Experimental Trail Recipe #2

Recipe: Ramen Bomb! (W/ gravy)

Ingredients:

Instant mashed potatoes

Ramen of your choice (use beef to add that "gravy" flavor)

Cook the ramen completely. Stir in mashed potatoes until the right consistency. Voila, Ramen Bomb.

Out of 1-10 I rate this a 7. Very filling and actually pretty tasty!

Day 43: Power HOUR!

15.3 miles: TN 91 to Unnamed gap at mile marker 462.9

Today's hike started beautifully. I was out of camp at 8:30 and just a few yards down the trail I ran into Sriracha, who was already 3.5 miles into his day. Just after the road crossing the trail enters a wonderful field and the only 1 mile handicap accessible section of trail begins. The trail meanders through the field past some interesting old buildings, over stiles, and through cow fields. After the fields it enters the forest again and makes its way to Double Springs Shelter where we stop for 1st and 2nd breakfast. I'm the first to arrive and second in line is Jersey Girl. While waiting for Tric we encounter a very nice group of three older gentlemen and one younger girl. They all are thru hiking and pulling big miles, the girl is averaging 20 miles a day. They named her Beast. We all eat lunch and have a nice time. Pretty soon 2 of the section hikers show up. It's the married couple. The other 2 older hikers usually take a little longer. It's a great day for everybody, everyone feels good and everyone is healthy. For the next 10 miles we all fuel each other to hike stronger and everyone arrives to the shelter happily. Tric, Jersey Girl, and I push on another few miles where we find a nice campsite with a good fire ring and set up camp.

For dinner Tric made mac n' cheese and I rolled it into burritos and then we proceeded to toast them over a fire. Delicious. 

Stiles are great for getting over barbed wire but they can be very awkward with a heavy pack on.

Day 42: Ridgeline! Oh wonderful Ridgeline!

16.1 miles: Wilbur Dam Rd to TN 91

Today we leapfrogged the section hikers all day. We ascended Iron Mountain and followed ridgeline for quite awhile. It was beautiful terrain and even more beautiful views. Watauga lake was constantly in view on our right. Nothing very eventful happened today. By the end of the day we found a very wonderful little campsite not far from the road crossing with TN 91 where we made a fire and had a little group reading session to relax. We erected our tents, I hung a bear bag in the dark, and we went to bed.

We met another section hiker today named Sriracha who is test hiking the AT before he plans his thru hike. He will most likely join us in Damascus for our town day. 

Day 41: Waterfalls, Lakes, and Dams

13 miles: Kincora Hiking Hostel to Wilbur Dam Rd

I woke early and another hiker had prepared a huge amount on pancake batter. He was pawning it off onto other hikers (a very easy task). So I made a pancake and a carnation instant drink mix for breakfast. After this I left early to go to the other hostel .5 away to resupply a little bit before we hit the trail. While there I picked up Jersey Girls nalgene that he had left there and got some delicious food out of the hiker box and from the store. The woman running the resort (black bear resort) was nice enough to give me a ride to the trail head. When I got there Jersey Girl and Tric were waiting. We had a snack then hiked out to see Laurel Falls 1.1 mile away. At the falls we spent some time relaxing and then hiked on. After a few more miles there is a 1 mile side trail into Hampton, TN. Last year my dad lounged here while I hiked the 1 mile, hitchiked to subway, then hiked back. Tric and Jersey Girl knew that story so they brought up the idea of doing it again. But this time they would buy my subway for doing it. I'm always up for a challenge, so now this is the "Subway Challenge" for all you future thru-hikers! I ran the mile got a hitch from 2 girls in High School and got driven back where I ran the mile back to find Tric and Jersey girl napping and reading! We happily ate our subway and hiked on over Pond Flats. After coming down Pond flats we approach Watauga Lake. A beautiful lake that is dammed on one side. We soaked our feet and hiked out. The next 4 miles of trail is closed to camping due to bear activity. This is most likely because it is so accessible to the general public. People with no experience or leave no trace ethics intentionally and unintentionally feed bears and habituate them to humans. This was a shame because there were some beautiful campsites on the lake that would have been wonderful. We hiked just to the end of the 4 mile section where we found those section hikers again and camped with them. They were wonderful camping partners and we had some good conversation before bed.

Day 40: THE Kincora Hiking Hostel.

17.2 Miles: Mountaineer Falls Campsite to Kincora Hiking Hostel

We woke early and hiked out. After .1 miles we came to Mountaineer Falls Shelter. This shelter was built by AT thru hikers, ON their thru hike as part of a hard core project (more on hard core later). Legend has it that the shelter was completed in 2 days. We hiked and hiked and hiked. After about 10 miles we came to Moreland Gap Shelter. It was here that we ran into Will and Way again, as well as the section hikers we would leap frog with for the next few days. We ate some lunch packed our things and hiked out again, determined to sleep in a bunk, get a shower, and do laundry all for a $5 donation to Kincora tonight. At around 6:30 we hiked out onto Dennis Cove Rd. Kincora is .2 miles to our left. At the trailhead there was a dirt parking lot on our left that a couple guys in a truck just pulled into. I could tell they were up to no good right away. A couple seconds later they started doing donuts and driving in and out of the huge mud puddles all over the little lot. Classic Tennessee. They sprayed us with mud once than stopped and apologized. We didn't care cause we were already really dirty from hiking. We thought the mudding looked like a lot of fun.

After that event we walked down to Kincora. Kincora is a very old hiker hostel that has supported thru hikers for quite some time. It is run by Bob Peoples. He is a legend on the trail. He constantly runs trail maintenance projects on the trail and is the coordinator for Hard Core. Hard Core is an annual project that happens the 2 days after Trail Days Festival in Damascus. He invites 50 people out to perform maintenance on a large section of trail. He usually does really massive projects during those 2 days. After talking to him for some time I found out that he is planning this years project to be the extremely rocky section coming down from Hump Mountain (See post: Hump Mountain and Mountain Harbour B&B). Here we ran into Jersey Girl and Yukon Cornelius again and had a wonderful reunion. After having some ramen for dinner I read a little bit and went to bed in the bunkhouse.

Bob Peoples.


Trail work being done during Hard Core.


Trail work being done during Hard Core.

Day 39: Rain...?

8.7 Miles: Mountain Harbour B&B at road crossing US 19E in Roan Mtn, TN to Mountaineer Falls Campsite.

Today the weather report was horrid. It was supposed to pour all day.

We started the day with a home made all you can eat breakfast created by the wonderful ladies at the Mountain Harbour B&B. After that we very slowly packed our things in the common room watching the rain fall outside. Most hikers were zeroing today to avoid the rain. We were very reluctant to get out and were actually wishing we could zero also. At 12:00 the rain died down and we finally got out on the trail. I hiked alone for the first 5 miles to Jones Falls. I wanted to cheer everyone up behind me because it hadn't rained yet so i made smiley faces on the trail as I hiked. While there I enjoyed some food and had a great conversation with Will and Way. They are a very interesting couple. I hung out and waited for Tric to arrive. Burl and Tree Beard showed up and somehow knew it was me making the faces on the trail and told me they loved them.

After Tric showed up and enjoyed the falls for a little bit we hiked on. After a mile we came to Elk River and sat on the side of it and napped, read, and snacked for a bit before moving on to our campsite 4 miles away. At our campsite I got a fire going and taught Tric how to start and maintain a fire skill, she is very determined to improve her fire making skills on the trail. We had a nice, quiet dinner and warm time by the fire before heading off to bed.

It didn't rain at all on the trail today! Weather reports on the trail are a constant topic of conversation but they rarely are true. I don't subscribe to them anymore.

Day 38: Hump Mountain and Mountain Harbour B&B

9.2 miles: Overmountain Shelter to Mountain Harbour B&B at road crossing US 19E in Roan Mtn, TN.

Today was a gorgeous hike. We left Overmountain shelter at about 9am. After hiking for a few miles we reach little hump mountain, the 3rd bald on the AT in the Roan Highlands. After coming down from little hump mountain the AT dissapears into the woods for a little bit. It then emerges into another bald, this one much bigger. We ascend Big Hump Mtn. At this point in the day its about 12 o' clock and there is still some ice on the ground from the night before. We trudge through the ice, mud, and water willingly trying to make it to the summit. When you reach the summit there are amazing far-reaching views in all directions. On the summit I heard someone saying how they much they miss marshmallows. Well it just so happened I had been carrying some for the past three days. I pulled them out and said "want a marshmallow?" she almost fell over with happiness. I handed some out to everyone then pulled 2 out for Tric and me. We roasted them on our Jetboil. Probably very unhealthy... But delicious!

After descending Hump Mountain the trail goes through about a mile of extremely rocky terrain. Once through that the trail leaves North Carolina for good! Now we are in Tennessee, then Virginia after that! Once we reached the road we found a ride down to Mountain Harbour B&B. We had to end up tenting in their yard since the bunks were all reserved. This still included use of the common room and showers so it was all good. We went out for pizza with Neon and Wolfpack and during dinner I got some very bad news. Someone had stolen my debit card info and had stolen $100 out of my account! I immediately called my bank and had the card cancelled. When I got back to the table Neon and Wolfpack had left but Neon had paid our tabs at the pizza place! This was great news since I had a limited amount of cash and I still had to resupply for the next few days. We got back to the hostel and I thanked Neon very much and told her what happened. She is a wonderful woman.

Will and Way, a couple from Virginia who are thru hiking for their 50th wedding anniversary had gotten some wine in their mail drop and gave it to me and Tric. (side note: if Will and Way complete their thru hike they will be the oldest couple to have ever done so. They are in their 70's. Check them out at Denbec50th.com) We drank some wine and sat around the fire before going to bed for the night.

Day 37: Roan Mountain

17.8 miles: Greasy Creek Gap to Overmountain Shelter.

We started the day with 5.2 miles of some uphill then mostly down into Hughes gap. The TN 1330 runs through here, which is just a small dirt road. We ecountered some lovely trail magic here from some ex-thru hikers. After having a salad, some beans n' chicken, and a root beer we headed on down the trail. The trail goes across and up over Roan Mountain. The highest shelter in the AT, the Roan High Knob Shelter is located on the top of Roan Mountain. After the descent of Roan the trail intersects with Carvers Gap. Then goes up Round Bald and Jane Bald. It was beautiful but very windy and cold! The temps were supposed to go below freezing tonight. Once we got to the end of the two balds we donned our headlamps and hiked the last 4.2 miles in the dark. We ate dinner and set up our tents for the night by Overmountain Shelter.

Overmountain Shelter is an old barn that was converted into a shelter for hikers. It is next to the intersection with the Overmountain Victory trail. The Overmountain Victory Trail is a path that a group of militia took in the middle of winter to do battle with the British during the American Revolution. They won their battle and now you can hike the trail they hiked. 

If you ever want to do a section of the AT I highly suggest you do the Roan Highlands.

Day 36: Greasy Creek Friendly

10.5 miles: Top of Unaka Mtn to Greasy Creek Hostel

My day started at about 5 am. I actually hit the trail at about 6. Hiking with the sunrise was beautiful. The sun cast an eerie red glare over everything around me. I felt great and by 9:50 I had already completed 10 miles and had arrived at greasy creek gap. I knew my friends had stayed at the hostel down a .6 side trail to my right. Since my phone had died, however; I had no idea whether or not they had hit the trail yet. So I decided to make a decision over second breakfast. While eating Yukon Cornelius and Jersey Girl hiked up the greasy creek side trail. They said that Tric, Fireball, and Frosty decided to zero at the hostel. I had the choice of going on with Yukon and Jersey Girl or staying at the hostel with the rest of the crew. Since going with Yukon and Jersey Girl would mean another 20 mile day I decided to head down to the hostel for a night.

The Greasy Creek Friendly is an interesting place. It's cozy, inviting, and just plain crazy. The owner Connie is a very sweet woman. Right when I got there she was about to drive a bunch of hikers to a local cheap buffet. Then the power went out. Driving throughout the town we discovered that the power in the whole town was out. No street lights, no electricity in any stores, but most importantly no buffet. We drove to another one where they were just serving people until their food ran out. We ate heartily for just 5 dollars. Plus one for sweet tea. We proceeded to drive around for hours trying to find a place to get a resupply and cash back. When I finally got back we had a fire and I relaxed for a bit before going to bed.

Sorry no pictures this day, dead phone!

Day 35: Playing Catch Up

25 miles: Spivey Gap to the top of Unaka Mountain

I had just spent a few days with my family for my dad's birthday. We rafted the Chatooga river for his birthday. The guides for the NOC were super professional and awesome and we had an amazing time. Tuesday morning we had planned to hike Mt Michell but my mom was very sick with bronchitis. My dad didn't want to leave her for to long. So instead my dad dropped me off on the trail and hiked a couple of miles with me. The first 11 miles of trail was downhill for the most part. The next 14 was mosty uphill. I hiked very well today. Mile 23 was Beauty Spot Bald. A very beautiful bald mountain with views in all directions. By this mile marker I averaged 3 mph! It was here that I found a lot of people I knew taking a zero day. So it was here that I had dinner and hung out with them for a few hours. I didn't want to end my day yet since I felt so good still so I decided to hike out into the night.

Hiking alone at night is an interesting thing. It can be spooky, exhilarating, and just plain fun. I hiked from campsite to campsite during the next two miles up Unaka Mountain. On a cold night like this just about everyone had a fire going. I would warm up by one talk to the people around it then head out again into the night. By the third fire I started thinking about how warm my sleeping bag is, and that was the end of my night hike and longest day on the trail. I set up my tent and planned to wake up early to try to beat my friends to the trailhead 10 miles away. 

One other thing to report: I saw 2 bunnies and a snake today!

Beauty spot bald.

Sunset after 23 miles. 

Day 34: Slackpacking Part 2

13.4 miles: Sams gap to Spivey Gap

Today we planned on 24 miles but we got a late start and hiked casually throughout the day. Miss Janet offered to Slackpack us from SAMs gap to Erwin and we could stay with her again. My parents were picking us up that day so I couldn't stay; but Tric, Jersey Girl, and Yukon were happy to hear of this opportunity. When we arrived at SAMs gap it was about 10am. My dad and mom and dog were set up under the overpass and were doing some really awesome trail magic! They had beer, junk food, fresh food, were cooking hot dogs and hamburgers and having a great time. All the hikers were very excited and grateful for it. After staying for a bit we set off on our 24 miles. We went up and over Big Bald and down the other side to Spivey Gap. By this time it was a little late and only 13 miles in. My arents wer ready to go so we called them and had them pick us up at Spivey Gap. We dropped off the rest of the crew at Miss Janet's where we made plans for me to catch them in the coming days.

Day 33: Miss Janet to the rescue.

8.4 miles: Devils Fork Gap to Sams Gap

Today started off good. I was with the people who's company I enjoyed the most and my family was going to be in town to see me very soon. I felt better when I woke up but as usual with this sickness it worsens throughout the day. After a very tough 8 miles we made it to Sams gap. At Sams gap Miss Janet was there waiting for Tric, Jersey Girl, Yukon, and I. She was offering to all the hikers a free place to stay at her house in Erwin. We were very happy to accept and save some money.

Me, Yukon Cornelius, Jersey Girl, Tric and behind us: Miss Janet. 

At Miss Janet's we had a wonderful dinner, which I could barely eat because of my ailment. We watched movies, took showers, did laundry, and just generally relaxed.