april 9 - hemlock hollow work for stay

We were supposed to catch up to jetpack/detour on april 9. We were supposed to meet him by a certain shelter at the end of the day. But we got sidetracked. 5 miles in to our day there was a road that led .7 miles to a hostle and shop. We left out packs and walked to the hostel. We got some snacks and were going to head back to the trail but dumptruck found out they have work for stay there. Four hours of work and we can stay for free. We were all very relaxed there so we all stayed and figured itd be fun to stay for free. We started off just moving firewood. I got to drive the work atv around the property. So it was alot of fun. Then marc, the manager of the hostel and son of the owner, told us he was heading to town, and we can ride along to pick up beer or whatever. So i went with him, my first hour and a half of work i was out on a beer run. His pickup truck broke down just as we got to a metal scrap collector, the first errand. He called his mother to come pick us uup. She showed up 10 minutes later, and drove us back to hostel. We stopped for beer on the way. And i found blue moon in cans. Its good to know that exists. Its easier to bring cans on the trail than bottles. When we got back to the hostel the wood was almost done. So we pulled hay off the garden and spread lime around. Then we hung out by our cabin for another hour or so and had some beer before marc asked us to help him build a stone wall by the river running through the property. He wants to fill that area with sand, and make a small beach for people to chill on. That took us 20 minutes and then he told us we were done. I had been asking him earilier about fishing in the river, so he gave me a rod and some bait. I fished for about an hour, and the fish just kept eating the bait off the hook. I was hoping to catch fish for dinner for everyone, but instead we went to the cafe in the shop and got burgers and sanwiches. After that, dumtruck made a huge bonfire next to the cabin in the firepit. Marc had us bring the bark and firewood scraps there, so there was plenty to burn. Marc and a few of his friends joined us, and a few other hikers did too. A little earlier, during dinner, a hiker told us he had seen many hikers sick in shelters, throwing up with diarhea. Seems there a virus going around between hot springs and erwin. Were going to have to avoid shelters for a bit. We all hung out until around 11. Then wennt inside to sleep.

april 8 - hiking with new crew

April 8 we finally got back to the trail. We hiked at a relaxed pace, which helped keep the strain off my knee, which started hurting again. It was a 10 mile day but passed pretty quickly. We stopped a few times, usually for a while. These guys stop very often and just chill. Theres very little pressure to push long days with high mileage. At first the pace was kind of annoying, id keep stopping to wait for the group. Bbut after a while i decided ill just go ahead and well regroup at the end of the day. We stopped for lunch at a pond and stayed there for almost an hour. I really wasnt used to that long of a break. But i can get used to the relaxedness of it all. I got ahead of them after lunch and ended up hiking with a guy named big yankee. Hes hiking with a bigger group of guys, who kind of view themselves and barbarians. And view the trail as something they are doing as an adventure in which they go from town to town, drinking and pillaging. They dont actually pillage, but its a fun thought. He told me that him and his group may be aquabblazinng part of virginia. Aquablazing is doing the trail by river. Theres a river in virginia that runs parallel to the trail. So they may rent canoes, and paddle 50 or 60 miles north. And hang out in canoes for 5 days and pull over for meals and camping. He said i can join if were in the same place at that time. It sounds like alot of fun, ive been trying to talk dumptruck into getting the group to do it. Our total mileage was only about 10 miles and we camped out near a shelter. There was a campfire going on by the shelter so i hung out there for a while. Back at the tents, clever girl read a jesus pamphlet she found on the fire tower we stopped at earlier in the day. She put her owns spin on it, it was very funny. April 8 is my fathers birthday. Happy birthhday to him.

april 7 - hot tub

April 7 wasnt as eventful in the beginning of the day. I hung out a while at the hostel, then went down to town and hung out at the outfitters for a while. I had to check out all the things i could buy to lighten my pack, which is what i do at every outfitter, but i usually dont buy anything. Motorcycles were filling up the town now. A worker at the outfitter saidthat alot of bikes come through because they like driving the windy roads around hotsprings. There were at least 30 across the street from the outfitter. I went back to the hostel after a while. Detour was heading out to get a few miles hiked. The rest of us planned to split the cost of a hot tub later in the day, then camp nearby. We hung out a while longer at the hostel. Then i made some food while the rest of them headed down to the diner to get food before we go to the hot springs. I packed up all my stujff and met them at the diner as they were finishing up. We walked from there, across town to the hot springs spa. Which is a building that has many hot tubs in wooden stalls behind it. When we got there we were taken out back and led to our hot tub. We chilled in there for an hour, then walked along the river until we found a campsite big enough for all of us. The guy collected wwood for a fire. And as soon as the sun went down we had a good sized fire going. We stayed up till about 11. Then fell asleep on the warmest night weve had so far.

april 6 - hot springs and dump trucks bday

The morning of april 6 was very nice. The sun came out right away, it was chilly but not too bad, and best of all, we were going less than 4 miles to hot springs,nc. I ate a quick breakfast and packed up my stuff, eager to get to town. I was disappointed to find out very quickly that my knee hadnt gotten any better than the day before. The 3.2 miles to hot springs was much more difficult than it was supposed to be because of it. Still less than 2 hours later we got off the trail and checked into the laughing heart hostel where we were supposed to meet dump truck, clever girl, apollo, hot dog, and whistle. We were splitting a room there and celebrating dump trucks birthday that night. I took a much needed shower, then me and mcjetpack walked down to town to the laundromat. We hung out in town while we waited for it to finish. Got some food and checked out the out fitter. Even sat on the side of the road an watched as more and more motorcycles slowly filled the main street of town. I resupplied food before walking back up the hill to the hostel. My knee was still hurting. At the hostel we all sat outside and enjoyed the beautiful, warm sunny weather. It finally felt like spring. Its crazy that two days before that i was in an ice storm, and less than a week before in a snowstorm. But i wasnt complaining, it was about time we had some warm weather. Later that day, whistle and clever girl made a bday cake for dump truck shaped like a dumptruck. We were alll chilling in the den, which was a room with a fireplace and couches. They needed a candle for the cake, so i gave them some sparklers that were in the hiker box. They turned out to be more like fountains than sparklers, and shot fireworks out a few inches. So a terrified clever carried the cake in before dump truck took it outside and tried to blow em out. Clever girl gave him a sympathhy card that read "im sorry for your loss" that everyone had signed. It was cool, it was fun, a good night to end a good day.

april 5 - the sun comes out

April 5 i woke up after a very cold damp sleep. The sky was cloudy, and i wasnt sure if it was raining, or if water was dripping off the trees. I ate a quick breakfast of pop tarts and quickly got on the trail. My clothes were still wet from the day before and i was very cold not moving. We stopped at a shelter for lunch about 3 hours into hiking. Chunks of ice were now falling off the trees as it started to melt. It was still cloudy and very foggy. We had a long lunch and rested before continuing hiking. We came across a few people doing trail maintenance. Like cutting plants and chopping up the soil on the trail to keep a recognizable path there. They told us that it was supposed to clear up later in the day. We were very happy to find out they were right. First the sun would peek through the clouds for s few seconds before disappearing again. But after a half hour of in and out, the sun gradually came out and stayed out for the rest of the day. The temperature went up as the day went on and the elevation decreased. I was able to hike in tshirt and shorts by the end of the day. The day started bad but turned out to be beautiful. It was warm, sunny, and a gradual downhill all the way to the shelter. We were debating going all the way to hot springs, but ended up staying at a shelter less than 4 miles away from town. My knee began hurting very badlly towards the end of the day. I was hoping that sleep would help.

april 4 - ice storm

We got back to the trail on april 4. It was raining in the morning so i wasnt in the mood to hike. After a big breakfast and a feww cups of coffee i was feeling great. When we got to the trail i had a ccrazy amount of energy. The first 7 miles flew by. It was a 15 mile day total though, and the weather on the mountain was worse than just rain. It was sleet, and freezing rain. All the trees and plants had a layer of ice on them. The higher elevations had thicker layers of ice. And the trees branches were all bent over from the heavy ice on them. The wind was blowing through the trees too. And many branches were breaking and falling when they became unable to support the weigtht along with the wind. One very large branch broke above me, and embedded itself into the ground while standing straight up. It fell into the ground about 6 feet away from me. After that, whenever i heard a branch cracking id stop and look up. Afraid to be under one when it fell. There ws one particularly scary stretch of the day, and it didnt involve trees at all. It was while going over a mountain called max patch. Known for its beautiful views and starry night, we saw nothing but grey. The fog and sleet so thick we couldnhardly see the next trail markers, signposts placed every so often, with a white blaze on it. The wind on max patch was so strong and so cold, and we were soaking wet. there was a thick layer of ice on the ground and grasses that cover the top of max patch. I though i was going to get frostbite on my face or fingertips. My hands were mostly numb. It was scaryy, and amazing, at the same time. When we got to the shelter it was full. So we looked for a safe spots to pitch our tents. I put mine under a pine tree, in the hopes that it woujld catch or sloow down a branch that fell from one of the taller trees. Shortly after my tent was set up, a branch fell down and nearly hit another hikers tent. I cooked dinner and quickly got into my sleeping bag.

april 3 - standing bear hostel

April 3 was a good day, it was the day we crossed the border line of the smokies and we arrived at standing bear farm, a hostel. We woke up early because we wanted to get to standing bear very early, then enjoy the entire rest of the day off. It was only 4 miles to standing bear, so we left at about 8am. It was a pretty easy and nice hike to standing bear. Started downhill, we crossed over davenport gap then walkecd along a stream, then steep downhill past the stream and water falls. then we crossed a brisge over a river, then under a highway overpass. A few more hills and we made it to standing bear. Right before standing bear we found dump truck and clever girl and a few others packing up their campsite before heading to standing bear. Dump truck invited us to stay at the cabin hes renting in hot springs on saturday night. Saturday is also his bday. When we got to standing bear the first thing i did was find the resupply shop. The shop at standing bear is more of a hiker pantry than a shop. You keep tabs of everything you take, then leave the envelope full of cash in a wooden box in the shop. Its all based on an honor system, which hikers generally obey. In the first 1.5 hours of me being at standing bear, i ate about 3000 calories. I just kept going back to the shop to get more food. Another box of mac n cheese, a frozen pizza, sardines even. Despite that, it was still a productive day. I led mcjetpack through a 1 hour stretching session, and i cleaned some excess weight from my pack, some stuff i threw out, some i put in the hiker box, and some i sent home.