Date: 2015-04-12
From: Irwin

To: Hot Springs
Miles today: 0.0

I fished up my miles on the "TN Thruway" portion of the AT in the friendly trail town of Irwin, and finished a harder section here at the beautiful town of Hot Springs. 4/8 Uncle Johnny's Hostel, Irwin, TN, mile 343I had a great day at the library downtown, ate BBQ at the Hawg and Dawg, bought a tall beer at a gas station and hitched out to this hostel on the raging Nolichucky River and the AT crossing south of this big CSX town, where I did laundry, took a hot shower, and re-supplied with food and a new beanie. I got a ride from a hottie young woman in her truck, after she saw a cop pull over and nicely warn me that hitching was illegal in TN. Later, I hung out with some partying NOBOs, including a drunk German who sang folk-songs from the homeland.I have a big climb (over 2,000' over 13 miles) tomorrow, so goodnight. 4/9 Bald Mountain Shelter, mile 326An exhausting 17 miles uphill on a hot (85 degree) day, and I walked from 8 am to 7 pm. I met the famous Miss Janet slackpacking a bunch of NOBOs at Spivey Gap.4/10 Flint Mtn Shelter, mile 307Another tough, 19-mile, day. I crossed over Big Bald in driving wind, but was spared rain for most of the day. Met two SOBO bothers, Riddler and Sir Iosis from near Boston, MA. They started south on July 3rd and got off in early December in Damascus, getting back on there a few days before I did. I've re-discovered a SOBO bubble! There was a girl throwing up at the shelter when I got here, so I tented outside in case it was norovirus. Another NOBO was retching for half of the night out back of the shelter, where only the Boston brothers dared to sleep. Then a team of hunters on ATVs buzzed by the trail on several Forest Service access roads, either using their pack of hounds to either hunt boar, or to train for the fall. Slept like crap, ate badly, and feel weak today, but have heard of a hostel off trail for tomorrow.I saw a beautiful Ovenbird today, along with a yellow and black "Hooded" (or "Masked"...I cant recall which) warbler today. They're migrating north now, as they were heading south with me in the fall. Very cool.4/11 Hemlock Hollow Inn, mile 290Steep climb over Big Butt Mtn this am, with beautiful views from Firescald Knob and Blackstack Cliffs, which included rocky ridgewalking with a sign warning to use a bypass trail in inclement weather, and then finished the 17-mile day day with an annoying roadwalk to this hardly used hostel near Greenville. Nice staff, and cheap at $20, and a great milkshake, but woeful spaghetti as their special. The NJ-born owner is trying to sell the place; sadly, their main house, built to house the minister and teacher from the one-room school-house now housing cows across Paint Creek, basically burned down in a chimney fire back in December. You could still see where the creosote forced through the tiles in the chimney, caught fire--the owner heard a loud "pop" from the fireplace at the time and barely had time to grab her cat and get out--and I helped her son salvage the bathtub (while helping him drink a bottle of rum). I could do work-for-stay in this beautiful spot for days or weeks on end, but had better move on.4/12 Laughing Heart Hostel, Hot Springs, mile 274A great day of walking, the highlight being the views overlooking the French Broad River outside of town. A boat-load of NOBOs here, stealth-camping along the river, but I came through town, ate a burger and had a couple of craft beers, and came up to this famous hostel at the trailhead south of town. Elmer's Hostel was full, as was the trail...I counted at least 30 NOBOs on the trail between Allen Gap and here, including Gumbi, who I stayed with at Woodchuck Hostel in Damascus when we rode with Randy to the beer festival back in October. He somehow recognized me and even remembered my trailname, having spent the winter hitching out west, including a stay at Slab City that involved some hallucinogenics. ("I was able to open up to others on a whole new level," he reported. Right on.)Speaking of folks from the Fall still out here, Thorn, from the Palmerton Jail Hostel in PA, and Big Country, from some shelter in MA, are both here. Thorn never shuts up, so I left him with the Boston Bro's and chose a separate room in this $17-per-night bunk-house. Good chance of rain for the next few days.4/13 Deer Park Mth Shelter, mile 271I walked just a few miles out of town, after procrastinating and waiting for the rain to let up. It never did, so I stopped half way up Bluff Mtn and shared a shelter with two older NOBOs, Cowboy and Midnight. The latter is a marine, severely wounded in Iraq (in 2009, I think he said) during an ambushed patrol helping the Kurds in what was supposed to be a safe part of the country. He shared an incredible story: he saw some movement up ahead on the road they were travelling on, and jumped up on the guardrail by the passenger door of the "Humvee" his buddy was driving. He had just said, "I see something up and to the left" when he saw his buddy's eyes open wide and focus over his (Midnight's) shoulder. The next thing he remembers is waking up in a hospital in Germany two weeks later. His buddy was killed instantly after an RPG round passed by his head and exploded in the cab of the truck, the door Midnight was clinging too having saved his life while being blown off the road. He showed me severe burn scars on his legs, chest, and hands, and has recovered only some of his hearing. The main problem he faced, according to him, was the painkiller addiction the VA treatment left him with, and only his daughter's intervention got him out of there. She gave him a bag of weed and dropped him at Springer, and he was absolutely loving the trail, saying that he feels completely at home out here. I wished him the best, while we had a morning safety meeting, and I left him the rest of my gummy bears.