[at-l] Erwin Tennessee

[Marielle & Paul" <hikers99@yahoo.com (Marielle & Paul)]

Ma and I thought that Erwin was great and Uncle Johnny was very helpful =
to us.Here is our Journal extract.

The following day was April 20 and we were on our way to Erwin, 6 miles =
away. We saw the Nolichucky River and the railroad tracks that =
paralleled it long before our descent.  When we got down off the =
mountain, the first thing we saw was Uncle Johnny's Nolichucky Hostel. =
At this spot the trail simply comes out of the woods to get on the road, =
crosses the river on a bridge and then goes back up the mountain on the =
other side. Uncle Johnny was well situated right at the bottom of the =
hill to serve the hiking community. Unfortunately, hikers wanting to go =
to town had a ways to go because the town stretches for a number miles =
to the west and there are no amenities for 2 miles. The Post Office and =
downtown Erwin are another 2 miles further west.


The hostel consists of a small store which sells snacks and some gear, a =
bunk house that holds 8 and a large covered patio out front with picnic =
tables. The hostel has a TV set and VCR and a large collection of =
movies. The cost for the night was $10.  It was full and RAINDANCER had =
arranged to sleep on the couch for $5. (Us and RAINDANCER)


The hostel had only been open a few years. Johnny hiked the trail a few =
years ago and decided to open a hostel to serve the hikers. He found =
this spot near Erwin, purchased it  and moved here. When the first =
hikers started arriving, the next door neighbour panicked at the sight =
of the unkempt crowd and sold his place.



We bought a couple of  T-shirts advertising the hostel and Uncle Johnny =
called the Best Southern Motel to reserve us a room.  We would have to =
try and hitch into town. After socializing for a while, we put on our =
packs and crossed the bridge and then headed down the road to town. =
After a short time a van pulling a trailer with a stack of kayaks =
stopped to pick us up. It was a group from a river rafting and kayak =
company. They were crowded into the van with all their gear but made =
room for us.


At the motel we met a number of hikers including CANEBREAK, CHICKEN, =
CABOOSE and SLIPPER. LAUREL and BROOKS were also staying at the motel. =
We got cleaned up and went to Pizza Plus for the all you can eat pizza =
and salad lunch. We then went to the dollar store and the small grocery =
store nearby to resupply. The young girl at the cash could not =
understand why we would hike and was quite concerned for our safety. We =
had not told her that we were hikers but I think the large quantity of =
Pop Tarts and Lipton meals gave us away.


In the late afternoon we hitched into downtown with two ladies who only =
picked us up because we were older. We went to the Post Office and then =
to the Library to use the Internet and check our email.  We then had =
great Burritos at a restaurant that Uncle Johnny had recommended. After =
supper we decided that it would be easier to get a ride if we first =
walked out of the downtown area to the road that lead to our motel.  We =
had only gone a block and were cutting through a parking lot when a car =
pulled into the parking lot and offered us a ride. The lady had =
recognized us as hikers and knew we would need a ride to the other end =
of town. She explained that the town was becoming more and more hiker =
friendly and that her church was considering having pot luck suppers on =
a regular basis for hikers.=20


That night we did our laundry in the basement of the motel in the =
professional machines that they used for their linen and sheets. From =
the front of the motel we could see the mountains that we would be =
climbing the next day. There was an orange glow of a fire on the =
mountain and lots of smoke. We worried that it would affect our =
departure the next day, but it turned out to be a controlled burn and =
was not near the trail. It was quite spectacular.


The next day we relaxed in the morning and had lunch again at Pizza =
Plus. We then hitched a ride in the back of a pick-up truck to Uncle =
Johnny's where I bought a new pair of socks. We walked  across the =
bridge and got back on the trail.

PA (MA & PA 99)

www.hikers99.homestead.com


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