Hot Springs to Erwin

It is so easy to get behind on this…. Usually at the end of the day I just want to consume as many calories as possible and pass out in my tent, but I’m going to do my best to get caught up! If I have the energy there may be two posts back to back if I can get in one more tonight, but I am currently getting over norovirus in Damascus 😦 Hoping I wake up revived in the morning! Enough about that, Hot Springs already feels like forever ago! After our surprise guest, Allison, waved goodbye in Hot Springs, we made our way 8.3 miles to Rich Mountain Camp. It was a pretty steep climb out with a heavy food bag as we had just replenished our supply. Along the way Amity and I came upon a smoldering fire that had not been properly put out, she put it out the best she could! Luckily there was a stream just up the trail so we could refill our water bottles. Amity also found some fresh chives that we picked and added to dinner that night!

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We had a pretty uneventful stay that night, and made our way 11.2 miles to Little Laurel Shelter the next day. We were treated to some awesome trail magic! A trail Angel hiked to the shelter, which seemed to me to be in the middle of nowhere, with his two big bloodhounds, a huge box of white wine, a gallon of ice cream, root beer for floats, and cones! What a treat!

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Over the next two days we hiked about 25 miles making our way to Sam’s Gap. We had some very pretty views! While gorgeous, there was a lot of rock hopping and jumping over roots, it made for a pretty long day. I also hit the 300 mile mark on this stretch!

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When we got to Sam’s Gap we got picked up by a supporter who drove about 20 minutes to whisk us to her house in Weaverville, North Carolina. We were treated to warm, comfortable beds, greeted by a cute kitty, and had some of the best pizza of my life! I even got to take some of that pizza with me the next day to have leftovers for my lunch 🙂

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The next day many hikers decided not to go out due to the forecast 🥶❄️☃️ I toughed it out, but it was very cold! (I believe it dropped down to 25° that night) Luckily I had some cold weather camping and hiking training so I knew how to make it 🙂 I also have a very warm rated sleeping bag. Well I hesitated to go out that day, I’m very glad I did, there was some beautiful scenery! Shockingly, there were actually two other people tenting where I stopped for the day, so I wasn’t the only crazy one!

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After waking up to a cold morning at Whistling Gap, I did something I rarely do, I had breakfast and coffee in my tent! I normally don’t like food anywhere near my tent due to the smell which could attract animals, but it was just too cold to eat elsewhere. Luckily, it warmed up throughout the day and I saw some pretty flowers and an owl before descending several easy miles into Erwin, Tennessee.

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Our stay in Erwin was definitely a memorable one! We got picked up by Diane at Uncle Johnny’s, a very well-known hiker hostel. It’s crazy how you run into people on this trail, I saw people there I hadn’t seen in well over a week! We ended up staying with our hosts, Sandy and Duane, for three nights, my longest stay since leaving MN! They treated us to some very delicious dinners and breakfasts, and we are even surprised with an Appalachian Trail symbol cake! They also collected tons of resupply items for us, I will never forget your generosity! One of their neighbors even drove us over 20 miles north so we could do a slack pack back to their house just to stay one more night, I didn’t want to leave! I also saw my first bear while staying at the house, I suppose it helped that he throws out corn every day and grilled steaks that night! Last but not least, Duane gave me a quick tour of his 65 Pontiac, awesome! I will never forget Erwin!

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