[at-l] Erwin to Damascus trip report

[DanandGailSC@aol.com (DanandGailSC@aol.com)]

Gutsy and I had a wonderful week of vacation on the AT, with a 130-mile 
backpacking trip from Erwin, TN to Damascus, VA, starting on April 7 and 
ending on April 15.  One reason for the trip was to help me complete more AT 
miles, and I now have completed from Springer to Damascus, in one way or 
another--northbound, southbound, packing, slacking, running.  Another reason 
was to prepare for doing a portion of the PCT this summer by learning about 
using an alcohol stove, using our old Stevenson tent, breaking in new boots, 
and paying close attention to food amounts needed.

On Friday, April 14, Gutsy made a trip to Springer to see Dee "Monodnack" off 
on her thru hike.  At the Springer shelter she found two large garbage bags 
of discarded backpacking food.  She knew that anyone starting out would have 
plenty of food, so she carried it out and we put it in the hiker box at 
Nolichucky Hostel the next day.

Our son, Ben, dropped us off at Erwin on Sat.  We got in a good half day of 
hiking 12 miles to Deep Gap.  We tented there for the night, along with Easy 
Does It, whom we had met at Beauty Spot.  It was a beautiful moonlit night, 
with the lights of Erwin in the valley.  We were camped alongside the road to 
Beauty Spot, and were awakened several times by loud pickup trucks all 
through the night.

Sun., April 8
Up at 6:30 a.m., we started hiking at 7 a.m. and hiked 13 miles to Clyde 
Smith Shelter.  No great views, but many annoying and exhausting PUDs.  A 
sunny, hot, and tiring day, just getting our hiking legs.  The trees still 
offer little protection from the sun.  At Iron Mountain Gap I went .5 mile to 
find the store was closed. We saw many ramps on the hillsides, and brought a 
few to the shelter but no one added them to their supper.  (It's a little 
early for wildflowers, but saw trillium, mayapple, bloodroot, Solomon's seal, 
and many others during the week.)  We added a few dandelion leaves to our 
Lipton's supper.  At the shelter were Hotsauce, Easy Does It, Coach, Silver.  
We pitched the tent about 50 feet behind the shelter.

Mon., April 9
About 14 miles. Started hiking at 7 a.m. and headed up Roan Mt.  We find that 
hiking our own pace is better for several reasons.  It's less tiring for 
both, and there are fewer stops.  My pace is faster uphill, and Gutsy's is 
faster downhill (especially the last stretch into Damascus!).  At the top of 
Roan High Bluff it was cool and foggy, and there were patches of ice.  By the 
time I finished gathering water at Roan High Knob Shelter, Gutsy had arrived, 
and we had our lunch of granola.  We spent about 30 minutes resting, then 
continued over the beautiful Round Bald and Jane Bald.  The severely eroded 
trail that went straight up the hill from Carver's Gap is being re-routed and 
now is a serpentine trail with wide sweeps back and forth, crossing the old 
trail several times.  It was a hot sunny day now, and we were not well 
protected from the sun.  We found a small shady spot to share an orange we 
found on the trail.  Along the way we met four high schoolers from Raleigh, 
NC taking their spring break backpacking in the mountains instead of at the 
beach.  Like us, they stopped at Overmountain Shelter, our favorite.  This 
time we tented instead of using the barn.  A party had been planned by 
slacking thru hikers, but it fell through.  Many section hikers and thru 
hikers were there, and most tented on the level stretch just before the barn. 
 Once again we reveled in the expansive views of balds above and valleys 
below.  Some who were there:  No Agenda, Tree, Delilah, and Rambunny, as well 
as all mentioned previously.  Dust blew in briefly, interrupting his 
slackpack from Iron Mountain Gap to 19E just long enough to bum some nicotine 
and water.  He was "resting" his overworked knees with a long distance, 
lightweight slack.  He had to meet his ride at 19E by 8:30 p.m.

Tues., April 10
14 miles.  On the trail again at 7 a.m.  The climb over Little Hump and Hump 
Mountains was clear and cool.  The fences on Hump are broken and the cattle 
were not there.  Reaching 19E at noon, we road walked 1.1 miles to Jay's 
Market for snacks--fruit juices, microwaved burger, carrots, prunes, two more 
Lipton's, ice cream bars, and sunscreen.  We were wanting to eat at the steak 
house, but it was closed today.  Gutsy dried our gear in the parking lot 
there while I went to Jay's.  I had the bright idea of taking Buck Mtn. Road 
from 19E at Jay's Market, to the intersection of Buck Mtn. Road with the AT.  
It worked, but it's definitely not recommended!  It saved us 1.1 miles of 
walking back to the AT and 2.8 miles of hiking on the AT from 19E to Buck 
Mtn. Rd. (we had both already done that stretch), but it cost us 1.5 hours of 
hot road walking.  The asphalt road turned to gravel around the state line, 
and we feared it would deadend.  But it veered left between steep banks, and 
turned to asphalt again.  We got an up close look at Elk Park suburbia with 
its barking dogs, mobile homes, and littered gullys!  Gutsy was ready to 
wring my neck.  It was a blessed relief to slip into the woods and follow the 
white blazes again.  At the bottom of a long, steep descent was a nice stream 
where we stopped for the night near a young couple who had recently resumed 
their thru.  Easy caught up with us here after an hour or so.

Wed., April 11
16 miles.  Off again at 7:15 a.m., with a long, steep climb out of the cove 
where we had stopped for the night.  This section was poorly maintained all 
the way to Moreland Gap Shelter, with many blowdowns blocking the trail.  We 
stopped at that shelter for a break at noon.  Coach and Silver were just 
leaving as we arrived.  I was reminded of my first visit to that shelter in 
1998, when we found Earl Shaffer blowing on a wood fire to boil eggs, and 
Spirit of '48 playing his flute.  They had met earlier that day, and 
continued to Katahdin together.  We re-filled water bottles and continued on 
another hot, tiring day.  We were not pulled in by the hostels at Dennis 
Cove, as many thru hikers are, but continued through the beautiful gorge, 
past Laurel Falls, and stopped for the night at a wide campsite along the 
river, .2 mile before the shelter.  This was the quietest night of the trip, 
with no wind and no other hikers.  The river provided cold bathing and white 
sound for a restful sleep.  My thermarest started losing air in the night, 
and the problem only got worse during the week.

Thursday, April 12
16 miles.  Started hiking at 7:15 a.m., following the river downstream for a 
mile before begining one of the longest climbs of the week.  I was expecting 
a simple downhill trot from Dennis Cove to 321, and the climb up and over 
Pond Flats took me by surprise!  At 10 a.m. we took a snack break at a power 
line cut overlooking Watauga Lake.  At the highway I added sock liners to try 
to solve a problem with my new Lowa Trekker boots.  The top front of the boot 
was becoming more and more creased and pushing onto the top of my foot.  This 
helped but did not solve the problem.  My guess is that my foot volume is too 
small for these boots. I'm taking them back to the outfitter  for advice when 
I get back home.
The light rain started crossing Watauga Dam Road at Iron Mtn. Gap.  We met 
Mountain Man, another thru hiker slacking a few miles.  The rain and wind 
picked up after I collected our water for the night at the spring 1.8 miles 
before Vandeventer Shelter.  When we reached the shelter only one section 
hiker was there, but by dark there were at least ten people in all.  We 
stretched a poncho across part of the front of the shelter, to block the wind 
and rain.  We all lost sleep that night, with noise from the rain, wind and 
especially the LOUD snoring of a section hiker who was right beside me. 

Friday, April 13
15 miles.  It was not easy getting up to hike in the cold drizzle, but we 
were up and out by 7:15 a.m.  Stopped for a snack at Iron Mtn Shelter, and 
reached Double Springs Shelter by 4 p.m., the earliest stop of the week.  I 
used a rake provided by TEHC, and cleaned and rebuilt the fire ring, then 
built a fire to live up to my trail name, Firestarter.  Everything was damp 
and it wasn't easy, but we all enjoyed the fire.  Gutsy retreated with a 
mystery book I found for her at Watauga Dam Shelter yesterday.  I finished 
reading the gospel of John, a goal I had set for Easter week.  At the shelter 
were two other couples, both with large dogs.  The dogs' names were Maya and 
Tyler.  Just before dark, John Aussie, an Australian thu hiker arrived.  He 
pitched his tent in the gap just above the shelter.  I had to blow up my 
ThermaRest 5 times during the night.

Saturday, April 14
18 miles.  An easy day, mostly downhill, into Damascus by 2 p.m.  I felt like 
I was chasing Gutsy all day.  She's fast downhill, and I had several 
delays--I dropped a gloved near the start and had to backtrack 3 minutes 
before finding it.  It took me an hour to catch her, and by then I was ready 
to change from hiking boots to sneakers to relieve the sore place on the top 
of my foot.  She kept going, and I caught up with her more than an hour 
later.  We stopped for a photo at the TN/VA state line, but otherwise kept 
moving.  In Damascus we had large vegetarian pizza at Quincey's, checked 
email at Mt. Roger's Outfitters, and got a room at The Maples B & B for the 
night.

Sunday, April 15
0 miles.  A huge breakfast at the B & B.  Visited (Sat. or Sun.) with 
Hotsauce, Nonexistent, Soar AKA Ralph, Christian, Finnegan, Sundog, Chaplain 
Hoagy and others.  Walked down to the mill being rebuilt along the river near 
tent city, back to The Place where son Ben joined us in time for the First 
Baptist Church service where we enjoyed the Easter cantata program, then 
headed back home. We had a wonderful week on the trail, covering mostly new 
miles for me, and meeting many wonderful people along the way.  We brought 
home some sore muscles but rested spirits.

Firestarter and Gutsy




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