Day 37-44 a week on the trail

24 Apr, Day 37 6.3 Miles, Uncle Johnny's, Nolichucky River, Erwin, TN. Excellent morning waking up to a brisk but dry day. It was nice weather so a fairly pleasant and easy walk into the hostel. I like that a 6 mile day now is considered a "nero" day, meaning nearly zero, so my hiker legs seem to be working well. It was nice walking into the hostel to see some of the wolf pack hanging out waiting there. They Had a cabin all set so walked right into the room and dropped off my stuff. I got there at 1120 so had a shower and was all situated in time for the lunch shuttle at 1230...a pizza buffet which was excellent. Not really but it hit the spot :).  Uncle Johnny's Hostel is just a great place...my favorite so far on this trip. Grym, the very cool dude that runs the place is just a great guy and a huge friend to the thru-hiker. Everyone was welcome and he just made it great. After lunch I did laundry and we had a few beverages hanging out until the dinner shuttle at 6pm which took us to a KFC buffet. Yes we destroyed some chicken then headed back for a campfire. Just a great day and evening. 25 Apr, Day 38, 0 miles. Our first unscheduled zero. So we had all good intentions of heading out this morning but we awoke to a huge thunderstorm. We were sitting in the porch trying to decide what to do when Damn Yankee added some rum to my coffee at about 0815am. :). The rain was not letting up, my equipment was thawed and dry and my choice was walk in the rain or enjoy my rum coffee. Those with Facebook already know how this mystery turned out. :) To be fair the forecast was for rain all day so it was a surprise when it cleared up around 1100. But we were already committed to our zero so we stayed put. So another really great day with Grym at Uncle Johnny's. 26 Apr, Day 39, 12.1 miles, Deep Gap at AT mm 354.1. As much as we liked the Hostel, it was time to get back on the trail. We had thunderstorms again today but we used that excuse already so off we went. It felt great to be back out again. It was overcast and stormy all day although we only got rained on for a few minutes. There was no visibility as we walked over "beauty spot" on our way to the campsite but for me it seemed like a very quick 12 miles.  We were going to stay at Beauty Spot Campsite but we walked by it in the fog and mist. We did not realize we were at Deep Gap until we woke up. So we did 12 instead of 11 so one less mile to go. :).  I did weigh my pack again this morning before i left and it came in at 55 pounds...that's with water and 4 days worth if food. Thats heavy compared to everyone else but I'm used to it now. I use everything I have so I guess this will be my "leaving town" weight until I get rid of my winter gear...so be it. The boys packs came in at 16 and 14 pounds so that is a very good "leaving town" weight for them. The weather is suppose to get better tomorrow so back to our planned 14 mile days. 27 Apr, Day 40, 14.1 miles, Clyde Smith Shelter at AT mm 368.2. Had a huge rain storm last night but the tent worked great so nice and dry this morning. Woke to a very nice morning so even the tent was dry when I packed it up. The walk was pretty good but I felt pretty tired so it was a mildly tough day.  Seems like everyone else felt the same as well so it may just be the second day out of town blues...or it could be that I slept on a giant root and did not get the best night sleep ever. For my UK friends, i climbed over a ridge-line today named "Little Bald Knob"...Yes, i know. If Vicki were here she probably would have just giggled until we got passed it. Anyway, thought i'd share that. :) The plan today was to stay at a campsite a mile short of the shelter but when we got there the water source was dried up so we came to the shelter. Tomorrow the plan is to go 14.5 miles to a shelter made out of an old barn which is suppose to be pretty cool. First we must go up and over Roan Mountain which is the last time we will be above 6000 feet until we get to Mt Washington so a pretty big climbing day tomorrow...it's 8:30 and I'm in bed already. :) The fact that I am now going onto week three with virtually no cell service, you will be able to find out straight away wether I made it or not...continue reading below.... 28 Apr, Day 41, 14.5 Over Mountain Shelter at AT mm 382.7. I made it!  It was a LOT of work but we made it. Using very rough guesstimate from my map, I think we climbed approx 4500-4700 vertical feet and probably went down 3300-3500 feet. Not much of a view from the top of Roan Mt but the highest shelter on the trail is there so stopped for an extended lunch break. When we were walking down the mountain we crossed a road junction where we met a very nice lady handing out a bit of trail magic...sodas and chips, so had to stop for another break. :) We did not realize it was Saturday, and this junction was obviously a very popular place to park to get on the trail as it was pretty crowded. The trail continued up over a few Balds which was a very cool hike, but lots of day hikers...everyone one of them wanting to know whats the names of the dogs, how much do they carry, where did you start, how far you going, etc. it is very nice but when you are climbing yet another hill it tends to break your rhythm.:) We wanted to stay at this particular shelter as it is just an old barn.G It was very cool and had a great view looking down the valley, but we arrived to find it crowded with a boy-scout troop and seven scout leaders...so we set up our tents as usual. They were all very nice so we had dinner with them and Atlas broke out his guitar around the campfire which they all seemed to like.  Another early night which seems to be the norm, but its amazing how welcoming a sleeping bag and air mattress are after a day like today. :) 29 Apr, Day 42, 15.2 miles, Elk River Camp Site at AT mm 397.9. A new high mileage mark for today...first time over 15 miles so making up for some of those unscheduled stops and zero days. Based on my itinerary I think I am currently 6 days behind. Again, the itinerary is merely a starting point from which to deviate, but I do not want to get too far behind. We also have crossed out of NC for the last time and are now in TN until we hit Virginia in a week or so. For those that did not know, we have basically been walking along the TN/NC border since the smokeys so we were never really sure what state we were camping in. At one shelter the water was in NC and the privy, 40 yards away, was in TN. Im not making any jokes about TN, just stating a few "shelter facts"...but i would not be surprised if the folks who designed and maintain that shelter are from NC. :) Any-who, the start of today had us go over two mountains named little hump and hump mountain...both Balds again so great views. I'm not sure why but it just seems easier walking across a "field" on top of a mountain...someone do a study. We then had 5 miles down into Roan Mountain. I had a food drop at a very nice little hostel just off the trail but last night we decided to press on so I popped in to get my food drop. Well some of the faster guys were there and decided to stay the night. We had done 9.2 miles by then so it was tempting but there was no wi-fi and yet again, no AT&T service with the iPhone  (which is very frustrating), plus I had the 15 mile goal in my head so myself, Atlas, Cheeks, Hobo Joe and Ragweed pushed on. It was a hot, heavy climb out of town so 40 minutes into it I was reconsidering my decision. :) But we made it and are camped out next to a nice little river/stream so we are glad of our decision. We may try to do a 21 mile day to Hampton just to make everyone else have to do a 27 mile day, but we're not sure we can make it that far. It depends on the terrain, which is getting better, so we shall see. 30 Apr, Day 43, 0 miles, still at Elk River Camp Site at AT mm 397.9. So i had an Unscheduled zero day which was a bit of a bummer. We notice that Mojo had a small limp yesterday when we got into camp. When we woke up this morning he did not want to move. He obviously had a problem with his front left leg. I checked it out but did not find anything obvious. I was worried he might of sprained it so I decided he needed a day to rest. It was a beautiful sunny day and I was in an excellent spot so could not have asked for a better location for this to happen...besides the obvious in town, with a car, near a vet. :) so Atlas and Cheeks headed off and I got busy sitting around. In case you are wondering, there really is not a lot to do on the AT if you are not walking. Thanks to the location by this "river", I was able to take a couple swims and bathed the dogs. I also went through and cleaned up my contacts in my iPhone, learned how to adjust my pack, sorted out my food and equipment and read the pet first aid book I have...so a fairly productive day. There were approximately 20 hikers that walked by throughout the day so i chatted with them as well. I knew most of them so they were all concerned about Mojo. One guy used to raise sled dogs so he had a look and found a cut between his toes that I did not see. So I have kept that clean and covered with neosporan. Mojo has not moved much at all today but has seemed happy with the rest. He is walking better this evening so I am hopeful for tomorrow. At around 3:30pm Trucker, WalknEats, Hobo Joe, Ragweed, Star, and 30 Pack all came walking up, so they all hung out for awhile.  Some of them were going to head on while others immediately set up camp as they liked the location so much. Then the thunderstorms hit so everyone set up their tents pretty quickly :) So the day actually went by quicker that I thought and then the guys arrived so it's been a good evening. I have my fingers crossed for tomorrow as two zero days here my be a bit much. I won't force Mojo, but if it is just the cut, I will put on one of his booties and see how he does. It's nearly 19 miles to the next town so have to get there somehow. 1 May, Day 44, 18.4 miles, Creekside Chalet via Dennis Cove at AT mm 416.3. Well we began the new month with an excellent start. We broke the 400 mile marker and had our first 18+ and longest mile day so far...whoop whoop! Frankly it was a surprise as I was concerned about Mojo. But he woke me up around 6:30am full of beans and ready to go. I did put some more stuff on his cut and put a bootie on his foot before he left the tent, But he virtually jumped out if the tent. So I packed up and we were on the trail by 8:30. I figured we would just play it by ear and see how far we could get before his foot bothered him. Well we made it to a shelter 12+ miles away by 2:30 and I was considering stopping. I had been fighting my pack all day so was ready to stop even though we were only 6 miles from Hampton TN. I debated for a few minutes and decided that by now, 2:30 is just too early to stop, so I put on my big boy pants and off we went. We made the last 6 miles in 2hours and 20 minutes. I had a food drop here in Hampton, but didn't realize the "hostel" was 22 miles from the trail...the hiker guide failed to mention that. Fortunately the very nice owner came and picked me up and brought me to this Really Nice "cabin". I will put photos on Facebook when I have service so you can see how nice this place is. It's more a couple weekend retreat than a hiker crash pad, so I am living large tonight. :) the rest of the wolf pack is at a really nice hiker hostel next to the trail, so I will meet up with them tomorrow. We may take a zero to allow a few others to catch up.