Date: 2023-10-15
From: Beech Mountain Road Campsite

To: Hikers Refuge Hostel
Miles today: 108.5

Day 123Beech Mountain Road parking lot to Broken Fiddle Hostel - DamascusAT miles 18.0Miles hiked 20.0Slack packing day. Bum Bum is driving us back to where we left off yesterday and we are hiking the 18 miles back to the hostel.  The weather forecast says it will be overcast all day. It's mostly been raining since 6:30 this morning. Despite the rain the forest and trail were beautiful and the hiking was easy. The rain finally stopped after about an hour and it was time to start peeling off layers.  At some point the trail merges with the Virginia Creeper Trail for a few miles before heading back into the woods. Unexpectedly, there was a hamburger stand on the trail. This caused a sudden change in lunch plans. Chicken tenders and fries trumps ramen!  Speedo, Teva, and I took full advantage of this good fortune. There were lots of people out on bikes and I don¢t know how they were coping with the damp cold dressed the way they were.After lunch we were cold again and it was time to put back on those layers. Good thing. It rained a bit more for good measure. The rest of the hike was an easy cruise into town.Teva and I stopped by Subway for a sandwich to eat on the way to the hostel. Once at the hostel I dropped my pack and headed to the outfitters hoping to find some waterproof gloves on my way to the store to get food and snacks for the next three days.All of us in the hostel are chipping in and Speedo made pasta and salad for dinner. I was talking to Tree House (the hostel owner) after dinner and found out they filmed some scenes from The Keeper at his hostel last summer. How cool!Day 124Damascus to Abingdon Gap ShelterAT Miles 10.5Miles hiked 10.9The original plan was to take a day off and go to the library to fix my journal. Those who have been following my hike often wonder what happened to me. I¢ve been typing things in my phone but most of the time they are a mess not worthy of sharing with even my closest friends and family. Well, turns out the library is closed. That was a disappointment to both me and Crocstar who had planned to apply to grad school and also a couple of jobs.So, I packed my pack and decided to hike out. Teva had already left earlier and Speedo and Crocstar were on the fence about what they were going to do. It had been raining most of the morning but I felt like I¢d be wasting time if I just hung out at the hostel. By the time I left it had stopped raining and was just kind of gloomy looking outside.I followed the trail through town and stopped at the welcome arch to take a selfie. I¢d hope to stop at the ATC center but it looked like it was closed also. So, without further delay I started the steep climb up out of town. While the trail was steep, the walking was relatively easy and I was surprised that I caught up with Teva. We talked for a bit while hiking then I moved on.I got to the Tennessee state line and tried in vain to take a selfie. Thankfully, Teva showed up and took turns playing photographer and AT thru hiker model and congratulated each other on another state line. The weather decided to put a damper on our spirits and it started raining shortly after I crossed into the Volunteer State.It wasn¢t long before I reached the shelter. There were already some hikers there who were trying to get a fire going but the rain wasn¢t making it easy. I started fixing dinner and Teva showed up. She decided to stay in the shelter but I went over and found a place to pitch my tent.I finished dinner, threw my bear line, and hit the sack. The sound of rain on my tent was kind of nice and was asleep in not time.Day 125Abingdon Gap to Stealth SiteAT miles 18.9Miles hiked 19.1It seems like my weather pattern from up north has figured out where I am. It¢s another day of rain.Should be a fairly easy day of hiking according to the map but no idea what the ground my feet will be walking over is like. First order of business for the day is to find water. Word on the trail is that water is scarce in these parts and so far, I found that to be the case.I crossed US 421 at Low Gap. Everytime I come to US 421 I¢m struck that I can, in this case, head north and eventually I¢ll be in my hometown. Weird how I feel that connection. Anyway, instead of turning right and roadwalking a few hundred miles, I crossed the highway and continued southbound on the AT.  About 10 miles into my hike I came to Double Springs Shelter hoping the shelter lived up to its name. It did. Spring Number 1 was but a trickle but spring Number 2 delivered. I got three liters of water then went back to the shelter to fix lunch. The rain was more of a mist at this point and had dwindled down to nothing by the time I finished lunch.  In Tennessee there are no privies at the shelter areas. I feel like I¢ve mentioned this before but just in case, I¢ll mention it again. Instead of a privy the maintainers put a shovel in the shelter. That¢s all well and good but there are a lot of people who hike this trail. And while there are a lot of woods for those people to do their business in I¢m sure human nature being what it is that sooner or later there will be a place. The place. That is more ¢excavated¢ than other places. Since I didn¢t have my morning constitution it was time. I¢d been reading the shelter log while I was eating and I noticed a rather important entry from my buddy Tuna Shorts regarding the whereabouts of the poop field. Well, shovel in hand I was off in search of the Holy Grail, er, the poop field. I found a nice secluded spot behind some mountain laurels and started digging. As I dug I saw a pair of underwear hanging from a branch. Is that like X marks the spot?With that bit of business out of the way I returned the shovel, donned my pack, and headed down the trail. I had about 8 miles to go to where I planned to hike but there was a monument on Iron Mountain I was looking forward to seeing.I made it to the Nick Grindstaff memorial while it was still light although it was a bit mist again. That made for a better setting. Here¢s the story on Nick Grindstaff. I got my pics, contemplated his story then moved on to camp.Day 126Stealth site to Boots Off Hostel / Dennis Cove Rd to Boots Off HostelAT miles 21.5Miles hiked 21.9Woke up to a cold, damp morning. My sleeping pad has been leaking and is getting worse. I was able to make it about 90 minutes between reinflations. Going to need to figure something out. Also need a warmer sleeping bag. It's cold now and only going to get colder.Had to skip breakfast because I had less than a half liter of water and it was at least 3 hours to the next water. Speedo, Crocstar, Teva, and G-man had decided to aquablaze today by kayaking Lake Watauga. While that sounded fun, I was determined to cover the miles on foot.The sun came out and the views out over the valley were just beautiful with mountains jutting out of a sea of clouds and the fall colors of all the foliage. A quick glance at the map the night before made me think the trail was going mostly along the shores of Lake Watauga. Partially correct. The ridgeline followed the lake. The actual trail was a series of ups and downs with those stupid loose rocks at odd angles that make for slow walking. Still, a beautiful day on trail. (Old Crow Medicine Show memorialized the town that is buried beneath the lake in their song, Half Mile Down.)I finally got to a seeping spring and scooped some water to filter, guzzled 2 liters down while cooking some ramen. After lunch I was back on the trail eventually making it to the dam. The views of the lake with the fall foliage was spectacular. By this time I was out of energy again and decided to stop at the Boots Off Hostel to get something to eat before continuing on. To my surprise, Spreadsheet and Smoke were there. The owner fixed me a big salad and I bought a frozen pizza and some snacks. After eating I could feel the energy returning. I wanted to put in some more miles so Spreadsheet offered to slack pack me allowing me to get in an additional 9 plus miles hiking back to the hostel. I figured I could run parts of the trail and be back in 2 12 hours. I ran into some day hikers shortly into my trek and one of them was trying to tell me I wouldn't be able to make it because it was too far and would get dark. Rookie. I was back at the hostel in under 2 hours 40 minutes with an hour in the dark and stopping to take pics at Laurel Fork Falls.Back at the hostel I bought more pizza and root beer then went to bed.Day 127Laurel Fork Falls Trail to Stealth Site AT miles 8.9Miles hiked 12.1I didn't sleep well last night following my air mattress inflatathon. Not only was the ground hard, when the mattress went flat I got real cold. I went up to the hostel for breakfast with plans of ordering a warmer sleeping system and new air mattress from REI or calling an outfitter on the trail to see what they had. REI had everything I wanted and it was all on sale. Now for the hard part: having it delivered to a place that was convenient for pickup. This is a tricky game to play and usually ends up with wasted time. But maybe I got lucky this time. As I scrolled through locations, got their addresses, entered that address as my ship to I ran across the name of perhaps the most famous trail angel on the entire AT. Could my solution be this simple? I called Miss Janet. She lives in Erwin and no longer runs a hostel but still runs a shuttle and has been known to drive great distances to help hikers in need. She answered and said to have my order shipped to her house. When it arrives she is going to text me to find my location then meet me at a road crossing. I couldn't be more thankful and she was so nice. Problem solved. Next order of business, getting back to the trail. Spreadsheet offered to take me but he needed to get ready himself and he has been so generous that I couldn't impose. At that moment, Lucky Moon popped in and asked me how I was getting back to the trail. The shuttle was $25 back to Dennis Cove but she could drop me at a different trailhead which meant I'd have an additional 3 mile hike to the AT but the ride would be free. Heck yeah!I went off to pack up and she drove me to the trailhead. Most of that 3 miles was fairly flat following the river before climbing up to the AT. The trees and scenery were spectacular as the leaves continued to turn. It took just over an hour to finally arrive at the beginning of today's hike. There were day hikers in the parking lot who were, as usual, full of questions. One kid who looked to be in high school said he's looking forward to the day when he hikes the trail. Back to hiking. I crossed the road and began what seemed like an endless ascent. I passed an old cabin on what looked like an old farm. I'm always curious about who lived there and what happened to them.Continuing, my legs felt dead and I was struggling on all the climbs. To make matters worse ¢ I felt like the whole hike had turned into a climb.I stopped for lunch at an overlook and admired all the scenery and views. Included in that view was my first view of Roan Mountain.Sometime later I passed a trail maintainer from the TEHCC and we struck up a rather long conversation. I thanked him for the obvious hard work he and the other maintainers had put in. He told me the praise from hikers always brings them joy. Fist bumps and we were on our separate ways. I had a feeling that my planned 18 was going to be closer to 10. The clouds came rolling in and it started getting dark fast. I filtered watercat the first stream I came to then found a place to camp. As soon Day 128Stealth Site to Hiker Refuge HostelAT miles 14.1Miles hiked 14.6I was hoping to make it to Roan Mountain today but Mother Nature had other plans.The rain was coming down pretty steady, buckets at times, when I woke up. It was easy to stay snuggled up in all my clothes inside my quilt but the call of nature soon overwhelmed my desire to sleep in. So out into the elements I go armed with my TP and my little shovel. That done, it was time to pack up and get going since I was already wet. Packing in the rain is always a challenge and today was no exception. The small confines of my tent makes it hard to stuff things in my pack and, believe it or not, even find things. I thought I had everything but my tent packed only to notice that my reflective sleeping pad was still out. As I was messing with all this I heard Teva call out, ¢Good morning Taps!¢ as she hiked by. That necessitated unpacking everything. Ok. Then I accidentally packed one of my gloves. I unpacked again, couldn't find the glove but did find my missing lighter and pocket knife. Win some, lose some. Now G-man called out to me as he hiked by. I gave up on the glove and finally finished packing. Now time for the worst part of breaking camp in the rain. If you guessed taking down the tent you would be correct. To make it even more fun it started hailing as I was accomplishing this task.Decked out in my rain jacket and rain pants I was moving out. After about an hour the rain turned to a light mist then the sun came out. I came to a spectacular viewpoint and decided to dry my tent and eat lunch. I hung out my tent, footprint, rain clothes and wet shirt, took some pics, then started some ramen. As soon as the ramen was done it began lightly raining. Then it began pouring. Then the hail returned. I huddled under the once almost dry tent for cover and finished my lunch. Now it was time to repeat the morning's tent stowage performance. The tent was wetter than this morning and I could hardly get it back in my pack. Back in my rain gear I was headed back down the trail. After about an hour the rain stopped and the sun came out so I took off my rain clothes. After about 30 minutes the hail returned so I put back on my rain clothes. Then it stopped so I took off my rain clothes. This was getting ridiculous.Then, from off in the distance I heard the rumble of thunder. I started hiking faster as if I could possibly outrun the storm. The thunder grew closer as if it were chasing me. As I came to a road crossing there was a flash of lightning (one thousand one, one thousand two, one thousand three, BOOM). Instant pea sized hail. Instant soaking wet. Hiking up the mountain really fast now, huffing and puffing, lightning (one thousand one, one thousand two, bigger BOOM) (I think I'm losing the race). Hail is now marble sized and stings on impact. Almost running up the mountain, soaked to the bone. Flash BOOM. Wall of hail. I've never seen a hail storm this fierce. Then, as quickly as it started the storm passed. I stopped to put on my rain clothes since I was soaked but the rain and hail were so hard they were wet inside and out and only marginally helped. I hiked on and was starting to shiver and lose feeling in my hands. I dug out my phone looking for someplace to get off the trail. There was a hostel just off the trail in about 2 miles. Hopefully they had space. Once I got to the aptly named Hiker Refuge Hostel, Robert, (a fine name) the owner, was very welcoming and worried more about getting me warm than anything else. My plan for camping on Roan Mountain was ditched for good when I found out it was supposed to rain all night up there with a wind chill in the low 20s. Not a good plan. I rented a bunk, got all my wet clothes into the washer and climbed into a hot shower.It was a few hours before my body temperature felt normal again.Tomorrow I'm slackpacking over Roan Mountain back to the hostel. The low temps are much colder than what my sleep system is rated for. Can't wait til I get my new stuff next week.Day 129Carvers Gap NB back to Hikers Refuge HostelAT miles 16.6Miles hiked 17.1Early day today. Hambone, Ultra, and I have decided to slackpack Northbound through the Roan Highlands from Carvers Gap back to Hikers Refuge. Robert was there to pick us up at 645. We loaded up his vehicle and were on our way to Roan Mountain. It was cold, overcast, and very windy. Robert gave us an almost to the minute weather preview of how our day would shape up. It was uncanny how accurate his prediction turned out to be. If he weren¢t such an awesome hostel host he should consider a career in meteorology. It was about a 45 minute drive and the whole while he was telling us about the history of the area we were driving through and were about to hike through. He also told us that while we are in for some amazing views, there are places to hike that only the locals know about that rival what we are about to see.Once at Carvers Gap we unloaded and put on some warm clothes. I know the old hiking mantra of ¢Be bold, start cold¢ but I chose the less mountain man approach of ¢Be a wimp, start warm.¢ I could always use the moments I stopped to shed layers as mini-breaks and/or opportunities to admire the vistas. A sort of multi-tasking approach to my hike.The start up the mountain was brisk and windy. There were occasional breaks in the clouds that provided tantalizing previews of what was to come. Soon enough the unnecessary layers were shed as the clouds parted to make way for spectacular views. That whole day was almost a sensory overload with all the color and views as far as the eye could see. The hike was reminiscent of many of the hikes in New Hampshire without all the rocks, roots, and mud.After a little over 17 miles I was back at the hostel propping my feet up and enjoying some chocolate milk. Yard Sale and Turtle Soup, friends of Hambone and Ultra had arrived and were getting settled in. Pretty soon, Hambone came in followed by Ultra. Robert came in to take us into town for dinner and a trip to the store. We went to a BBQ place for dinner and they were out of BBQ. I¢m not sure how much BBQ they prepare each day but they post a sign on the door telling customers it was a good day for business followed by what time they ran out of BBQ. A novel approach to business. I ordered the AT Burger and wished I¢d set my hunger bar a lot lower. It was two full sized hamburger patties with cheese on each patty, with about an inch of BBQ chicken, topped with lettuce, onion, tomato and slathered in mayo. I had to eat it with a fork and was not able to finish it because it was so big. Hambone ordered the same sandwich but thinking in normal portion sizes, ordered a second meal just to make sure he had enough to eat. Now that I was in food induced misery, I packed up to be ready for the morning shuttle back to Carvers Gap.