Hey everyone! Where to start...so much has happened! After leaving Standing Bear Hiker Hostel we hiked several days into Hot Springs. Hot Springs was the first town where the trail actually walks down the main street, so that was pretty cool. We checked out several hotels trying to find the best deal and we ended up staying at the Iron Horse, where the owner proudly showed us a newspaper article talking about James Franco's visit to Hot Springs, and then gave us the same room that he stayed in. He told us it was the best room with the nicest views...but it turned out to be a small room just out of reach of the wifi signal and right next to the railroad tracks. Whatever, we were tired and slept like logs anyway. The next day we spent a while at the outfitters changing gear up and making sure we were all set to trek out. It's always hard to leave a town. We ended up hiking out at about 3 in the afternoon, but still making it to the first shelter about 11 miles away before dark.
The next morning hiking to a road crossing we saw a sign for trail magic, offering vegetarian chili, drinks, waffles, and much more. There was no way we were skipping this, even though we had only hiked a few miles and just got our snack on. Just a few tenths of a mile down the road we walked up a concrete driveway into heaven. A really friendly dog named Heidi greeted us, followed by her owners Hercules and Fal, thru-hikers from way back in '99. We could never have imagined the degree of hospitality we received...all the way down to frosted mugs for our soda. We spent several hours sitting, eating, and talking to them, and eating more. We hardly got a chance to finish one dish before they offered us something else.
With our bellies bursting we hiked on (through more crappy weather) and got to the next shelter, where we spent the night with our now great friend, Yoyo. It was just the 3 of us that night, although we did see another hiker named Brian several times, as he hiked past the shelter, got turned around somehow, came back, and then left again...only to--as we found out the next day--get turned around ONE more time. That night we stayed up pretty late talking and bonding--although that wasn't the only entertainment. Yoyo had some oatmeal cookies and we decided to see what would happen if we left one out for the mouse. We figured at least it might fill him up and keep him busy so that he wouldn't mess with our stuff. So I don't know if some of you are familiar with the book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie...well in the wilderness they don't ask for a glass of milk...he and his friends chase each other around and they attempt to carry it off to their homes. They aren't the best sharers.
The next day we hiked with Yoyo for a while, but ended up pushing a little further. We stopped at about 4 or 5 at a shelter and settled down for dinner, thinking we might have the shelter to ourselves for the first time...we were wrong. Brian came in a bit later and filled us in on his further mix ups from the day before, and not long after a big group of friends from Hot Springs came in and brought a bunch of rain with them. That night it was miserably rainy, but we stayed pretty dry in the shelter. In the morning it got so cold it started snowing...so we held up in the shelter till about 9:30 before leaving. At a road crossing a few miles after finally starting we tried very unsuccessfully to hitch to a cafe for some hot food, but not a SINGLE car passed. We even tried calling the cafe to see if they would come pick us up...but no luck. With low spirits and in crappy weather we decided we wanted to be back in civilization, so we pumped ourselves up and hiked 25 more miles into Erwin, TN. We made it to Uncle Johnny Nolichucky's--a hostel RIGHT on the trail on the outskirts of town. We got in at 7:30, and everyone was out to dinner so we called a number posted on the door. Mango couldn't understand a word that Uncle Johnny was saying over the phone...but luckily a few minutes later a slightly-easier-to-understand woman flew up to the hostel. She seemed a little off her rocker. She ended up giving us the nicest cabin on the grounds--one with a bedroom, living room, kitchen, full bath. It cost us $23 each, and we weren't sure if she actually meant to give it to us for this deal...like we said she was... somewhere else. The next day we decided to take a zero day, since the hostel was so nice and there were frequent shuttles into town and free use of bikes--not to mention tons of awesome people also staying there.
The next day we were lazy and hiked only about 4 miles to the nearest shelter...it was way too nice to pass up, not to mention it seemed like it was about to get pretty nasty out. We crashed there that night with one of our friends from Uncle Johnny's, Joker, and another guy Moose.
The next day we planned to go almost 20 miles to make up for our short day, and almost made it to that shelter, but instead we took a little side trail adventure to avoid the storm and dry our clothes. We had seen several signs on trail for a place...seemingly incompletely named the "Greasy Greek Friendly." The joint turned out to be less a hostel and more just this very nice, eccentric lady's home. Man was this place an adventure! First of all, the path to her home was very confusing, parts of it were even blocked with logs--we later found out this was the handywork of her crazy neighbor rival. At first it seemed very strange and bizarre that the neighbor would go to extreme lengths to discredit the Greasy Greek Friendly and CC, the owner, but we later found that it was just downright creepy and confusing. So many people ended up showing up at the hostel that night. CC's bunkhouse wasn't heated so we had a big slumber party on her living room floor. With all the people and excitement, CC offered to pack us all into her Bronco and shuttle us into town as long as we all covered the gas. Any hiker will jump at a cheap shuttle into town...even if it is a clunky, gas guzzling, piece of junk. Nine of us piled in (including 3 of us in the trunk...Johnny Appleseed being one of those lucky ones) and puttered off down the mountains and into Johnson City. We all went to the Golden Corral, where CC found us a backroom and pushed tables together so we could all have a big supper together. On the way home, driving up the mountain, the fog was so thick that we couldn't see more than a foot in front of us. It was insane, but CC confidently drove on, claiming that she KNEW these roads. We got home almost at 11, so it was another late night for us, but we slept well.
The next day was a big day for us. Roan Mountain stood between the shelter we were headed to and us. It was a rough, cold, and extremely icy climb...but we made it with only a few slips. The shelter we got to that night was very unique. It was an old barn that was "renovated" and turned into a huge shelter. Even though we hiked just a little under 20 miles over icy mountains, we still got in at about 4:30 and spent the rest of the afternoon sitting around a big fire that a bunch of section hikers had started. That night was cold, and even though before we went to bed the sky seemed clear, it snowed like mad that night. Remember now, we were in a barn, and barn walls aren't the best, so the snow blew right through and covered Mango...and a very confused, groggy, nighttime relocation ensued.
The next day we had big plans for a 27 mile day, bringing us just 6 miles away from the Kincora hostel so we could have a short hike in the morning and spend the rest of the day relaxing. We headed out and figuring the hiking would be easy that day...we only had two little "bumps" to go over and then the day seemed relatively flat. Those "bumps" were insane. The snow from the night before covered the grassy balds...and since there were no trees the wind blew extremely intensely. We were almost knocked over time and time again, and had to trudge on at about 1 mi/hr, leaning into the nonstop gusts. It was a struggle, to say the least.
It's insane how much weather can change within a few hours. Often times you hear "if you don't like the weather...wait a few minutes." Well, on the trail it seems to be "if you don't like the weather...wait a few hundred feet of elevation." Heading down the mountain, before long we found ourselves shedding layers and walking through very pretty, springtime forests. Near the end of the day we were still pretty beat, and we spent the night alone for our first time, at a small, cold shelter on the top of a little mountain.
The next morning we got up and moving faster and earlier than usual, motivated by the idea of finally being at the Kincora hostel. The hike was mostly downhill so we made it in no time, and got to catch the morning shuttle into town and go to a grocery store and an Arby's. Back at the hostel, the weather was beautiful and the people were extremely nice. The owner, Bob Peoples, is a trail angel who is now famous in the hiking community for all the work he has done for the AT. Meeting and talking to him was like spending time with a trail celebrity. He showed us all kinds of pictures of shelters he had helped build and told us all about how he maintained trail sections and even started a group called Hard Core that is one of the most widely respected trail maintenance crews out there. The amount of history and knowledge in that man's head almost rivals the incredible amount of care in his heart.
After waiting around spending a few extra hours at Kincora the next morning, we headed out. The trail that followed was one of the most beautiful sections yet. We walked alongside a roaring river and descended into a little valley with a huge waterfall. After climbing over a mountain we ended up at a huge lake. We sat under a tree and had some lunch in the shade. We were pumped because we didn't have that much further to go, only about 9 miles, so we trekked on. As we left the shade of the trees and the cool breeze of the lake we realized how hot it was. It's amazing how just the other day we were being blown over by snowy winds and now we were dying of heat and stopping almost every mile for a break. After a long, torturous 9 miles we made it to the shelter and collapsed. Then we heard thunder in the distance. Another storm was on its way. Our old pals Joker and Moose showed up at the shelter with Prescott, another friend, just before the rain started. That night we experienced our first thunder-snowstorm on the trail. The hot weather quickly left and the rain turned into sleet, and then snow, and then finally, hail. We stayed in our sleeping bags all night, and before long woke up to a shelter dusted with snow from front the back. The wind from the valley would come up and blow all the snow (or whatever form of precipitation was happening at that given time) right into the three walled shelter. We schemed in the early morning, trying to figure how we could still have a productive day without leaving our sleeping bags anytime in the near future, and somehow in our freezing cold madness decided that we could leave by 2 in the afternoon and hike all night getting to Damascus--33 miles away--in the early morning hours. And we did. At 4 in the morning the two of us and our friend Joker were walking the dimly lit streets of Damascus. We collapsed on benches and tried to figure out where we could go...but seeing as it was 4 am in a town of just over 1,000...nowhere was open. We checked our guidebooks and found out that a Food City a half mile away opened at 6...but that was 6 and this was 4...so we still had some time to kill. For a while we just sat on the bench, froze, and didn't want to move a foot further. We eventually decided to try our luck and see if "The Place"--a church run, donation hostel--left its doors unlocked. Thankfully, it did, and we stumbled in at about 5 and--not wanting to disturb any hikers in the bunkroom--crashed on the uncomfortable armchairs in the living room for an our. Looking back we're unsure if we actually slept, but at a little after 6 in the morning we stumbled over to food city and ate. We walked around the store like zombies for a while, and eventually headed back to town. It was after 9 now so the stores were open. We stopped at the outfitter to kill some time, and then headed to the library. We were beyond tired now, so we didn't sleep. We spent our day lazily walking from place to place and eating every chance we got. We finally settled into a hostel, slept, and now today we're heading back out to follow the white blazes.
Peace & Love,
Johnny Appleseed and Mango
