Date: 2018-04-24
From: Bald Mt Shelter 

To: Erwin TN-uncle JohnnyÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs hostel
Miles today: 16.8
Weather: light rain

The winds were crazy high as advertised last night and I slept pretty terribly. Was super sore from the long miles yesterday and didn¢t have a chance to stretch out at all before I¢d scurried into my tent to get out of the rain. We learned that the shelter had been so full due to a group of 18 weekenders from a local Christian group. We broke our shit down pretty quickly in order to get on the trail and glow stick was able to call ahead to uncle Johnny¢s hostel and reserve a four person cabin for tonight and tomorrow. Proper motivation right there. We agreed to try and reconvene at the next shelter for coffee/lunch as it was supposed to keep raining this morning 10+ miles until a decent break sounded rough but we had to get out of this cursed rain cloud and down to more temperate climes. I scarfed a couple pop tarts, threw in my headphones and lit out of camp with a clear purpose....town food, shower, laundry. That will get me moving. I passed Juke box after a few miles and she was essentially out of food so I broke a butterfinger in half and split that with her and told her I¢d hold up at the next shelter to offload more snacks. It was a long hike but I made good time and was in a half jog during the last 3-4 miles before the shelter. Ibex had arrived just ahead of me and we snacked and chatted with TAB (take a break) who was also headed to town. I waited just long enough for Juke to roll in and unloaded the rest of what snacks I hadn¢t eaten before the last 6 miles of trail into town. I resolved to make it there in 2 hours so I resumed my half jog pace and beared down. The sun was just starting to pop out again as I descended the trail over the nolichucky river and rolled into the hostel at almost exactly 2 hours. Girl Scout was sitting on the front porch when I rolled in along with thunder bird who we¢d not seen since hot springs. I quickly checked in and grabbed a hot shower (our cabin has a private bathroom!) just before the 5pm shuttle to dinner/Walmart. Ibex had arrived in time to hop on the bus with me and we communicated with glow stick and Juke box via text to grab them some to-go dinner and booze from the liquor store. The monster Margs at los jalape±os were a revelation but the food sucked. I¢m finding that east coast Mexican food is trash in comparison to what you get in the Western states. I still ate like an animal and was happy enough to be full of greasy food. We made the necessary LQ and Walmart stops to stock up on liquor, snacks, and breakfast for our zero day tomorrow. With a kitchen provided in our four person cabin, we decided to go all out and make a big meal in the morning.We returned to the hostel and got the other two gals their food and after they had eaten we got down to some drinking games. Easily the most tipsy we have gotten on the trail yet and even got loud enough to have the staff knock on our door around eleven to tell us to keep it down. Mission accomplished, I guess. I¢ll crash on the futon in the living room tonight. Beats a sleeping pad. Glorious zero day tomorrow with rain in the forecast.