Friday, June 10th
Uncle Johnny’s (344.2 mi) to Cherry Gap Shelter (361.4 mi)
Hiking Miles: 17.2
Total Ascent: 5,127 ft
Total Descent: 2,820.5 ft
Total Grade: 463.9 ft/mi
Steps: 42,686
We woke up early and had a Dunkin Cold coffee along with a protein bar for breakfast. Chloe (Cricket) was sitting at a picnic table having breakfast and also studying for an online course she was taking. It was pretty cool actually that she was taking a course for an advanced degree while attempting to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail. I also sat across from an older lady hiker who was clearly in a negative state of mind. She was cursing to herself that everything was going wrong, including the fact that it may rain today, and her pack was so heavy, etc.
After I quickly ate, I walked back to our cabin and organized some laundry to do before we headed back on trail. After I turned on the machine (the wash room was located in the back of the utility building where the restrooms were housed), Drew came in and was a bit upset. He said no one was supposed to do laundry until after 1 pm (because the morning was his time to use it). After I apologized (I really was not aware that was a rule), he said I was fine, then he proceeded to put up a sign so others would know. He was actually having a rather tough morning. He had been involved with a heated argument with a hiker who cowboy tented (in his quilt) on Drew’s lawn after showing up late in the evening. And when Drew asked him for the $15 fee, the hiker said it wasn’t worth any more than $10.
As I was enjoying a coffee on the grounds, South Park rolled in and they were going to ride bikes provided by the hostel into Erwin to do a resupply because they had missed the 9 am shuttle. Seven hikers who stayed at Uncle Johnny’s decided they would do the slack pack option (driven out to a point 20 miles north, then hike south back to the hostel for another stay). Stevie and I decided just to push on with our fully loaded packs and reach a shelter for the evening.
We headed back on trail at 9:30 am; we had planned a 17 mile day to the Cherry Gap Shelter. It was a hard day of hiking for me due mostly to the running I did yesterday. On the way, we met up with a young hiker (late teens, maybe 20?) named “Buzz” and Stevie hiked with him a bit off and on while I fell back.
I caught up with Stevie at the top of Beauty Spot, a steep climb with breathtaking fews. At the top, there was a couple (trail angels) and their dog (who looked just like my daughter Tarryn’s dog Jett) sitting there offering homemade brownies and cold bottles of water to hikers. What a pleasant surprise. Their names were Bob and Debbie (forgot the dog’s name, which I usually would remember easier than the humans). Bob also had offered us beer but we both thought it wise to pass on that this early in the day.
At the shelter, we met up again with Buzz (real name was Carson Martel). We found out that he was hiking the trail to get his act together and recalibrate his relationship issues. He had a few stories, really nothing to write home about, but they were big deals to him. His biggest dilemma for the evening was trying to make contact with his on-again off-again girlfriend named Stella Hercules, but there was no signal at the sight.
I did find a little signal about a half-mile back and had a short call with Teresa. Then after dinner, we planned our next day and decided to hike to the Roan Mountain shelter (17 miles away) which happened to be the highest elevation for a shelter on the entire AT, then called it a night.