Appalachian Trail, Days 26-28
I’ve been falling so behind on my blogging, so I’m going to try a 3 day format! Plus I’ve been writing more than I expected, so maybe this will make things more manageable. I wrapped up my time at Uncle Johnny’s, probably my favorite hostel stop along the way so far, and departed Erwin. The vibe at Uncle Johnny’s was great, but I think trail friends that I reconnected with and the new crowd of people that I met were really the defining factors of my time in town. From here on out, I’ve been camping with a really wonderful semi-consistent group of people.
Day 26:
Start: Uncle Johnny’s, Erwin, TN
Stop: Uncle Johnny’s, Erwin, TN
Miles: 0
Elevation Gain: 0
Total Miles Hiked: 369.12
Oof. I hurt myself. Waking up after Cowboy Rendezvous karaoke was a bit tough. But I needed to get out of bed and get the morning shuttle into Erwin to go to the post office. So I hauled myself out of bed and parked myself at the coffee shop in town until the post office opened. I was texting with my mom because my brother’s partner Paige went into labor last night and I got the happy news that they gave birth to baby Finan Litz Weston at 11pm last night. Congratulations Zach and Paige! I’m hoping maybe I can take a zero day when I get up to Harper’s Ferry to go into DC and see them.
Back at the hostel, I was stalling to get started with my day. I was planning to do a nearo out of town, but I found that I couldn’t tear myself away from lounging on the wicker sofa on the hostel porch. Finally, I just accepted the fact that I was going to take my first zero of the thru-hike at Uncle Johnny’s. After accepting my zero, I spent the afternoon resting. I took the evening shuttle into Erwin, just to get something to eat for dinner and walked through the Pal’s drive-thru again with Antelope. When we got back, people were starting to trickle into the hostel for the evening. Brian started a fire in the fire pit, and I met Avalanche, Gage, Hedgehog, and Burner who all hiked in today. As the fire got going, the sky opened up and it started pouring, so we all migrated under the covered porch of the hostel. We sat around talking as the rain formed a moat around the porch and cascaded off of the roof, until one by one people started peeling off to sleep.
Day 27:
Start: Uncle Johnny’s Hostel (344.5)
Stop: Tentsite at Mile 358.0
Miles: 14.2
Elevation Gain: 4254 feet
Total Miles Hiked: 383.32
After a later start to enjoy my coffee and a gas station breakfast sandwich, I packed up my gear to depart Uncle Johnny’s. Antelope and I decided to slackpack and have Unicoi Steve drop our packs off to us later in the day. First thing when I got started was crossing the Nolichucky River on the ferry. The bridge crossing was washed away in the hurricane, so the ATC organized a ferry service with one of the local rafting companies. It was a super quick ride across the rapids, then I was dropped off on a rocky sandbar to walk the rest of the way through some shallow water. I scrambled up the bank on the other side and got to hiking.
The trail was a gradual ascent through the woods. As I got a little higher, there were some vivid flowering bushes. I reached Beauty Spot, a high open meadow with views of the landscape. There was some wildfire smoke blowing down from Canada that made things pretty hazy, and there were also clouds blowing in threatening rain. I ran into Antelope, Fireball, and Brian, and we troubleshooted trying to find some water before camp. There was one last short but steep climb, then we met Steve at Beauty Spot Gap with our packs. As we started the last stretch to camp, there was thunder in the distance and it started to rain.
We reached the campsite and all picked our spots, hastily setting up our tents in the rain. I ducked into my tent for a while to stay out of the worst of it. I could hear people arriving while I was tucked away inside. When the rain eased, I went to make dinner with Fireball and Antelope. Gage and Burner came over to talk as we ate. It was still drizzling and starting to get chilly, so we didn’t hang out for too long into the evening.
Day 28:
Start: Tentsite at Mile 358.0
Stop: Ash Gap (377.2)
Miles: 21.21
Elevation Gain: 5053 feet
Total Miles Hiked: 404.53
My bear hang left much to be desired (everyone was making fun of it), so I slept lightly, worried that it might get pulled down during the night. But all was well in the morning and my food was intact. Today was the infamous Hurricane Helene detour. Most of the reroute was on a mellow gravel forest service road. After that, there was a heinous up and down, that was muddy and steep. But apparently they put in steps, which made things more manageable. In the end it wasn’t too bad and I was back on the AT in no time.
There was a decent afternoon climb up Beartown Mountain, then a short descent down to camp for the night. I arrived at the Ash Gap camping area to find the spots sparsely scattered along the trail. There was a section hiker or two already tucked away in their secluded areas. I guessed my camping companions from the morning must have decided to go a bit farther for the day. So I picked a site and started to quietly set up camp. It was a nice spot, but it felt like a huge swing from the crowd of people at the hostel the other day. Sure enough, I hear voices coming down the mountain, laughing and in good spirits. It was Fireball and Avalanche. Turns out they had made one or two navigational mistakes that turned the reroute into a complete odyssey. But they made it with some bonus miles and some stories to tell about stinging nettle, fireball shots, and a little hitchhiking. They set up camp with the waning sun and we all ate dinner together before settling in our tents.
