I Can't See

Day: 31 (April 25)
Starting location: Erwin, TN
Ending location: Cherry Gap Shelter
Miles today: 16.6
Miles total: 356.5

This morning we crawled out of bed and hobbled into the lobby for breakfast. I find it very hard to eat breakfast most mornings but I managed to put down a glass of orange juice. Kristen had no problem putting down a bagel with cream cheese, honey bun, and a glass of milk.

After breakfast we began working on getting a ride back to the trailhead which was about 4 miles away. We were lucky enough to run into Sid and her husband that was visiting for the weekend. They said that they were going to McDonalds and would be happy to drop us off along the way. So Kristen and I climbed into the back of their pick up truck and froze all the way back to the trailhead. It was certainly better than walking.

Kristen had a mishap today. She lost her right contact lense. Fortunately, we are only a week away from Damascus, VA where we will receive our bounce box that has extra contact lenses. In the meantime, she will be wearing her glasses which she doesn't like very much because they often fog up when it rains.

BTW, our bounce box is the box that we send in advance to towns where we will be taking a zero day. Our bound box contains cotton town clothes. Cotton is truly the fabric of our lifes, but it is not the fabric of the trail. The saying on the trail is "Cotton Kills." Cotton is certainly comfortable, but provides no insulation when it gets wet and will actually pull heat away from your body. Kristen and I have no cotton on the trail and mainly wear wool and synthetic materials. The bounce box contains other critical items like gold bond, deodorant, q tips, and Jim Bean.

During our hike we ran into Dry Clean and Stud Muffin heading south down the trail. After a bit of confusion, we realized that they were slack packing through Uncle Johnny's hostel. Slack packing is when you get a ride up north of the trail and hike south to your orginal location. The advanage is that you can discard all of your gear and only carry one days of food. This is a very effective way to do higher milage days and still have the comforts of a hostel at the end of the day. Kristen and I were really jealous of them today and will definitely be taking advanage of the next slack packing opportunity.




Dry Clean taking a nap at Pizza Plus in Erwin




"Tash Here" We are in east Tennessee

Conan + Backwards