Appalachian Trail - Day 028 - Highway US 19-E to approaching Moreland Gap Shelter

Day: 028

Date: Monday, 22 May 2023

Start:  Highway US 19-E (AT Mile 395.3)

Finish:  Approaching Moreland Gap Shelter (AT Mile 412.5)

Daily Kilometres:  30.1

GPX Track:  Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos

Total Kilometres:  699.0

Weather:  Mild to warm and mostly sunny.

Accommodation:  Tent

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Cooked buffet breakfast

  Lunch:  Trail mix

  Dinner:  Rehydrated meals

Aches:  None to report

Highlight:  The hostel’s breakfast, for which they are renowned, did not disappoint.  The more than twenty hikers there enjoyed a vast array of cooked items and there was plenty to go around.  We certainly ate our share, but resisted the temptation to go overboard, knowing we had a day’s hiking in front of us.

Lowlight:  None really.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We had a sleep in because the hostel breakfast, which was one of the main things that attracted us to stay at the Mountain Harbour Hostel (though last night’s burgers were pretty good as well), was not served until 8:00am.  The breakfast did not disappoint (see above).  We ate on the deck, chatting to a couple of other hikers, before returning to our room, picking up our gear and rejoining the trail around 9:20am.

The hiking scenery was a little different today.  Our early walking passed through some meadows strewn with wildflowers and graceful trees and later on alongside the picturesque Elk River, also through a grassy meadow.

In the sections in between the trail seemed to twist and turn, constantly going up and down, through a green tunnel of rhododendron groves, but with no major climbs.  The trail underfoot was generally soft and we made good time.

Here and there were also some beautiful waterfalls and cascades and the lovely Laurel Fork brook.

Near the end of the day, we met “Tassie” the thru-hiker from Tasmania, and learned that she too is having a short day tomorrow and has a cabin booked at the Black Bear Resort, so we will have an opportunity to catch up with her then.

Around 6:20pm we found a nice little tent site beside the trail on a quiet evening and had an early night.  Altogether, a pleasant day’s walking powered by an excellent breakfast.  Four weeks done on the trail and the 400 miles passed today.

Appalachian Trail - Day 027 - Near Stan Murray Shelter to Highway US 19-E

Day: 027

Date: Sunday, 21 May 2023

Start:  Near Stan Murray Shelter (AT Mile 384.0)

Finish:  Highway US 19-E (AT Mile 395.3)

Daily Kilometres:  19.8

GPX Track:  Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos

Total Kilometres:  668.9

Weather:  Foggy and cool early then warm and sunny.

Accommodation:  Hostel

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Pop tarts

  Lunch:  Chimichangas/Burrito

  Dinner:  Patty melt & fries/Chicken burger & fries, ice-cream

Aches:  None to speak of.

Highlight:  After crossing Little Hump Mountain (5,445’) in fog and not seeing any of the views from its grassy summit, a few miles later we crossed Hump Mountain (5,559’) in sunshine with great views in all directions.  For a mile or two we were crossing the grassy summit and ridge and it reminiscent of the Pennine Way in the UK.

Lowlight:  Packing up in the pre-dawn light with everything wet or damp or muddy.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

It seemed like large quantities of water were continually dripping on the tent all night though it wasn’t actually raining much.  We woke to find the fly sheet sopping wet and even some of the tent inner wall wet, though we’re not sure why.  We put the tent up in such a hurry in the rain last night, maybe we didn’t get everything adjusted correctly.  Anyway, it wasn’t much fun and it always seems a relief when we get everything stowed away, regardless of dampness, and get moving, which we did a little after 6:30am.

The weather forecast indicated sun later in the morning, but to start with it was foggy and the trail-side vegetation, often grass, was sopping wet from dew or rain.  So much so, that Julie was once again walking in wet boots and socks.  Dave’s boots are perhaps a little more robust, and he stayed more or less dry.

The early trail was quite fast walking, though slippery and muddy in parts, and we made good time, passing a shelter where the hiker residents seemed all to be still sleeping and a couple of other tents along the way.

The trail became harder as it climbed fairly steeply up Little Hump Mountain for some time and, sadly, no views were to be had because of the continuing fog, though there was a hint that the sun was starting to break through.  And, so it did on our descent from the mountain and by the time we reached the grassy Bradley Gap between Little Hump Mountain and Hump Mountain, the sky had cleared and we had wonderful visibility all around.  It was another fairly steep long climb to the summit of Hump Mountain but, because it was treeless moorland and we could see where we were going, it didn’t seem so bad.

From the summit of Hump Mountain we could see both backwards and forwards along the trail for some distance and there were no other hikers around.  We had the magnificent scene all to ourselves and savoured it.

With our spirits high we began the six-mile-long descent to the highway and the hostel where we had a basic room booked.  It was going to be a welcome short day, though the first couple of miles of the descent were on very technical rocky trail which was slow and ankle- and knee-threatening.  However, the weather was perfect and we were soon past the toughest bits and enjoying better trail as the AT followed a pretty steep-sided valley downwards. Along the way, we left North Carolina for the last time, another milestone.

We reached the hostel, which was a few hundred metres along the busy highway from the trailhead, soon after 1:00pm, checked in, and bought some microwaveable lunch from the tiny camp store, which we ate on the hostel’s outside deck in the sun.  Afterwards, we erected our tent on a nearby grass patch and dried it as well as packs and other gear while we showered.  The hostel is rustic, but has everything we need and is famous for its breakfasts.

As the afternoon wore on more hikers turned up, though most seem to be camping rather than staying in the hostel.  A food truck turned up at 5:00pm and we bought our dinner there.  It has been a good day.  Amazing what difference a change in the weather can make.  Dave was pretty miserable yesterday.

Appalachian Trail - Day 026 - Cherry Gap to near Stan Murray Shelter

Day: 026

Date: Saturday, 20 May 2023

Start:  Cherry Gap (AT Mile 362.3)

Finish:  Near Stan Murray Shelter (AT Mile 384.0)

Daily Kilometres:  36.5

GPX Track:  Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos

Total Kilometres:  649.1

Weather:  Overcast all day with drizzle and fog in the evening.

Accommodation:  Tent

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Pop tarts

  Lunch:  Trail mix

  Dinner:  Rehydrated meals

Aches:  Dave - very tired:  Julie - nothing to report

Highlight:  It was a day for orange salamander spotting and Julie counted fourteen.

Lowlight:  After making good progress most of the day the last few hours, as we encountered technical steep trail, rain and fog, was a drag.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We woke at 5:30am and were hiking by 6:30am on a grey day for which rain was forecast.  The trail was quite good so, despite it having plenty of ups and downs, oscillating between 4,000’ and 5,500’, we made good time. Mostly we were in deciduous forest, but occasionally at the higher elevations we had moss carpeted pine forest.  Good views were few, but we could always sense through the trees that we were quite high.

We only saw a few hikers today until we reached the Roan Mountain area which is popular for day hikers.  This was towards the end of the day and the ascent of Roan High Knob (6,270’) seemed to take forever on difficult trail.  It also began to drizzle and by the time we descended to Carvers Gap, around 5:00pm, it was starting to get unpleasant.  Nevertheless, the carpark was still quite full and wet day hikers were returning to their cars.  We took a break there, sheltering under a sign before beginning the last stretch of the day.

This involved more climbing over some treeless knobs - Round Bald and Jane Bald - and getting back up to near 6,000’ in very wet conditions. On the former, there was a bedraggled wedding party getting some final pictures taken.

Dave was getting tired and progress was slow.  We plodded on, looking for a tentsite.  The one we were aiming for already had four or five tents there, some loud music playing and the smell of pot wafting in the damp air.  There was no real room for another tent, even if we were interested, so we continued on and eventually found a spot that suited us.  We set up in the drizzle and everything feels either wet or damp.  Not a great day.

Appalachian Trail - Day 025 - Erwin to Cherry Gap

Day: 025

Date: Friday, 19 May 2023

Start:  Erwin (AT Mile 344.3)

Finish:  Cherry Gap (AT Mile 362.3)

Daily Kilometres:  29.7

GPX Track:  Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos

Total Kilometres:  612.6

Weather:  Sunny, warm and breezy all day.

Accommodation:  Tent

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Peach pie & rice pudding

  Lunch:  Chicken salad sandwich/Italian sandwich

  Dinner:  Rehydrated meals.

Aches:  Dave - a few of the usual niggles; Julie - nothing to report

Highlight:  As Julie remarked during our last hour of hiking today, it was so peaceful and quiet for long periods as we walked along a broad wooded ridge where there was no sound and barely any breeze as the setting sun cast long shadows through the forest.  Magic!

Lowlight:  None really.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

Based on the theory that Uber drivers in small towns don’t sign on until 8:00am, we had a sleep in, ate breakfast in our motel room, packed and then tried for an Uber around 8:30am after Dave had taken care of some last minute admin.  Success!  An Uber arrived in four minutes and we were driven the few miles to where we left the trail on Wednesday afternoon.  

By 8:50am we were hiking on a beautiful morning, at first following the Nolichucky River upstream and then a creek as we began our all-day long climb up Unaka Mountain (5,183’).  Fortunately, because the climb was spread over about 15 miles, the grades were generally easy and the trail not too technical.

Along the way, we met a few other hikers including a firefighter from Florida out for a week’s hiking, and “Tassie”, a lady from Tasmania (~60yo) we had heard about from other hikers.  By reputation an early riser and fast hiker.  We had a chat and learned she started just a couple of days before us, so is travelling at roughly the same pace.  Suspect we will see her again.  We also passed a day hiker, jingling his way through the woods.  He was wearing “bear bells”, as have a couple of other hikers we have seen.  The bells are supposed to warn bears of the hiker’s approach so that they run away.  We have also heard them referred to as “dinner bells”, for obvious reasons.

A highlight of the long climb was a meadow-like large knoll called Beauty Spot along the way where we emerged from the forest and had fantastic views in all directions, including ahead to the formidable last climb to the top of Unaka Mountain.  Unfortunately, there were no views from the actual summit of the mountain, but the vegetation at the top changed to pine forest with green moss covering the forest floor.  Very pretty and a nice change from the deciduous forest and rhododendron glades we had been travelling through for most of the day.

Around 6:40pm, having gone further than anticipated for the day, we found a small tent site in Cherry Gap and set up camp.  It had been a good first day out of town.

Appalachian Trail - Day 024 - Erwin

Day: 024

Date: Thursday, 18 May 2023

Start:  Erwin (AT Mile 344.3)

Finish:  Erwin (AT Mile 344.3)

Daily Kilometres:  0

GPX Track:  Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos from her walk in Erwin today.

Total Kilometres:  582.9

Weather:  Sunny, mild and breezy.

Accommodation:  Motel

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Cooked breakfast

  Lunch:  Turkey & cheese roll/chicken salad

  Dinner:  Hamburger steak dinner, peach pie and ice-cream.

Aches:  None to speak of.

Highlight:  Dave got a haircut and beard trim.  Turned out there was a hairdresser quite close to our motel and Dave booked an early afternoon appointment to get the (overdue) job done.

Lowlight:  None really.

Pictures: No photos today.

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We stayed up a bit late last night so had a good sleep in this morning before walking over to the nearby supermarket, which incorporates a cafe/deli, where we got a very cheap hot breakfast.

We then spent a lot of time working out our approximate schedule and resupply needs for the next nine days which will end with our next day off in Damascus, Virginia.  The weekend after next is the Memorial Day long weekend in the US and Damascus, as a vacation destination, is very booked out.  We looked at a more aggressive hiking schedule to get us there a day earlier, but decided to go for a more relaxed schedule and to hitch a ride from Damascus to somewhere with more accommodation if necessary.  Currently, we are about four days ahead of our rough schedule for the whole trip and the next, more relaxed, week or so will maintain that buffer.

All of our gear is now dry and we have had a quiet day apart from the haircut (see above) and Julie going for a walk this afternoon.

Appalachian Trail - Day 023 - Whistling Gap to Erwin

Day: 023

Date: Wednesday, 17 May 2023

Start:  Approaching Whistling Gap (AT Mile 329.6)

Finish:  Erwin (AT Mile 344.3)

Daily Kilometres:  24.4

GPX Track:  Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos

Total Kilometres:  582.9

Weather:  Lots of rain overnight then fog and drizzle early, then overcast, then sunny and warm in the afternoon

Accommodation:  Motel

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Eggs, hash browns & beef mince.

  Lunch:  Pop tarts

  Dinner:  

Aches:  Dave - nothing serious; Julie - feet restored to good order.

Highlight:  After we had been walking for a couple of hours on a very damp and dreary morning, we were getting ready for our breakfast break when we crossed a minor road and were hailed by people at a van and gazebo just up the road asking whether we would like some breakfast.  Trail angels!  A couple of ex-thru-hikers had set themselves up to provide a treat to thru-hikers coming by.  They had camped in the same location and provided food to a couple of other thru-hikers camped nearby last night as well.  We readily accepted the offer of breakfast (and a Diet Coke) and sat in the gazebo eating it and chatting to a couple of other thru-hikers and to the trail angels.  A very welcome surprise!

Lowlight:  Waking at 5:30am to hear it still raining after it had seemed to rain all night and, when it wasn’t raining, was dripping from the trees overhead.  We resolved to pack up as much as we could inside the tent and then hastily left the tent and took it down as fast as we could and stowed it all away.  Inevitably, the tent inner got wet during the process and the flysheet and ground sheet were sopping.  We are lucky we are staying in a motel tonight and have a room big enough to dry things out.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We woke at 5:30am after a rainy night and packed up in the wet (see above).  When we started hiking soon after 6:30am, it was hard to know whether it was still raining or just water dripping from the trees.  It was misty, dark and eerie as we moved through the woods with Julie a ghostly figure weaving between the trees on the trail up ahead of Dave.

It remained like this for the first couple of hours and was time for our breakfast break when we happened on our first “trail magic” during our hike (see above).  While eating our “magic” breakfast, we chatted to other thru-hikers there, a father and daughter (about 11yo) whose trail names were “Bacon” and “Eggs”, and “Flash” around 30yo.  Bacon and Eggs were obviously assessing whether they should continue on the AT,  Bacon was finding it hard and having already done 300 miles of tough hiking, was wondering whether he could face nearly 2,000 more.  He wondered whether he would miss out on something by not finishing, but doubted his ability and mental strength.  It reminded me of Bill Bryson’s realisation that he could not complete the AT when he looked at a four-foot long map of the trail at a store on his day off in Gatlinburg and realised he had only completed the bottom two inches and it had taken so much effort.  I think every thru-hiker has doubts early on whether they can make it, and even completing 300 miles of the trail is a tremendous feat.

Flash, the other thru-hiker was also finding it tough.  The “trail angels” offered to take all of our packs to Erwin, 11 miles away, so that we could “slackpack” (hike without packs) to Erwin and we discussed whether this was “cheating”.  We know that many thru-hikers do this to save effort and perhaps Dave was a little too quick to say it was cheating.  Later, just before we reached Erwin, Flash caught us up.  He wasn’t carrying his pack.

After breakfast the trail climbed again, but not for too long and much of the remainder of the day was on undulating trail, often following the contour lines on steep sided valleys through tunnels of rhododendron.  The weather slowly improved and by our lunch stop at a deserted shelter it was sunny, though on the trail we always seemed to be in the shade, which made for cooler hiking.

There was a long final descent into Erwin accompanied by growing noise from the freeway below, but also some fine views over Erwin and along the Nolichucky River.

We reached the outskirts of Erwin around 3:30pm and began the process of trying to organise a ride to our motel five miles away through Uber or Lyft.  While doing this, “Miss Janet”, an ex-thru-hiker, appeared in her shuttle van adorned with all kinds of Appalachian Trail messages and offered us a lift to our motel along with another hiker she already had in the van.  We accepted and had a good chat on the drive to our motel.  Miss Janet, like, it seems, most of the of the thru-hikers we have met in the last few days, are heading to the “Trail Days Festival” at Damascus in Virginia, 125 miles further along the trail, this coming weekend.  Many thousands will be in attendance, but not us, and Miss Janet is shuttling a number of hikers there.

When we did get to our motel, we met “Kermit” a young thru-hiker we had met back early in the Smokeys about ten days ago and seen a couple of times since.  We were pretty sure he was behind us, so were surprised to see him here.  He explained that one of his friends was ill and they had arranged to be picked up back on the trail and driven to Erwin.  They are now getting a ride onto Damascus for Trail Days.  I suspect he will not be returning to the point where he left the AT, but will probably resume his hike from Damascus.

These stories - of Bacon & Eggs, Flash and Kermit - give a good sampling of the thru-hikers on the trail.  The saying goes that everybody does their own hike and thru-hikers should avoid being judgmental.  For Julie and Dave, “our” hike is walking every step of the way and it seems it will be quiet on the trali for the next four or five days while everybody else is in Damascus.

Since checking in at our motel we have erected the tent and had the fan going full blast in attempt to dry all of our wet gear.  It is working and everything will be dry by the time we leave on Friday after our “zero” (day off) tomorrow.  We have done our laundry and walked to a nearby fast food joint for dinner and supermarket for some snacks and drinks.  Looking forward to resting up tomorrow.