Date: 2020-03-18
From: Dick's Creek Gap

To: Plumorchard Gap Shelter
Miles today: 4.5
Weather: clear sky

Day 8 - Dick's Creek Gap to Plumorchard Gap ShelterMile 69.2 to 73.7, 4.5 milesDid laundry at Holiday Inn Express. First ran all my down stuff (sleeping bag, puffy jacket and booties) on low heat while I washed all other clothes. Woke back up around 2 am to put washed clothes in dryer. Spread all my other gear out all over the suite to let everything else dry out. Started going through all my gear to decide what to ship back home to lighten my load. With no end in sight to the rain and fog I decided to ditch my binoculars and camera for now. After one week I think I only got one or two good bird pictures, and one was a chickadee that are in abundance here and back home in the Laurel Highlands of PA. All this stuff I'm unloading will be shipped to my daughter who I'll see in early May. At that time I'll be able to unload a couple of cold weather items and should continue on with camera and binoculars to do some birding when there's more daylight and nicer weather.Didn't get a whole lot of sleep, maybe only four hours total. Went down and got a good hot breakfast (omelette, sausage, biscuits and gravy) which was included in the $109 price for the room.Went back up to room and finished going through gear. Loaded it all into a bag that I could tell weighed a few pounds. That was exactly what I needed. The plan was to skip a town visit to Franklin, NC, and go all the way to the NOC, 67.5 miles away. I figured I could do that in 6 days. Now I will have room in my pack for more food and it won't weigh any more than when I start.As I was checking out ran into Bernie and Johnny Walker hanging out on the lobby. Didn't know they had a room there as well that night. We got set up with Guthook to follow each other. Will be great to run into them again later on trail. They are taking a zero so it might be a while before I run into them again, maybe after I take my week off in May.Stopped by outfitter to pick up a spare fuel cannister and a few Mountain Houses, then to Ingles to round out the resupply. The stuff to be shipped home weighed in at 5 pounds on Ingles scale! That is huge!!! My food bag also weighed 5 pounds, so now I had 6 days of food and my pack weighs what it did without any food, about 30 pounds.Stopped by PO next to Ingles and shipped box priority where they confirmed the 5 lbs weight.Then it was time to hitch a ride back to Dick's Creek Gap. Started walking towards Budget Inn to see if they a shuttle heading up the mountain, but right near the Domino's where I got a cheese steak the night before, one of the guys that works there offered me a ride. Southern hospitality is awesome!Got back on trail about 3 pm. It was clear overnight and through the morning, but by now we were back to overcast, fog and light rain.No cell service at Dick's Creek Gap, so when I got to the top of a hill at mile 70.4, I stopped for a few minutes to send a couple of texts and synchronize my checkin on Guthooks. Started hiking again and after 20 minutes or so I ran into two hikers that were thru-hiking and asked them why they were going the wrong way. We'll, it was me going wrong way so I hiked 0.8 miles of trail three times (2 nobo, 1 sobo) and lost 52 minutes. Good thing I had my compass with me!!! Note to self: learn to use the damn thing!Made it to Plumorchard Gap Shelter, set up camp and ate two of my McDoubles for dinner and called it a day.Fortitudine VincimusHarpo