Date: 2008-03-20
From: No Business Knob Shelter NC/TN

To: Holiday Inn Express - Erwin TN
Miles today: 6.3

Day 32 ¢ Thursday March 20 ¢ Erwin TN ¢ Miles Today: 6.3 Total Miles: 339.8The rain which started again last night about 8:00 p.m. continued on and off during the night as far as we know. We're not really sure as we were sleeping and having our normal allotment of weird dreams. One of the dreams Grasshopper had the other night was about eight or nine hikers stomping past the tent in the middle of the night and then trying to break into the vestibule. Now let's think about this. It's not like breaking into a house so why she was concerned about hikers breaking into the vestibule, I'm not really sure. Another one of her crazy dreams was a mouse getting through the zippered doorway because it wasn't zipped shut all the way and then a cat following it. The next thing she knows is that Brakeman is shaking her and she's thinking it's a mouse crawling all over her body. It¢s not always good restful sleeping every night out here. We woke at 6:00 and determined that the rain was no longer just plain ol¢ rain; it was sleet. As we fell back to sleep, we listened to the sleet and ice landing on top of the rain fly and then falling off due to the wind. This time it¢s Brakeman¢s turn for weird dreams. All the noises from the ice and sleet hitting the tent caused him to dream that a mouse was running around the tent. He also had another weird dream that there was a rabbit nibbling at the skin on his legs all night long. Perhaps we are hiking too many miles and it¢s causing all these weird dreams?Anyway, we got up at our normal 7:00 and had to shake the tent to get it free of the ice before we could pack it.   We used the automobile towel to dry it off as best we could so we wouldn't have to pack too much extra moisture out. Just before we headed out, Trailfoot, who was staying in the shelter, stopped by to borrow TP, a precious commodity for hikers as well as non-hikers! We were wondering if he was in the shelter but since we had arrived late to camp and wanted just to crawl in the tent, we didn't go over and socialize. Turns out that he had done just 20 miles yesterday as well. A lot of miles for us, but not for him. He had planned on going further, but a couple from Michigan out training for their CDT hike, which would complete their Triple Crown effort, told him the forecast called for another storm. So Trailfoot decided to hang tight for the night. I think he was quite bummed because it was really nothing other than rain, a little ice and snow and he could have easily made it into Erwin last night. So much for listening to the forecast. I think at times it's better to be in the dark because with these mountains you never really can forecast weather accurately.We hit the trail around 8:00 and had an uneventful hike out. We arrived down to Erwin about 10:30. We started walking along a back road into town, because we could not hike on the highway. We didn't see any cars for the first 5 minutes or so until a lady in a pickup truck passed us and, of course, she didn't stop to pick us up. The next car was another pickup truck with an older man. He stopped and picked us up and we rode in the bed of his pickup truck into town, which was about 5 - 6 miles away. The real nice man dropped us off at the library where we spent a few minutes doing our email before walking to the post office. It was easy to find, as the building had big letters spelling out Post Office on the top of it. Inside we go. Total confusion instantly appeared. Since when do Post Offices have tons of live plants?   It looked like a plant shop to us. But then we saw the old style post office boxes. So we have to be in the Post Office, right?   We find a lady and ask if she has any packages for us.   She grinned and nicely said "Well, we're not really the post office anymore, we're the plant shop.¢ Well that explained all the plants lying around. The post office moved next door. We headed next door and lo and behold we did have a package from Harry and Marian - 3 pounds of M&Ms and a box of 6 Tastykakes for Brakeman. Gold, gold, gold and more gold!! We struck it rich. It's quite a lot of weight to carry, but we will haul it and we will eat it with a big smile on our faces. Grasshopper is still finding that the allotment of food that has been packed is not quite enough to satisfy her hunger and is enjoying a few extra nibbles of goodies each day.After the post office, we started walking to Food Lion. As we walked along Main Street on the sidewalk, it was not long before a car slowed down, the driver rolled down her window and hollered, "Have you seen Amy and Hunter?" And we were like "Huh?" Then she said, "Where are you headed; can I give you a ride?" So the next thing we know she has pulled over and has offered to take us to Food Lion. Very nice! As we pulled into the Food Lion parking lot, she said, "Where are you headed next?" And we said, " The Holiday Inn Express." She offered to wait for us while we shopped and then take us to the Holiday Inn Express! Very, very nice! What a great Trail Angel! Turns out she was supposed to have left town 2 hours ago and was running behind but ¢she just knew it was the Lord's way of helping hikers who needed assistance. Although she wasn't able to help Amy and Hunter who belong to her church, she knows she was able to help us. She just knew it was the Lord's way.¢ We¢re like "Whatever", but we really appreciate the kindness! So today we were chauffeured around Erwin - all via hitches, the first one came within 10 minutes and the next one came with no effort at all. We didn't even have our thumbs stuck out. After arriving in town around 10:30 and running errands, we were checked into our motel, with packs exploded and wet gear spread out by 12:30. It always seems we arrive to town after being drenched. Lunch and dinner were hot dogs and cookies from the grocery store. Of course we bought too much and are having trouble eating it all! And we've been nibbling on our care package goodies all afternoon. Got to love town stops and all the food!It's now 7:00. We've packed about as much gear as we can. Our food bag is full for about 4 l/2 days to Kincora. The rest of the gear we are going to let air overnight and will pack in the morning. We are really looking forward to the continental breakfast, which includes eggs, bacon and sausage at least per the pictures in the lobby!   How very cool! Our plan is to hit the trail relatively early tomorrow, as we did not realize Roan Mountain (6285¢) comes up within a couple days. We'd like to get up and over that mountain soon as it can be real nasty in inclement weather, then continue on our way to Damascus where we'll see Harry and Marian. Goodnight from Erwin.