Date: 2007-05-11
From: Iron Mtn Gap

To: Nolichucky River (Erwin, TN.)
Miles today: 19.1
Weather: broken clouds

Murphy's Law: Whatever Can Go Wrong, Will Go Wrong, At the Worst Possible Moment...It was a great start to the day. Ms. Janet and her staff of former thru-hikers made a huge breakfast for everyone, served family-style. Banana pancakes with peanut butter syrup, eggs, coffee, juice, sausage, cantelope and strawberries. Yummm!!! There was also someone here filming a documentary on trail angels. I was well-rested and well-fed. I decided to take advantage of a ride further north up the trail and slackpack (hiking with only what you need for the day) south back into Erwin and spend one more night here.Unfortunately, our ride didn't get us to the trailhead until nearly 1pm. Nineteen miles is a respectable hike - nineteen miles, starting at 1pm is...daunting. But I was told the last 8 miles were cake. As I start hiking, who should I run into? You guessed it - Lion. Somehow we keep running into each other. We joked that I'd probably see him in Denver (or where ever he's going to attend has friends wedding) in a week. Moving on, I got into the first shelter at 2.8 miles just fine, though the toe was starting to give me problems - again. Time was ticking, so I pressed on.Unfortunately, the toe kept getting worse. There were some good climbs, and even without a full pack, I was only covering 2 miles an hour - not nearly fast enough. Running out of water, I pulled out my purifier - with new batteries, and found IT WASN'T WORKING!!! Just great. For the first time, I got water and chanced that it was pure, and not carrying the giardia protazoa. I kept moving, slowly, as the toe got worse and worse. It got to the point that every step hurt, and hurt alot. Frustrated with one particularly bad step, I threw my hiking pole. Unfortunately, I forgot I had it looped around my wrist. It snapped back and hit me in my face.My day wasn't over yet. I finally pulled into the last shelter before Erwin, just 4 miles away. I took off my boots and socks to give my toe a rest, popped some more Vitamin I (ibuprofin) and chatted with the one hiker (I forgot his name) at the shelter. Finally, at 8:15, with the light just starting to fade, I was off. The trail was excellent, with a moderate downhill , and my toe was finally numb. I started jogging down, trying to get as far as I could before it got dark. After about 1/2 an hour, it was time for the headlamp. I put it on an kept jogging, though my toe was starting up again. As it got pitch black, my headlamp started going out!!! I had just put new batteries in less than a week ago. This just isn't my day. I'm stopped, playing with the headlamp in complete darkness when I hear a very loud noise to my left in the woods. My first bear sighting, and I have no light to help scare it away. I start yelling, banging my hiking poles, and finally get the headlamp on (sort of), just in time to see a bear crashing through the woods parallel to the trail. Finally, it moved off into the woods and away from me. Sorry, no pictures of the bear - that wasn't on the top of my agenda at the time.Once I got my heart rate down to normal, I continued on. One hand was perched at the top of my head, holding the 'on' button of the headlamp to keep some light shining, with my other hand holding both hiking poles, using them as a crutch. I'm still moving, but slowly (again), tripping over rocks and roots, not really sure how far I still have to go. Eventually, I get the headlamp working properly (the batteries were loose) and I started moving at a "normal" pace. After what seemed like hours (but really was only about 30-45 minutes), I come to the road. Finally, a break. I was the last hiker out, and they were a touch concerned at the hostel, so Granny Frany and Watermelon were waiting at the trailhead. After thanking them, we got into their car and drove back to the hostel. My saviors. Back at the hostel, I had a few beers, some leftover food, and off to bed. Not sure what I'm doing tomorrow. Maybe taking a day off after this adventure.