Day 134, 21.8 miles
Damascus, Lady Di’s B&B/ SOBO mile 1727.2 to TN 91, Switchback Creek Campground/SOBO mile 1749.0
Slept super well at Lady Di’s. Eight straight hours!!! That rarely happens. My body needed that. I also ate a fantastic home cooked breakfast that Lady Di includes in her price.
Perfect hiking day today. Cool, crisp weather with cold wind. The climb out of Damascus felt gradual, then it was minor PUDs. First Class and I leapfrogged all day – he is a faster hiker but he takes longer breaks, so we kept catching up and passing one another – and he too thought the day felt super easy. Got almost 22 miles done in 8.5 hours. First Class said we had done almost 5000 feet of total elevation gain, but that doesn’t seem right to me. Certainly didn’t feel like that much.
Mostly in the trees today except at the very end when the trail went through a pasture.
I’m staying in a tiny cabin at Switchback Creek Campground. The owner came and picked me up and will return me to the same spot tomorrow morning. First Class and a LASHer named Ted are camping together just a couple tenths of a mile farther from where I was picked up. I’ll see both of them at Boots Off hostel tomorrow night if I don’t see them while hiking tomorrow.
My ankle felt pretty good today. The cooler weather helps everything IMO. A good night’s sleep and yummy breakfast also helps.
Day 135, 20.8 miles
TN 91, Switchback Creek Campground/SOBO mile 1749.0 to Boots Off Hostel/SOBO mile 1769.8
I am slipping into bougie mode. Meaning, I really enjoy private little cabins or rooms at the end of almost every hiking day. I can position my feet in a way where the pressure is off my ankle more easily in a bed than in my sleeping bag liner (I’m a side sleeper). So though I do enjoy my tent and will obviously not be sleeping indoors for the entire rest of my hike, I will be taking advantage of every hostel/cheap motel opportunity from here to Springer. Plus, it’s getting very cold at night up at 4000-6000 feet. I very much enjoy hiking in the cold, but I do not very much enjoy camping in the cold. So there’s that.
Windy from Switchback Creek Campground got me back to trail by 7:30. I felt blah today even though the terrain was relatively easy for the AT. Probably had to do with the fact that all I had left for food was some pumpkin seeds and old granola bars. That prevented me from starving, but it didn’t give my body what it wanted so I felt grumpy all day. Apart from my hangriness, the day was gorgeous. Cool temps, sunny skies. The trail was mostly 100-400 foot PUDS and ran on a ridge parallel to Watauga Lake. Viewpoints were overgrown, but I got glimpses of the water through the trees.
Got to walk over the Watauga Dam – that was pretty. Then got close-up views of the water since the trail ran right beside it until reaching the road that leads to Boots Off.
I have a little tiny cabin here. It’s really cute. They have a little store here too. Bought a ton and ate a ton. Am starting to revive a little.
My ankle barely hurt today! I can point it downward a bit more now, and I can turn it each way. I don’t think it will completely recover until after I am finished the AT, but it seems to be doing better than it was yesterday. I’ll take that.
Day 136, 19.5 miles
TN Forest Service Road 293/SOBO mile 1789.3 to Boots Off Hostel/SOBO mile 1769.8
Slackpacked today. Just Jim at Boots Off drove me to 293 and I walked back to the hostel, which means I did this section NOBO.
Mostly woods walking except for the Laurel Fork Falls area. Lovely waterfalls and riverside hiking there.
The day felt gentle except for a 2000-ft climb near the end (close to the hostel). Also, my ankle never hurt. That was nice.
Got back to the hostel and ate a ton more food. Wanted to write more tonight but am falling asleep as I type.
Day 137, 12 miles
TN Forest Service Road 293/SOBO mile 1789.3 to The Refuge Hostel/SOBO mile 1801.3
Left the wonderful Boots Off hostel. Beautiful huge property, great folks running it, lovely vibe. Had a great stay.
Easy day today. Mostly trees, pretty views here and there, not that much elevation gain (maybe a thousand feet total..?), and I reached the 1800 mile mark!
Hiked a bit with Ark and Bread & Butter. Nice guys.
Am now staying at The Refuge Hostel. It’s a small but cozy place with one common sleeping area and no private rooms. Eight beds, and six are full tonight. Great prices on resupply items. Nice owners.
There is serious rain coming next week so I spent some time planning around that. The next hostel, Uncle Johnny’s, will end up with a ton of SOBOs and section hikers waiting out the heavy rain. I’ll be one of them, but at least I’ll have a private cabin there.
It can be difficult for me to stay in bunk rooms like I am tonight because, for example, right now one of the guys is loudly and obviously drunk and stoned. That’s his right to do whatever he wants as long as he isn’t rude (and he’s not), but I don’t like being around people when they are obviously drunk and being very loud about it. That’s just not my vibe. Especially since I stopped drinking over two years ago.
There are two female section hikers here, Rooted and Butterfly. Really nice ladies. I’m doing a slackpack from here tomorrow so I’ll have a chance to speak with them more when I return. There’s also a guy named Heisenberg here. Cool fella.
Day 138. 23 miles, 23.5ish if you include the walk from the trail to The Refuge
Hughes Gap/SOBO mile 1824.3 to The Refuge Hostel/SOBO mile 1801.3
Did this section NOBO today. Rob from The Refuge dropped me off at Hughes Gap and I walked back to the hostel.
Balds! Views! Gorgeousness! That’s really all I have to say. Jane Bald, Round Bald, Hump, and Little Hump. The trail almost always felt easy even though there were some real climbs. Lots of day hikers. Perfect fall weather. My ankle did not hurt until I got back to the hostel. I have it elevated now.
Gorgeous today. Just gorgeous.
Day 139. Around 9.6 miles
Hughes Gap/SOBO mile 1824.3 to Iron Mtn Road detour/around SOBO mile 1833.7
Great day for hypothermia! Cold rain and temps in the lower 40s all day.
But first – had an interesting encounter in the morning with a man who was not a hiker but was staying at The Refuge. We had a conversation where, among other things, he told me he has spent most of his life killing people. Long story short, the owner ended up having him transported to a hospital later on in the day.
Got on trail around 7:53am and took the only photo I captured for the day. It was too cold and rainy to take my phone out for any other photo at any other time. The trail was in the trees all day, otherwise I would not have hiked at all.
Kept a close watch on myself and thankfully avoided hypothermia. My planned miles were short today because of the forecast. Got a prearranged shuttle at the 9.5-ish mile mark (official AT detour here makes exact mileage difficult to pinpoint). Am now at Uncle Johnny’s Hostel where I have a cabin all to myself for the next four nights. Will get another shuttle in the morning and slackpack the remaining 20 miles to here, then the next hiking day I will slack ten miles north. All these days call for various amounts of cold rain. Am staying mostly below treeline and keeping miles relatively short and always coming back to a dry heated cabin.
Day 140, Around 20.3 miles
Iron Mtn Road detour/around SOBO mile 1833.7 to Uncle Johnny’s (Erwin, TN)/SOBO mile 1854
Had a lovely night in the cabin listening to the rain pound the roof.
Madison the shuttle driver took me back to Iron Mtn Road at dawn. The rain had slowed to a drizzle.
Ascended close to 2000 feet in light rain, then spent the rest of my hiking day in crisp mist. Most of the miles were downhill after that initial ascent. Felt fairly easy, and the cool temps kept me moving quickly.
Had trail magic today! A kind man named CT had a truck with hot water/cider/tea, pumpkin bread, brownies, and fruit. Ate, thanked him, and continued on.
Got to the river across from Uncle Johnny’s and called for them to come get me. The bridge here was destroyed in last year’s hurricane.
Lots of people here, most of whom I’ve seen off and on for over a week. Ted, First Class, Weatherman, Voice of Reason, Ark, Fuego, and Bread & Butter. Most zeroed today thinking it was going to pour again. It is going to pour tomorrow afternoon and evening according to the forecast, so I don’t know if some will take another day off. I will. It may be my last zero before going through the Smokies unless we get another bad weather patch between now and then.
