Damascus to Hot Springs

Oct. 20

On the 20th, I did a 19 mile day out of Damascus. I crossed the Virginia/Tennessee line this day, which was a pretty big milestone since Virginia was so long and harrowing. I ended up averaging about 20 miles a day through Virginia, which is a solid speed. Before I headed out of Damascus, some dude (a former thru hiker) came into the hostel I was staying at and asked me if I could help him move a woodburning stove. He said he would give me a few bucks to help, so I decided to help him out. This stove ended up being the heaviest thing I think I have ever lifted. There were 5 guys carrying this thing off of a truck bed and up a small hill to the guy's house. The thing almost feel over and could have crushed me to death on a couple of occasions, since it wasn't the easiest thing to balance. We ended up getting it into the guy's house, and he took me out to lunch afterwards. Not really sure if it was worth throwing out my back for, but the lunch was good anyway.

Oct. 21st

Along with the 20th, this was a pretty boring day in Tennessee. I followed a ridgeline up and down for most of the day, and there really weren't too many good views. Water was super scarce that day, and it was pretty warm, so it wasn't very fun staring at the clear blue water of Watauga Dam on the way down the mountain. I decended that day from 4000 feet to about 2000 to Watauga Lake Shelter. The shelter is right near Watauga Lake Dam, which was a TVA dam that forced some 700 people to leave there homes to build the thing. I did about 22 miles that day.

Oct. 22nd

On the 22nd, I took it easy and did an 11 mile day to the Kincora Hostel, run by Bob Peoples. Bob Peoples is sort of a trail legend, and has been running the Hostel for years upon years. I went past Laurel Fork Falls that day, which is a 30-40 foot high waterfall. There were a bunch of day hikers out, and one told me I would have trouble climbing out from the valley from Laurel Falls. I told him I thought I could handle it.

Oct. 23rd

I slackpacked 25 miles on the 23rd. Peoples drove me out to Elk Park/Roan Mtn where I walked north for 25 miles back to his hostel. There were some pretty decent views that day, and I remember the weather being nice and sunny.

Oct. 24th

People's drove me back to Elk Park the next day and I proceeded south again. This day I entered the Roan's. The Roans are above 5000 feet in alot of places, and there are amazing views from some of the balds, especially from Hump Mtn and Grassy Ridge. I pulled a huge 22 mile day on the 24th, starting at 3000 feet at Elk Park and heading all the way up to 6300 feet at Roan High Knob. Roan High Knob looked alot like Maine, with a very large section of coniferous forest. I stayed at Clyde Smith shelter that night.

Oct. 25th

I did a 9 mile day on the 25th because it poured for half the day and I didn't want to get out of the shelter. I stayed at Cherry Gap Shelter that night instead of pushing on because I didn't want to continue to get rained on overnight.

Oct. 26th

On the 26th, I booked it 17 miles over Unaka Mtn (which also looks like Maine) and into Erwin, TN to resupply. I stayed at Uncle Johnny's, which was a pretty nice hostel to spend the night.

Oct. 27th

The climb out of Erwin, like alot of trail towns, really sucked. Erwin was at 1700 feet, and I had to climb up to 5200 feet that day in a drizzling rain. I would have went farther than I did that day (I did 17 miles) but I did not feel like night hiking in the rain to get to a farther shelter.

Oct. 28th

On the 28th, I pulled a 25 mile day to Jerry Cabin Shelter. It wasn't too bad of a 25, and I took my time. Around 8 pm, I was startled by 2 people riding ATV's through the woods. They stopped right in front of the shelter and had asked if I had seen their dogs. These people leave their coon dogs out in the woods with tracking collars, and often hikers will take the collars off the dogs because they feel bad for them. There was a sign on the road I crossed that day that read, verbatim, "Theif. Do not steall or dogs". I hope that sign was written by a 3rd grader, but I think it probably wasn't.

Oct. 29th

Yesterday I did a 26 mile day into Hot Springs, NC. I left around 9 am, when it was warm enough out to actually move, and was keeping a pretty good pace until I got to Allen Gap. There was a sign for trail magic! It offered belgian waffles, beef stew, and dessert, so I was there. I walked the 300 yards to the home, and sat, ate, and talked to the couple that owned the home. Afterwards, they brought up if I was a Christian. They then offered me Christian literature and different books to read about god, and I had an hour long debate with them. They were at least reasonable, but I nonetheless felt that it was kind of strange to invite someone into their home just to talk about religion. I ended up staying at their house for a few hours, which forced me to night hike for about 4 hours into Hot Springs, which turned out to be a fairly enjoyable experience.

Oct. 3oth

So I am currently in Hot Springs, and I need to get out of here and hike 13 miles out of town. I had a couple of nice hot meals so its about time to get going. I got 270 miles left to hike, and I'm hoping the weather cooperates through the Smokies, which is in a mere 30 miles.