Since leaving Uncle Johnny's Hostel on Thursday I hiked 51.4 miles in two days! My legs are feeling great, but my feet are very sore. And I'm getting some interesting tan lines..
I woke up at 5:30AM on Friday morning at the hostel and was on the trail by 6:15. Speedy was up but was taking a zero. I also saw General who I haven't seen since the Smokies..he was getting back on the trail that morning and said he'd catch up to me. He asked me where Meredith was - I told him Worm had to go back to work, unfortunately. It was a little chilly so I started hiking in my rain coat since my clothes were still wet from showering in them the night before..I was able to get all the salt and sweat off, but it did nothing for the smell.
The climb out of Erwin to Unaka Mountain wasn't that bad at first, pretty gradual gradient. I passed the first shelter, 4.3 miles into the day, at around 8:00AM. There were still a couple hikers sleeping so I walked a little further before stopping for breakfast. At Indian Grave Gap, 8.4 miles into the day, I found trail magic! A nice man was set up there with coffee and banana bread. He told me he used to do trail magic 6 days a week with his dog Moses and has seen over 1,500 hikers.
The climb up Unaka from Erwin was 13.8 miles and got pretty steep in the last couple miles. I couldn't exactly tell when I got to the top - there were no views but a dense spruce forest. It was nice and shaded and I sat down for lunch. It was another hot and sunny day. The next shelter was 3.3 miles further and I found a group of hikers there resting in the shade, trying to avoid the heat. The water source nearby was gushing so I took a few minutes to fill up my bottles and cool off before pushing the last 7 miles. The last few climbs of the day didn't look like much in my guide book, but the heat was getting to me.
I passed some day hikers who asked me about thru hiking, they had lots of questions about shelters and food and what my favorite part has been - made me feel like I really knew what I was talking about, even though I hadn't even been hiking for a month! But the first thing they commented on was how they were surprised to see so many woman alone on the trail. Ugh.
With about half mile to go I saw Pied Piper - I met him back in Georgia with J Biebs and Calves and have seen him at random places on the trail since then, but never two days in a row. This trail does funny things like that - you never know who you'll run into again!
There is a long (0.6 mile) off trail road walk to the Greasy Creek Hostel (off of AT mile 368.1) which is marked with red spray paint. The neighbor doesn't like the hostel or the hikers and keeps removing the signs, so I had to keep checking my phone the whole walk down to make sure I was still going in the right direction. I tented there, took a shower, and took the free shuttle to Dollar General and to pick up dinner.
I didn't get into my tent until around 9PM, which felt pretty late, especially after hiking 24.7 miles that day. I was expecting rain overnight. When I woke up at 5:30AM Saturday morning everything was still dry. I checked the weather on my phone which told me rain would be starting in 6 minutes! I packed everything in a hurry, not wanting to pack a wet tent. The owner was awake when I was headed out and gave me a hug goodbye and told me to be safe, they were calling for rain and thunderstorms in the afternoon. I think a lot of the other hikers weren't planning on leaving that day.
I left the hostel at 6:15AM hiking back up the road to the trail, and didn't find the white blazes until around 6:40. Still no rain - there actually weren't any clouds in the sky but I could see them starting to roll in so I hurried down the trail. By 8:00AM it was overcast. I made good time up Roan Mountain, a little over 10 miles away. I didn't take any side trails to the over looks because I was worried about the weather, but I did stop at the Roan High Knob Shelter, the highest shelter on the AT at 6,186'. I saw two people who had stayed at Greasy Creek last night slack packing in the other direction - lots of slack packers will let dropped off towards the top of a mountain so they can hike back down..
I crossed Carvers Gap before noon, it was crowded and I saw tons of day hikers out, even though it looked like it was going to storm any second. Round Bald and Jane Bald were beautiful, even with the clouds. The clouds were moving quickly, and I kept thinking that the next climb I'd be hiking into rain but then they would move. I saw groups of Boy Scouts heading to Overmountain Shelter, a very cool converted barn. It was huge, and held about 20 people. I took the side trail to check it out, but wanted to get down to Roan to sleep out of the storm.
I left Overmountain Shelter, about 17 miles into my day, at 2:00PM. The clouds ahead looked dark. Little Hump Mountain was a tough climb, but when it opened up into the bald it was beautiful. Hump Mountain was equally as beautiful. I was actually very glad it wasn't sunny, the trail was exposed for several miles and it would have been very hot. The wind picked up, I sometimes had to use my hiking poles to brace myself. At least it was a tailwind so it was pushing me in the right direction. After several false summits I was ready to start the descent into Roan. The way downhill was slow - lots of rocks and roots everywhere and I couldn't afford to be lazy with my foot placement. There was still no rain but it felt like it was going to storm at any minute.
I went around a corner and finally heard the traffic on US 19 - it was like music to my ears. It was already after 5 and my feet were aching. I walked a little ways down the highway to Mountain Harbour Hostel. It was crowded since there is a trail festival in town so they only had tenting spots available. It was supposed to rain overnight so I was not looking forward to sleeping outside, but I met two nice thru hikers, Smokey and Cookie Monster, who let me sleep on the floor of their room!
It rained overnight so I'm glad I was under a roof. On Day 27 Early Bird was still in bed (sleeping bag on the floor) at 7:30AM! I waited for the all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet at 8 before hitting the trail again.
I woke up at 5:30AM on Friday morning at the hostel and was on the trail by 6:15. Speedy was up but was taking a zero. I also saw General who I haven't seen since the Smokies..he was getting back on the trail that morning and said he'd catch up to me. He asked me where Meredith was - I told him Worm had to go back to work, unfortunately. It was a little chilly so I started hiking in my rain coat since my clothes were still wet from showering in them the night before..I was able to get all the salt and sweat off, but it did nothing for the smell.
The climb up Unaka from Erwin was 13.8 miles and got pretty steep in the last couple miles. I couldn't exactly tell when I got to the top - there were no views but a dense spruce forest. It was nice and shaded and I sat down for lunch. It was another hot and sunny day. The next shelter was 3.3 miles further and I found a group of hikers there resting in the shade, trying to avoid the heat. The water source nearby was gushing so I took a few minutes to fill up my bottles and cool off before pushing the last 7 miles. The last few climbs of the day didn't look like much in my guide book, but the heat was getting to me.
I passed some day hikers who asked me about thru hiking, they had lots of questions about shelters and food and what my favorite part has been - made me feel like I really knew what I was talking about, even though I hadn't even been hiking for a month! But the first thing they commented on was how they were surprised to see so many woman alone on the trail. Ugh.With about half mile to go I saw Pied Piper - I met him back in Georgia with J Biebs and Calves and have seen him at random places on the trail since then, but never two days in a row. This trail does funny things like that - you never know who you'll run into again!
There is a long (0.6 mile) off trail road walk to the Greasy Creek Hostel (off of AT mile 368.1) which is marked with red spray paint. The neighbor doesn't like the hostel or the hikers and keeps removing the signs, so I had to keep checking my phone the whole walk down to make sure I was still going in the right direction. I tented there, took a shower, and took the free shuttle to Dollar General and to pick up dinner.
I didn't get into my tent until around 9PM, which felt pretty late, especially after hiking 24.7 miles that day. I was expecting rain overnight. When I woke up at 5:30AM Saturday morning everything was still dry. I checked the weather on my phone which told me rain would be starting in 6 minutes! I packed everything in a hurry, not wanting to pack a wet tent. The owner was awake when I was headed out and gave me a hug goodbye and told me to be safe, they were calling for rain and thunderstorms in the afternoon. I think a lot of the other hikers weren't planning on leaving that day.I left the hostel at 6:15AM hiking back up the road to the trail, and didn't find the white blazes until around 6:40. Still no rain - there actually weren't any clouds in the sky but I could see them starting to roll in so I hurried down the trail. By 8:00AM it was overcast. I made good time up Roan Mountain, a little over 10 miles away. I didn't take any side trails to the over looks because I was worried about the weather, but I did stop at the Roan High Knob Shelter, the highest shelter on the AT at 6,186'. I saw two people who had stayed at Greasy Creek last night slack packing in the other direction - lots of slack packers will let dropped off towards the top of a mountain so they can hike back down..
I crossed Carvers Gap before noon, it was crowded and I saw tons of day hikers out, even though it looked like it was going to storm any second. Round Bald and Jane Bald were beautiful, even with the clouds. The clouds were moving quickly, and I kept thinking that the next climb I'd be hiking into rain but then they would move. I saw groups of Boy Scouts heading to Overmountain Shelter, a very cool converted barn. It was huge, and held about 20 people. I took the side trail to check it out, but wanted to get down to Roan to sleep out of the storm.
I left Overmountain Shelter, about 17 miles into my day, at 2:00PM. The clouds ahead looked dark. Little Hump Mountain was a tough climb, but when it opened up into the bald it was beautiful. Hump Mountain was equally as beautiful. I was actually very glad it wasn't sunny, the trail was exposed for several miles and it would have been very hot. The wind picked up, I sometimes had to use my hiking poles to brace myself. At least it was a tailwind so it was pushing me in the right direction. After several false summits I was ready to start the descent into Roan. The way downhill was slow - lots of rocks and roots everywhere and I couldn't afford to be lazy with my foot placement. There was still no rain but it felt like it was going to storm at any minute.It rained overnight so I'm glad I was under a roof. On Day 27 Early Bird was still in bed (sleeping bag on the floor) at 7:30AM! I waited for the all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet at 8 before hitting the trail again.
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