Spring is Here!! Well, officially in someone's calendar, somewhere, anyway. Today, March 21, Chip and I left the Nolichucky outfitters early and hiked for 11 miles. We camped at Beauty Spot Gap. It was cold. It was hard hiking. It was mostly uphill. There was snow at least up to our ankles the whole way, and sometimes as high as our calves. We finally found a place to camp where we put our tent literally on a road lane because there wasn't another place where we could pack down the snow enough. Chip's feet became wet and cold early in the day and it was a hard day of hiking. He was also carrying about 60 pounds of gear and food, so that was difficult on his knees. When we set up the tent we both got into one sleeping bag, each of us wearing every piece of clothing that we had along, for about thirty minutes to try to get warmer. Eventually we were warm enough to sleep a little bit.
On the 22nd we packed up the tent from Beauty Spot Gap and started walking in the snow to try to warm up. We reached Iron Mountain Gap at about 4:00 and as we stood at the road debating if we should hitch hike to get a warm room or if we should hike another five and a half miles to the next hostel a car pulled over and asked if we wanted a ride. We gratefully climbed in. We were dropped off at Greasy Creek Friendly. This is a hostel run out of a woman's home. There were seven hikers here tonight and only three actual beds, so we made do. We were all so grateful to have heat that it was o.k. However, the hostel is owned by and run by a woman with a severe case of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. So that was incredibly stressful, to put it mildly.
When we woke up on the 23rd, a Saturday, I discovered that the box of mail with all of my next food in it had not arrived. It was also forecast to continue snowing and the temperatures were very very cold. I mean, in the teens or single digits. Chip and I decided to stay one day and wait for the mail and wait for the weather to clear. Another hiker, Summer, also decided to stay because of a foot injury.
When we woke up on Sunday we knew it would not be safe to hike out in the weather. We had been awakened by a pouring deluge of rain at 2:45 AM and it did not stop until after noon The three of us also agreed that we did not wish to continue staying in this woman's house as she was becoming increasingly aggravated and inappropriate. Chip masterfully distracted her and protected Summer and I from her lectures, intrusions and agitation. I am grateful to him for being there. Summer called a trail angel in a nearby town and asked if she could come and pick us up. She agreed, but only if we could not tell the owner of this hostel that she was the one picking us up, and only if we walked about a mile and a half down the road so the owner would not see her picking us up. We chose to leave the home around 9 AM in the pouring rain and wait outside for three hours for the ride. The owner told us in no uncertain terms how upset she was with us as we left. It was very uncomfortable.
Summer and Chip waiting for our ride in the cold and rain in downtown Beula Dean.
The trail angel, Ms. Janet, picked us up around noon, ran some errands while we waited in the car, took us to Golden Corral for lunch, and invited us to sleep at her house in Erwin, TN, which we gratefully accepted. Summer and Chip cooked a delicious dinner and I did the dishes. Summer mentioned to me that for the first time in her hike she felt homeless, she was depending on the kindness of strangers, felt unsafe where she woke up, and did not know where she would be sleeping at night.
The next day, Monday, we took care of some business in town while we watched the storm rage through the mountains surrounding town. I had applied to a job while I waited for Chip's bus in Johnson City the previous Monday. The job posting advertised a job in Elkhart, IN that stopped taking applications on April 15; I had assumed that meant that no one would read my application until after April 15 so I submitted the application. When we arrived at Ms. Janet's I received notice that I could complete the next electronic step in the application process. Which I did.
Ms. Janet helped Chip to go through his pack, a four hour long painstaking process, and determine what things he did not need to continue to carry. He took out 12 pounds from his pack! Congratulations to them both. Chip made us dinner and Summer made a cake that was to die for, it alone was worth staying in from hiking. Summer, Chip and I again slept at Ms. Janet's house.
Ms. Janet eating Summer's amazing cake.
On Tuesday we decided to brave the weather and go hiking again. We had already taken three zero days in a row and we were anxious to start hiking again. Ms. Janet drove me, Chip and Summer to Carver's Gap. When we arrived and put on our packs we decided that it was still just too dangerous to go out, so we got back in the car and Ms. Janet took us to Mountain Harbor Inn, another hiker hostel, where we could stay for the night. The owners of Mountain Harbor told us that they had been running the place for ten years and had never seen this much snow. The hostel slept seven people, but there were ten of us there so we made do. Chip kept the wood fire going all night and we were all grateful for the warmth.
Me, Chip and Summer sporting our ties at Carver's Gap. This picture was taken in the three minutes before we decided it was too scary to hike today.
Carver's Gap
The only picture of all four of us. Summer, Ms. Janet, Chip and me.
On Wednesday morning the 27th we ate an amazing breakfast at the hostel and then we were dropped off at Hugh's Gap to hike to the next shelter. Less than a mile into the hike Summer was far ahead of me and Chip. The snow was, again and still, up to our knees in most places. We were trying to cross Roan Mountain which is over 6,200 feet in elevation. Just for comparison the highest point on the trail is 6,643 feet elevation. Goshen, Indiana is at 801 feet elevation. In the second mile Chip and I broke up. It was loud and painful. But then we realized that at least for today we had to stick together and get off the mountain safely, so we hiked together to the first road, Carver's Gap. We talked about hiking on to the next shelter, as we had planned that morning, but I could not get my fingers warm. Every ten minutes or so I would take off my gloves and Chip would warm my fingers in his hands until I could move them again, then we'd hike another ten minutes. It was scary and the idea of sleeping out here was not a fun idea. So we hitchhiked together back to the hostel we had left that morning so we could get warm.
Breakfast at Mountain Harbor. Chapin Lara in the green hat, Chip behind him, Summer at the end of the table, other guests on the right.
Chip, hiking. Sporting his pink ribbon and his tie.
Views today. It was phenomenally gorgeous.
Carver's Gap. Still cold, but not as windy.
When we arrived at the hostel one of the ten hikers from the night before was already there. He had left ahead of us this morning, but when he got five miles into his hike he found out that his water bladder in his pack had burst and dripped slowly into his pack down his back. This not only caused every piece of equipment in his pack to be wet (his tent, sleeping bag, extra clothing) but also created a sheet of ice on his back and legs as it dripped onto his body. It also meant that he could not carry water, an essential part of hiking. He had hitchhiked back to the hostel to dry off, dry his gear, and get warm. We were all relieved that he was safe. However, we received a phone call from some of the hikers he had left with saying that they were at the shelter and Summer had not arrived. This seemed dangerous because we knew she was a strong hiker, but we also knew that she was hiking alone. There was nothing that we could do except wait and hope that she was o.k. in the snow.
On Thursday morning I returned a voice call to the job and they asked me for an interview on the following Thursday. I explained that I was out of state and asked if they could wait one more week. I was informed that if I chose to postpone the interview the job would most likely be filled before I could complete the interview. I told them I would come to the interview in one weeks' time. Chip decided that he would hitchhike out that day and go to Springer Mountain and start his own thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail. I wished him luck, we said goodbye, and he left shortly after breakfast. I am sad. I called my parents and they promised to drive the 10 hours to TN the next day to pick me up.
Mid-morning Summer returned to the hostel. She reported that yesterday she had hiked as far as the shelter where all of the other hikers were staying, but it was nearing dark and she could not find the actual shelter. She decided to try to set up her tent, but there was too much snow and she could not find a place where her tent would not blow over. It got dark and the wind picked up. She tried to call the hikers at the shelter, but got no answer. She blew her emergency whistle, but no one heard it. Finally she retraced the trail over two miles to the previous shelter. There was one other section hiker there and she slept there. Needless to say she was badly frightened and frustrated. This morning she thought that she would continue north as planned and catch up with the other hikers, after all, she was only two miles behind them. However she could not put on her boots. It was so cold that they were completely frozen. She couldn't even break the ice in them to force them onto her feet. Finally she put on her crocks and hiked four miles back over trail she had already covered so that she could go to the closest road. The snow was covering her feet with every step, and some places it was as high as her knees. Somehow she got to the road in her crocks and got a ride back to the hostel. She wisely ended up calling home and arranging a ride from here also. Winter camping is hard. Summer competed in and won an iron man competition back in November, she is the strongest person I have seen out here, this trail is just hard.
Me and Summer. The bed and breakfast is behind us and the hostel is the grey building on the right.
On Friday night Mom and Dad came in and we left early on Saturday morning to drive to Indiana in time to celebrate Easter the next day with friends and family. And that is a story of one week of my life. Thank you for reading.
