Hiking the Good Hike

Eight days are covered in this post. It's a lengthy post but a lot happened in those eight days. I hope you'll find patience enough to read about the good times were having. If you haven't checked it out yet, I would suggest clicking on our "Trail Friends" link to read some of the blogs and journals of people we have met along the way.

3/26 Day 23 Zero in Hot Springs, NC

The first thing to do on a zero is of course breakfast. We gathered our group and made our way back to the Smoky Mountain Diner for breakfast. They had so many delicious sounding options but when our waitress told us the special was five chocolate chip pancakes we couldn't resist. While eating, those of us planning to zero discussed looking into different lodging options for the night. Nomad, Camaro, Chevy (Camaro's dog), Tail Lights, Man Child, Cassandra, and I all had chosen to zero while the others were either undecided or moving on. After looking into our options, we ended up with a suite above the Spring Creek Tavern which was a really nice place. We moved our stuff from the shed (cabin) and headed to the Wash Tub to do our laundry. The whole crew was there. The snow continued through the morning and there were rumors of more severe weather on the trail so the rest (Jack, Tom, AYCE, and Jarryd) finally decided to stay and zero. They ended up in the room next door.

The rest of the day was mostly resupplying, eating, and hanging out. We attempted to go to the Hot Spring Spa for a soak but they had closed due to the weather. We went back to the Iron Horse for dinner and open mic night. It wasn't the most eventful day but we spent it with friends and got some rest. Our first zero was great but I'm looking forward to getting back on the trail. The snow has continued most of the day but should taper this evening.

3/27 Day 24 Hot Springs to Allen Gap - 14.8 miles

Today was a difficult day, not as much physically but mentally. It seemed everyone was kind of down this morning. Maybe it was that the weather still wasn't great or maybe the thought of leaving town but I was ready to get going. I get kind of antsy if I spend too long in town. We all (except Nomad and Camaro) went back to the diner for breakfast which was amazing again. We were handed a binder full of letters written by local fourth graders asking questions about the trail. It was pretty entertaining.

When we got back Camaro had already left. The rest of us slowly packed our stuff and started to make our way to the trail. Nomad, Cassandra, and I were the last to leave at around 11:00 which was fine as we only planned on hiking about ten miles to the first shelter. As we climbed out of civilization the amount of snow on the ground increased. It didn't really slow the hiking much, it just made our shoes wet. After some boring miles we finally arrived at the shelter. The shelter had only one open spot and there were really no tenting options. Nomad was worn out and took the spot and Cassandra and I chose to move on hoping to find a spot to camp and maybe some of the others. We were sad as we left Nomad but we hoped he would catch us in a day or two. We discussed the possibility of trying to make it to Erwin for Easter which would involve some bigger mile days. We hiked more boring miles without finding a suitable camping spot or any friends. As it was getting dark we began to climb again and heard the banter of Jack and Tom. AYCE, Man Child, Tail Lights, Camaro, Witch Doctor, Jack, and Tom had set up their tents in a small clearing basically on trail and there was one spot left for us. We were happy to have found them but still upset that we had left Nomad.


3/28 Day 25 Allen Gap to Flint Mountain Shelter - 17.5 miles

We planned 17.5 miles that we mistakingly thought would be fairly easy based on our guide book. As we climbed up and past the first shelter the snow increase in depth and our pace slowed. We took a side trail to see an observation tower which was kind of a bust. We took a lunch break before climbing up to Firescald Knob where we had a strenuous rocky hike that offered great views.

We arrived at Jerry's Cabin Shelter at 3:45 where we first encountered the rumor that there were waist high snow drifts on Big Bald and it was impassable. Several hikers were told not to attempt to pass and to either wait it out or skip it. This was a section we would be hiking the next day but it didn't concern us much as trail rumors are many and often huge exaggerations. It seems some hikers want to make there experience seem more extreme than all others even though we're all doing the same thing. We hiked on and arrived at the shelter just before 6:00. The shelter was full and we had less than ideal options for tenting but we made it work. As we finished setting up our tent we spotted Nomad coming down the trail. We cheered as he made his way to the shelter where he told us he had hiked over 21 miles to catch us. The whole group was happy to see him. We were happy to have the group back together. We have 35 miles to get to Erwin so we worked on dividing our mileage over the next couple days. Some were planning a big day tomorrow but we decided to do a shorter day because we were pretty beat from the snow.


3/29 Flint Mountain Shelter to Bald Mountain Shelter - 18.9 miles

Another cold day. Another day forcing wet soaked feet into frozen boots. We became optimistic as the trail was not snow covered for the first three miles. Our optimism was short lived as we continued and hiked into ankle deep snow again. At least the sun was shining. We caught up with Nomad and he told us how he was thinking of getting off the trail at Sam's Gap and taking another day or two off. Our plan remained hiking to a place called "low gap" that supposedly had tenting sites and water.

We hiked on arriving at Sam's Gap as it began snowing again. The forecast was 50 degrees and sunny and it was snowing. Nomad had called a hostel to get off the trail. Witchdoctor, Jack, and , Tom took a ride to a cafe for lunch and Cassandra and I hiked on. Nomad unloaded many of his snacks on us and we planned to meet in Erwin for Easter in two days. We hiked to Low Gap and found there was no water and the camping was sub par. We chose to move on leaving a note in the snow for the others. They soon caught up to us and hiked the next few miles with us which made the weather seem to suck less. We continued over the "impassable bald" that had pretty much the least snow we had seen in days. We ended up hiking all the way to Bald Mountain Shelter arriving at dark. The shelter was full so we dug out a spot in the snow for our tent. We were closer to Erwin than we had planned so we discussed maybe hiking all the way in and staying at the hostel on Easter eve.


3/30 Day 27 Bald Mountain Shelter to Erwin, TN (Uncle Johny's Nolichucky Hostel) - 16 miles

We woke up with wet gear. I examined out tent trying to figure out where the malfunction was. As I learned when I exited the tent, it wasn't a tent malfunction we were just living in a cloud. We got moving quickly hoping to make it into Erwin at a decent hour to do our resupply and laundry. We began hiking in about eight inches of snow and within a couple hours we were hiking on dry ground for the first time in over a week. We remembered we could hike much quicker when we could see the trail.

We were the last of our group to arrive in town but when we did Nomad was there waiting on us with a Mountain Dew for Cassandra. He had decided to stay at the hostel instead of a hotel and had made arrangements for us also. Our entire group got settled in at the hostel before leaving in the shuttle to go eat, resupply, and do laundry. The shuttle dropped us off at the Celebrity Coin Laundry and we started our laundry and walked to Rocky's Pizza to place an order and then to Dollar General to resupply. We ate our dinner at the laundromat while finishing the laundry and then loaded way too many people back into the van to return to the hostel. Nomad had arranged for a local church to come pick us up the next morning and many from our group had decided they would join us. We are thinking of taking an unplanned zero here for Easter due to Cassandra's knee bothering her a bit. We'll see how we feel in the morning.


3/31 Day 28 Zero at Uncle Johny's

The church van arrived at 10:15 to pick us up. We filled the van with most of our group and some of the other hikers staying at the hostel. The pastor of First Christian Church drove us to the church. We all piled in and grabbed some seats in the back. The church was extremely welcoming and friendly. Many people approached us asking where we were from and questions about our time on the trail.

After church the pastor drove us back to the hostel and we ate some Hardee's (everything else was closed). Most of our friends prepared to leave in the light drizzle planning on hiking just five miles. We chose to stay behind with Nomad and Camaro (and Chevy of course) and planned to get on the trail Monday morning. Cassandra's knee was a bit sore and we were thinking of maybe slowing our pace a bit anyway. It was sad seeing many of our friends go but we hoped to see them and hang out in Damascus in a few days. The rest of the day we just relaxed. Later in the evening Grym (the caretaker of the hostel) gave Nomad the keys to Gina, his old conversion van, to take us into town for dinner. Only Huddle House and McDonalds were open so we had a nice MVP breakfast at the Huddle House.

It was a different way to spend Easter but I'm certain it was an Easter I'll never forget. Though we couldn't spend the day with our families we were able to spend the day with what was becoming our trail family.


4/1 Day 29 Erwin, TN to Cherry Gap Shelter - 17.5 miles

We took our time packing up and leaving Uncle Johny's. we were planning to hike out with Nomad and Camaro and just hike until we felt tired and/or found a suitable camping spot. Camaro had to go to the post office to take care of some things and we didn't want to be too far ahead of her. We finally got on trail at about 11:00. As we were leaving Camaro returned from the post office with her package and it seemed she would maybe not make it back on trail until late or the next day. It was a nice sunny day and the hiking was fairly easy. We arrived at the first shelter and sat down for a snack break. Nomad told us not to wait for him that he had some thinking and praying to do. Nomad told us he felt as if he was being called not to hike but to serve hikers. Either way, he assured us with a smile, we would see him in a day or two. We left Nomad there knowing we would not be hiking with him again. We hiked on feeling like we now had no friends as they were all ahead of us or behind us.

Because we were alone, we chose to just hike on to the next shelter making a 17.5 mile day. The clouds appeared and it rained on and off for much of the afternoon. We arrived at the overfilled shelter where we found Man Child who told us the others had planned to hike 22 miles that day. We also saw Trailmovin who had gone to Erwin to see a doctor and and was unable to get back to Hot Springs and chose to do that section later. After catching up with Trailmovin we set up camp and began cooking our dinner. As we sat by ourselves I heard a bell in the distance. I looked up the trail and saw Chevy barreling down the trail. Camaro had made it. Camaro told us he passed Nomad on his way out and he told her of his plan. As we suspected, he was done hiking. Looking at the guide book we saw the Overmountain Shelter which was a converted barn. Knowing our friends, we knew that's where they would be headed the next day. If we could do 23.9 miles we could catch them.


4/2 Day 30 Cherry Gap Shelter to Overmountain Shelter - 23.9 miles

Today was our longest day yet. So much for slowing down. When we woke up we decided if we got to Roan High Knob Shelter by 4:00 and felt good we would continue on and surprise our friends. I felt great, the sun was shining and it was warm and dry. Early in our hike we passed many people slackpacking (a service offered by Grym at Uncle Johny's) and one told Cassandra Nomad was meeting us at Iron Mountain Gap for lunch. We were excited but Iron Mountain Gap was not far from where we were; we would be there by 9:00. We got there and I had enough service to talk to Nomad. He decided to meet us at another point down the trail.

We continued hiking, I by myself and Cassandra and Camaro together behind. I arrived at Greasy Creek Gap to find Nomad and Shutterbug. They had brought stuff for sandwiches, drinks, snacks, fruits, and veggies. Cassandra and Camaro soon arrived. Nomad told us of his plans and how he was going to buy Grym's van. Shutterbug, another thru hiker taking time off due to tendinitis, had decide to join Nomad for a while to help with his trail magic. We were happy to see Nomad and he seemed so happy and excited for what he was doing.

We left Nomad and he told us he'd see us in a few days. We were feeling great and decided we were going to do the 23 miles. We were doing great. As we got closer to Roan Mountain I could see there was still some snow at the higher elevations; I hoped it wouldn't slow us much. We started the climb of what we're told is the highest peak we'll see until the Whites. It wasn't bad but the snow and ice increased as we climbed. Eventually the trail was just a solid ice chute making the climb extremely slow and difficult. We made it to the top without incident just before 4:00 so we decided with Camaro to continue. We had seven miles to go but we hoped we would arrive just before dark. Luckily, as we descended Roan Mountain we escaped the ice and were back on dry ground. We arrived just at dark and our friends cheered and hugged us as we arrived. They were surprised and impressed we had covered so many miles (especially since we told them we had planned on slowing). It was a difficult day but it was great to be back with our trail family.


Thanks for reading,

Chris