Erwin, Tenn.

I made it to Erwin, 340 miles up the Appalachian Trail, yesterday afternoon, and promptly ate all the food I could get my hands on.

If you’ll recall, last week I was in Hot Springs, and I wound up staying there several days longer than I had anticipated, in order to catch up on work. Thus I left there Monday morning, crossing the French Broad River immediately.

The Trail follows the riverbank for a good half mile before starting up toward Lovers Leap Rock. Unfortunately the morning fog over the river blocked any views.

The only good views this day were of Mill Ridge, a former tobacco field now owned by the U.S. Forest Service.

The Trail then crossed U.S. 25/70 again at Tanyard Gap, and after that I started noticing grave markers.

I made 11 miles Monday to Spring Mountain shelter, where a hiker mounted an electrical outlet (which, of course, does not work).

Tuesday I crossed Allen Gap and went only 5.3 miles on the Trail, then 0.7 miles down a road to the Hemlock Hollow campground and hostel, where the soda was cold and the rooms quiet and peaceful. Even though it meant losing some time, I was glad to take a bit of time off here.

Wednesday I left the hostel and near Whiterock Cliff ran across a hiker’s idea of humor. First I saw this handmade sign, reading “Speed Limit 10 mph,” and as soon as I rounded the next corner, the trail turned rocky, and 2 mph seemed like a pipe dream.

This afternoon I climbed up to Big Firescald Knob (4,360 feet) over the ridgeline, which was over a mile of continuous rock scrambling up and down, including a couple of brief vertical ascents and descents. That night I made 10.1 miles to Jerry Cabin shelter. I was planning to go farther, but after all that rock climbing my legs were too sore.

Thursday I realized that I was running low on food, which is rather unusual since I usually bring too much food rather than too little, so I decided to step up the pace and get to town as quickly as possible. The morning started with a climb over Coldspring Mountain where there’s a nice meadow, followed by Big Butt at 4,838 feet.

Along the way I saw more memorial markers, including the famous Shelton Graves.

That afternoon I climbed up Frozen Knob (aka Lick Rock) at 4,579 feet. I made 14.8 miles this day to Hogback Ridge shelter. In a couple of places here, steps were built over existing barbed wire fences to allow hikers to pass over while keeping out animals. Though I still can’t figure out how animals can’t just use the steps to cross over.

Friday morning started with a brief climb to High Rock at 4,460 feet, then down to Sams Gap to cross I-26.

From there it was straight up to Big Bald at 5,516 feet. The views are absolutely spectacular from the top.

Immediately after Big Bald is Big Stamp, at 5,298 feet. It’s several hundred yards long, and has a few trees which obscure just how long it actually is.

That evening I pitched the tent and camped out at Whistling Gap, having done 13.5 miles.

Saturday I was down to a couple of energy bars and so I left camp around 8 am and decided to get into town as fast as I possibly could. Though the day started with a nice climb out of the gap to High Rocks at 4,280 feet, from there it was mostly all downhill into Erwin. Of note, there were a couple of miles where it looked as if there was a recent forest fire; I could still smell the charred wood. Some of the pictures didn’t come out because it was dark and raining on and off that morning.

I made 13.5 miles and got into town around 2:30 pm yesterday. Then I promptly went straight to Sonic and ordered the largest double cheeseburger I could find on the menu. I got checked into a hotel and also managed to get some laundry done.

Today I’m relaxing my legs and I’ll hit the trail again tomorrow. I’ll be pushing fairly hard since I need to make it to Damascus, Va. by next Saturday at the latest, in order to get back to New Hampshire for PorcFest. Along the way I plan to get some video at Roan High Knob, time permitting. I probably won’t have another update posted until I reach Damascus, because Internet options are fairly limited between here and there, and because I’ll need to be moving fast and won’t have much time to stop.

That’s all for now; I’m hungry again and need to go forage for food…