Elk Park to Erwin
Tennessee and North Carolina
Journal 27 September 2004
Another trip on the AT! I rose at 4:30 and was on the road by 0455.
This made for a good time to hit Cincinnati and Lexington. No traffic
backups at all.
I began to listen to the weather in southern Ky. Hurricane Jeanne had
battered the coast of Florida on Sunday (yesterday) and by all reports
it and I were going to rendezvous on the NC-TN boarder later on Monday.
In fact, we did meet about 3 PM an hour after I began my hike. The wind
picked up like gangbusters and the rain was pelting and horizontal.
But, I am getting ahead of myself.
I arrived in Erwin, TN and the home of Miss Janet at 1230. There were
two southbounders at her hostel - names were Oatmeal Stout and Dances
with Moose - gal and guy.
She dropped them off at the bridge over the river in Erwin, and then
took me to the crossing point of the trail in Elk Park on 19E. I
started at 1415.
The trail was nicely graded for 3 miles to Doll Flats, where it began a
traverse across a meadow. That is when I met tropical storm Jeanne.
At first, she was just a cuddly little kitten, with some sprinkles and
some wind. I even put my RedLedge rain jacket on... more to see how it
worked, than because I needed it.
The trip up Hump Mt and back was a challenge, with lots of wind and
completely immersed in fog. I will have to take a look at the map of
this part of the trail, because it felt like I was walking out a ridge
and then back the other side of the ridge line.
When I got to the top of the ridge, I had to cross a fence style. This
is common if cattle or horses are grazed on the bald. However,
somewhere on that long windy walk, I looked up and about 30 feet off
the trail, protected by a little rock formation were several long-horn
cattle. I was hoping that none of them were bulls, because I was
wearing a red raincoat.
Then it was into the woods for a little break from the wind, but then
back out again for little Hump Mt. Wind was still there, but rain had
now started in earnest. I had forgotten to put my gaiters on when I
changed into my Sealskinz waterproof socks, and within minutes water
was running down my legs into the waterproof socks.
When I saw a little red barn in the distance, I knew it must be the
Overmountain Shelter. This shelter is a bit famous as a great shelter
and I knew a bad storm was brewing. It felt good to reach it, despite
it already being occupied by a group of 10 private school students and
two other hikers too. I set my hammock up in the passageway under the
barn in the wind and cooked my supper. I hardly said a word to anyone
in the gathering dusk. Instead, I hopped in bed about 2030 and fell
right to sleep. No writing, no reading, just sleep.
Journal 28 September 2004
I slept through the night with wind
pounding the barn. I stayed dry,
though there were several places in my basement that did not.
Listening to the couple's tarp, which they placed over an opening was
entertaining for a while. It was also strangely soothing to play for a
few minutes with my NA flute just before going to bed. Almost an hour
later, someone upstairs answered with a recorder, I think.
The rain and the wind continued most of the night. For a while, the
wind decreased and I was able to sleep soundly for a number of hours.
Originally, I tried to dry my socks by sticking them out the bottom of
my sleeping bag, but quickly I got cold, despite my using the travel
pod. Once I took them off and brought my feet back in, I warmed up
quickly. I was even able to dry out the liner socks as the night went
on.
Morning brought more rain, but the weatherman's guess for clearing
skies by noon got me along the way.
The Stan Murray shelter was only 1.7 mi up the trail, but it took a
full hour to climb the hill to it. There was a little rain, and the
wind began to pick up in the tops of the trees.
I kept working on the right combination to use with my boots. It had
become obvious that the Sealskinz were not really waterproof, just
water resistant. I kept at it, wondering how my prune wet feet would do
with blisters.
Between the Murry shelter and Carver's gap, is only 3.3 miles, but
there were times this afternoon that I thought it could be the last
thing I would see. Completely exposed, and above 6000 ft, it was a
mess. The wind was pushing me so hard that I could not stay on a track.
I had to lean hard into the wind. And the wind was full of stinging
rain pellets - maybe ice at times - I was wearing my rain coat with a
tee under it and my kilt, covered by a rain skirt. That skirt was
cracking in the wind like a battleship flag!
I never have felt quite so thankful as I was on entering the pine
forest on the slope down to Carver's gap. Sure, the air was still full
of fog and rain, but the wind died down an amazing amount.
From Carvers Gap to Roan High Knob shelter was a short hour and a half,
mainly because the trail was well maintained. I had lunch there and
then pressed on for 6 more miles to Clyde Smith Shelter.
It was interesting to find the shelter. While this part of the trail is
generally well maintained, a number of hurricanes have recently come
though. At the beginning of the trail to the shelter, one of these
dead falls had nearly covered the sign telling me that the shelter was
around.
So it was, that I arrived at a dry shelter at 5 PM in the fog. I had a
good supper, put up my hammock, and have done some writing and reading.
I am alone at the shelter tonight.
Did I mention that it is still raining? Ya gotta love those weather men.
Journal 29 September 04
What a difference a day makes.
The woods dripped all night long on the shelter roof, but it did not
keep me from dreaming up a storm. I must have been exhausted.
I woke to a nice sunrise. The sky was blue. There was no wind blowing
through the trees. Amazing.
I set out not knowing how well I would do. It turned out that the wet
day had not done any damage to my feet or my resolve.
I met a couple slack packers about 10 AM, when I stopped for a rest
break and to email home my journal. Then I met a fellow doing a section
hike from down at Sam's Gap to Adkins Va. He was moving a little slow.
Then another older fellow who hit the trail yesterday in the middle of
Jeanne and promptly lost the trail in the fog.
But visitors were not done with. Next I ran across two bow hunters and
as I was standing there talking, I realized that I was standing right
under an apple tree with ripe red apples. They made a nice mid morning
snack.
A little after noon, I ran across 4 people doing work on the trail.
They have been doing a great job getting the trail back into shape
after these hurricanes and all the downed trees all over.
I ate supper at Deep Gap about 5 and then hiked until after dark. I am
now here in the middle of the woods, but within earshot of a highway.
:( But, a screech owl made his presence just a bit ago.
With all the extra hiking I did today, about 19 miles I think, Tomorrow
promises to be a short day. Maybe I can get home for the evening
activities. I will give home a call on the way home.
Journal 30 September 04
All night long I watched the moon advance across the clear sky from my
hammock in the trees. Though I did not look at my watch, it was
easy enough to see about how much time had passed between my
stirrings. The moon would advance a hand breadth in an hour or
so, and as I dreamed and then awoke, I watched the moon proceed in
jumps across the sky.
A pair of owls made music in the trees on my hill - one a barn owl, and
the other a screech owl. A couple coyotes bayed once, as the road noise
diminished to nothing when the townies going from here to there finally
went to bed.
I woke at 6 AM, pushing to get started on my final miles, wondering how
long it would take to get back to the car so I could rush back to
Dayton. I had a quick breakfast of pop tarts and washed it down with
water. The pack was quickly together, and I was on the trail by
0650. I made the Curly Maple shelter at 0820, about a half hour
before I thought I would, but it then took longer to reach the
Nolochucky than I thought it would. I reached the phone at USA
Raft at 1000 and was picked up by Miss Janet a half hour later, a mile
down the road at the Chestoah Bridge.
The trail between the camps and the bridge was much more scenic that I
had anticipated, much nicer to walk than the road I had walked last
year.
After a quick shower at Miss Janet's I hopped in the truck, ate a bite
at the MacDonalds in town, and was on the road by 1100. I reached
William's soccer game at 1915, a full quarter hour early, and then
scored the game as his team won.
This was a great trip, punctuated by some really frightening
weather. It was nice to know that I could do OK with the likes of
this heavy wind and rain. However, it pointed out to me that I
still do not have the footwear equation all straight.