We are up with the sunrise this morning. I slept without my under quilt, hoping I could ship it home, but I was too cold without it. I need to pare down my pack weight. Maybe I should just go back to ground in a bivy and tarp. But I love the comfort of my hammock! I should play around with other options on another camping trip.
We wait to be picked up by G-Man at 8:30 am. We hang out on the front porch and talk to some hikers. Everyone is shocked to hear about the bear in the middle of the hostel last night. Some people refuse to believe it happened! They think the hikers saw a raccoon or a dog, however, those who saw were absolutely certain it was a bear. We do some stretches while we were waiting, and Kodiak took a picture of us goofing off. Don't worry, there are shorts under our skirts!
Kodiak has devised a way to rest her leg while we continue to get miles in, AND we can return to Uncle Johnny's a THIRD night tomorrow night. More details need to be determined, but we may slackpack tomorrow as well! We are really loving our experience here and it's going to be hard to leave.
We pile into G-Man's truck for the 20-minute drive to Indian Grave Gap. He tells us it was indeed a bear. He knows because he lives three houses down the street from the hostel. He has the bear on his camera around the same time it visited us!
Our ears pop on the ride up the mountain to the Gap. We are gaining a lot of elevation. I am thankful we only have to hike downhill today, although it feels a little like cheating! We are still hiking every inch of the trail, though. And it's not a competition, I tell myself.
We arrive at the gap next to a gentleman who provides trail magic every day! He has camp chairs set up around a table laden with coffee and baked goods he makes every day himself! We chat for a little while, but we want to get back to town to get some yummy Mexican food!
Were we hiking north from town today, we would have a 2300-foot gain and a 600-foot loss. Since we are hiking in reverse, we have a 600-foot gain and a 2300-foot loss. Yay for our thighs, boo for our knees. We only have 8 miles to get back to Uncle Johnny's, so this is only a half day for us. I can relax and set up my new tarp and even take a shower two days in a row! So decadent!!
On the hike back to town, we see a lot of hikers heading uphill with heavily laden packs, full from the resupply. For many hikers, including us, we won't be resupplying our food until we get to Route 19E, which is 50 miles from Erwin! That's a lot of food to carry.
The coolest part of hiking against the hikers is that we can meet other hikers and reconnect with some that we thought were way ahead of us. Shortly after we start GG needs to take a nature stop. I walk ahead a short way and a gentleman who is about our age is approaching up the trail. I strike up a chat so I can stall him from walking up on GG while she is doing some business. When using the facilities on the trail, we try to get off the trail as far as possible, but sometimes the terrain doesn't allow for us to get off trail far enough to not be noticed by passersby.
The man introduces himself as J-13. He is through hiking and stayed at the next shelter down the hill, which we will be passing this morning. J-13 is from Illinois, and he knows the area where I was born and spent my early childhood very well. I still have a lot of family in the area. As we are talking GG walks up. They introduce themselves and soon we head in our respective directions.
Within a half-hour, we bump into a very friendly Canadian who we have seen several times already this hike. He doesn't have a trail name, but we call him "Eh," like hay with a silent h, because in true Canadian fashion, he says "eh" very frequently. Or maybe its "Ay?" He is surprised to see us, because he is doing a lot more miles than we are. The only reason we see him today is because he got stuck in Erwin because he needed new shoes, and the outfitter store didn't carry his size. He had to order some and wait for them to come in. This is probably the last time we will see him.
GG and I agree to hike our own hikes today, since we have no hurries. I tend to be a little faster on the downhills, not because of skill, but because I'm taller and have a longer stride. We have cell service, so we can keep in touch with each other today.
After two hours I arrive at the Curly Maple Gap Shelter. I passed a cool site not far from here with a foundation of an old house on a grassy knoll. I have done 4.5 miles and I'm already halfway to town! I am loving this hike today. We are really making good time when you consider that we spent at least 30 minutes so far stopping to talk to other hikers on the trail! This shelter is so well-kept. There is a fresh coat of paint and some wonderful benches around the fireplace made with real timber seats and anchored to tree stumps that make end tables.
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| Curly Maple Gap Shelter |
I stop and pull out my early lunch of smoked oysters, a chunk of cheddar cheese, and almond butter. Really fancy today! Don't gross out, but I love smoked oysters. My husband and I started the tradition of packing them when we camped 30 years ago, and the tradition has stuck. I finish up, thinking GG should be catching up, but I don't see her. I sling on my pack and mosey down the trail.
Leaving the shelter, the trail parallels a stream for most of the descent. As I walk down the mountain, the stream picks up more water from feeders and soon I pass some loud cascades. I can't see it because the rhododendron here is so thick. The trail crisscrosses the stream several times.
I run into Pale Rider and another gentleman who let us stash our food in his cabin after the bear scare last night. He is trying to get to Harpers Ferry, WV then flip-flop up to Katahdin and hike back down to WV.
The trail gets really steep and rocky for a stretch then levels out in a wide pine-strewn area that looks like it floods during the rainy season. I am overjoyed to see George and Jasper!! Jasper wags his tail and turns in circles in front of me, happy to greet someone he knows! I get a picture with him, since I don't know if I will see them again. I think I will, because tomorrow we will be starting at Iron Mountain Gap, and hiking back to Indian Grave Gap, where we started today.
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| Jasper, the coolest trail dog ever! |
I returned to Uncle Johnny's at 1pm! GG arrived about an hour later. I took a cold shower because there wasn't any hot water. It was a very short shower! We rewashed our barely dirty clothes, just because we could. I hung the suspension on my new tarp and sealed the seams, then packed my other, way smaller tarp back home via a service provided by the hostel office. We then pile back into the big, old van with Kodiak and a bunch of other hikers to go to Pancho's.
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| Crossing over the Nolichucky, just before Uncle Johnny's |
Pancho's is the one of the best restaurants in town, according to the other hikers. It's in a gas station, but hey, beggars can't be choosers. I order nachos supreme with guacamole and a chile relleno, my other favorite Mexican dish. The nachos ended up being a massive portion and I tried to get the other women to help me eat! My eyes were bigger than my stomach because I am so stuffed I can barely breathe, but the meal was a 10/10 for a hungry hiker!
We hang out for an hour and then say good night!
Today's stats: 9 miles, 600' of gain (cos we cheated the gain!)
Trail stats: 353 miles, 83k-ish of gain
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