Date: 2016-03-26
From: Whistling Gap

To: Uncle Johnny's, Erwin, TN 
Miles today: 13.5
Weather: overcast clouds

I'm not sure what Skeebo was doing at 3 in the morning but he decided to light a fire and woke me up with his cracking sticks. Whatever. He also sleeps in a full snowsuit instead of a sleeping bag. Jeez he's weird. Anyways. I packed up quick as I can trying to get to Erwin nice and early. The boys were still cooking meals when I headed out around 8:15. The first part of the day was a climb up High Rocks, which had a .1 side trail to a peak. I took it and was disappointed when it basically had no view. I climbed down and was mildly annoyed when the AT decided to climb more right under the summit I just took a side trail to. The trail dropped down to Spivey Gap, where I'm sorry I didn't camp. There were a few lovely tent sites and a large creek that sure as hell beat the dribble at Whistling Gap. Ghost apparently got here yesterday night. I spose I've been overestimating the time it takes me to do things in camp. A 6 o'clock arrival is not entirely crazy when you're prepared to set up a tent rather than snag a space in a shelter. I met a couple of day hikers sectioning into Erwin at the gap and made my way up the only serious climb of the day. It followed a gorgeous creek before flattening out into a classic NC/TN follow the contour of the mountain type flat trail after a mile or so. The hiking was pretty easy, and I wanted to get into town, and I moved pretty quick. The trail moved up to Temple Hill Ridge, where I thought it'd be just downhill into Erwin all the way. No such luck. The ridge trail took me over every bump it could, but finally I was switch backing down to Erwin. I put on music, then decided to plug in my earbuds for the first time on the trail (new ones I picked up in Asheville). I also met a hiker who is finishing up a Southbound hike he began last summer. I've seen a couple of them so far. Jeez. I can't imagine committing eight months or more to this trail. From the ridge I could see the Nolichucky River and Erwin from very far away. It's amazing to me just how long it takes to drop the thousands of feet down into town; maybe it's most amazing how high up I am in the first place. After one and a half Sufjan Stevens albums, I made it down to the road, and a block away I found Uncle Johnny's Hostel. I was immediately welcomed in by the owner - Johnny - who has been running the place for almost forty years. He's clearly getting on, but has a way with hikers. He knows what they need. I immediately helped myself to a can of Dr Pepper from the vending machine and met Red Bear, who is hanging around Erwin all day and planning to night hike out. Another thing I am not familiar with. I had arrived around 1:30, too late for the afternoon shuttle to the all-you-can-eat pizza buffet and Dollar General. But I must have made some rumblings about lunch, because Jeff, another hostel employee, offered to drive me somewhere to get lunch together. I hopped in his truck and we settled on McDonalds. I had seen that Erwin was a long town, but I wasn't prepared for the reality of it. It's spread across four interstate exits in a valley along the Nolichucky River. McDonalds found itself on the way northern side of town, opposite from Uncle Johnny's. I ordered a Mcdouble and twenty McNuggets, and nearly ordered more before realizing that it was nearly 2:30 and there was still dinner to be had. Jeff drove me back and I ate my delicious lunch on the hostel deck as a number of other hikers prepared to set out after the morning spent in Erwin. I decided to spend the night here and settled up with Johnny and bought some freeze dried meals in his outfitter shop. I'm imagining that I'll do a similar four day, 70-mile stint into Hampton, TN out of here and then pick up a few days' worth of food there to get to Damascus in about two and a half days. II set out my tent to dry, because it was damp after last night with all the humidity in the air, and then took a shower and threw in some laundry with Ghost, who is also here after his short day from Spivey. I met Ribbit and Goose, two friends just out of college from Georgia hiking together, and the Roman Noodles, an older couple who've already done quite a bit of backpacking and mountaineering, including hiking Kilimanjaro. Wee Gillis and the Dutchman showed up, but decided to just hitch into town. Wee Gillis' mother is coming to pick them up later, as it is only a 20/30 minute drive from Devils Fork Gap to Erwin. I spose that I might have a similar situation happening when I get to eastern New York and the Kent area in Connecticut. Sounds great to me. Eventually it was time to head to dinner. We all piled into the van, and headed to a local Mexican restaurant where the staff had set up a 10-person table for us already. I imagine that Johnny and the gang of hikers are here most nights of the week and are a known quantity. I had chicken fajitas and a margarita, then paid my bill and headed to Walmart next door, where the van would pick us up in an hour. I got my groceries for the next stint of trail (as well as some beer for tonight) and checked out, and soon was back at the hostel. I facetimed for quite a while with Ali, and hung out with the Noodles and Ribbit and Goose. Red Bear, Doctor trails and Jeff and a few others were having a party out on the deck. I got my things a bit more organized for heading out tomorrow, and then headed to my bunk for the night. Tomorrow will all be spent in approaching the Roan Highlands, one of the highlights of the South, full of huge Balds, wild ponies, and the last time the trail hits 6000 feet before New Hampshire. I'm not sure how far I'll get, but I'll try to do a long day. I would LOVE to stay at Overmountain Shelter (aka the Barn) two nights from now, but that's 42 miles away, and I'm not sure whether I'll be able to push that much in just two days, especially with the weather being iffy as it's supposed to for the next couple days. No amount of planning is going to be able to tell me how many miles I'll feel like doing. So we'll just have to wait and see. Gnight!