit low brow for a college professor. It turns out that his actual trail name is Bard Owl because he was enthusiastically extolling the virtues of the Bard Owl one night around the camp fire. As happens with many trail names, Bard Owl got shortened to B.O. He didn't particularly care for the connotations of that name, considering how bad we all smell. So, it eventually became Bo. The clouds moved in fairly quickly; but, the rain held off. Our conversation ranged from Native cultures, to AT culture, to Doolittle's raid on Japan, to hiking the Camino trail in Spain. Once again, the miles passed quickly. We arrived at a road crossing and saw a sign for Kincura Hostel. It is run by AT trail legend Bob Peoples. 1st Sgt wanted to stop by and meet him, so we headed up the road. Bob Peoples has worked on the trail for years, leading trail maintenance crews. He is also a retired Major in the USAF. 1st Sgt was like a kid in a candy store. He and Bob talked Air Force for quite awhile; but, with bad weather moving in, we finally decided we needed to move on. We then went through the best part of the hike today - the Laurel Fork Gorge. The Laurel Fork roared through the gorge and the trail ran right next to the creek. At one point, the trail was a two foot wide ledge wedged in between the cliff and the creek. Epic! We also had a nice flat section along the the creek for several miles. Then the climb up Pond Mountain began. It was not a particularly difficult climb; however, it WAS a particularly long climb. We gained 2000 ft over 2.5 miles. And then the wind began. We had a few raindrops, so we stopped and put on our pack covers; however, the rain never really materialized and, eventually, the wind settled down. Much ado about nothing. We then descended for two and a half miles - much better than climbing. When we reached the bottom, we took a left turn on the road and came to Boots Off Hostel. It's a fairly new hostel; but, Jim and company appear to have their act pretty much together. After showering and getting cleaned up, 10 of us piled into the Hiker Hauler - a really cool lifted Suburban - and got a shuttle to town for food. Most of us ended up at McDonald's (yeah, I know that "food" is a pretty liberal description of what you get at McDonald's) where I learned about a brilliant culinary masterpiece from Hummingbird - the McGang Bang. For the uninitiated, you pull apart a McDouble and put a McChicken Sandwich between the two patties and smash it all together. It is incredible! I probably couldn't eat it in real life; but, it's amazing what you'll eat when Hiker Hunger kicks in. The problem is that you cannot carry enough food to replace the number of calories you expend walking 15-18 miles a day. So, when you hit town, you eat large amounts of food to compensate, i.e. Hiker Hunger. Ramsey Bolton actually bought 14 McDoubles to eat on the trail for the next two days. We are now back in our room at the hostel. 1st Sgt, Bo, and I are all sharing a room. It's a bit tight; but, after sharing shelters you kind of get used to it. It was originally supposed to just be me and 1st Sgt; but, Bo somehow missed out on the whole Bear and Bad Weather thing. So, by the time he called the hostel, they were completely full. We talked to the owner and he was fine with Bo crashing in our room, so all is well. The storm front is expected to move through tonight, with falling temperatures all day tomorrow and snow forecast for Friday. It may make the hiking interesting...