Days 44-48

May 16-20

Iron Mountain Gap to Black Bear Hostel

Day 44

Iron Mountain Gap to Ash Gap

We had kind-of a rough night at Uncle Johnny's Hostel last night.  There were a couple of homeless people hanging around who had a drinking problem and were looking for handouts.  They were up drinking and making a ruckus until way after hiker midnight (dark).  I asked them to tone it down, and they moved to a different location.

We started our day by taking a shuttle to Iron Mountain Gap, the location where we hiked from yesterday.  Rocky seemed to enjoy the ride. 

The weather was cool and overcast with NO RAIN!  Our shuttle driver told us that he can't believe how rainy it has been this year.  He said that the rain has been great for shuttle and hostel businesses because so many hikers are trying to get relief from the rain.

I saw nine orange newts on the trail.  I make sure to relocate any newt on the trail to a safer location.  There are too many feet on the AT that could spell disaster for these little guys.

We stopped by the Clyde Smith Shelter to fill our water bottles and have lunch.

Clyde Smith Shelter

This section of trail to Ash Gap was a pleasant hike.  The trail was free of major obstacles and not too muddy.  There were a lot of good views and interesting plants and critters to see.  I even saw a Pitcher Plant.

Day 44 Trail Profile

Day 45

Ash Gap to 

Mountain Harbor Hostel, Roan Mountain, TN

Today was a very rainy day.  The trail was extremely muddy and slippery with some intense climbs.  

I took a detour to visit the highest shelter on the AT, Roan High Knob Shelter at 6,270 feet of elevation.  This is the first shelter I've seen that had a door.  

Roan High Knob Shelter

We made a quick stop by Stan Murray Shelter.

Stan Murray Shelter

The sections over Little Hump and Hump Mountains, both above the tree line, were particularly brutal.  It was raining horizontally for the four-mile stretch.

Rocky didn't like the horizontal rain at all.  He kept squinting, whining, and trying to use me as a rain shield.  As soon as we stepped into the trees, we got instant relief.  The damage was done--we were both completely soaked.

We completed another state, saying good-bye to North Carolina.  The trail has been crossing the border between North Carolina and Tennessee repeatedly for over 100 miles, but North Carolina is done with us now.

With so much rain today, all of our tenting options were very muddy.  We called Mountain Harbour Hostel in Roan, Mountain, Tennessee, to check availability for a place to stay.  They only had tent sites available, but the restaurant was open until 9:00 p.m.  A hot meal sounded very good to us rain-soaked hikers.  We decided to hike three more miles to the hostel.

Mountain Harbour Hostel, near mile 395

After a 20-mile day, Commando and I had a drink at the Mountain Harbour Hostel bar while all three of us waited for our burgers.  They actually have a doggie burger on the menu (meat, cheese, and bacon).  We all dove in and thoroughly enjoyed our burgers.

Day 46

Trail Days Celebration in Damascus, Virginia (Zero Day)

The Mountain Harbor Hostel is rated as having the best breakfast on the AT, and it didn't disappoint us.  Juice and coffee are served at 7:45, and breakfast is "presented" at 8:00.  There were at least 20 items out for display, including fresh-made pastries, fresh fruit, quiches, a variety of meats, and the list goes on.  The head chef presented every item with a flourish.  The presentation was almost as good as the food itself.

Sally picked us up at the hostel, and we headed to Damascus, Virginia, for the Trail Days Celebration.  Trail Days is an annual get together of past and present AT thru-hikers.  The celebration included a parade of folks who have completed the AT.  The oldest hiker (or at least the one who completed it the longest time ago) was from the "Class of 1980."

The festival included an expo of hiker-oriented gear manufacturers, live blue grass music, food vendors, and AT/YouTube celebrities.  The promoters estimated that 25,000 people were attending the event.  What I found most interesting was the hiker tent city.  There is no way that I would camp in that mass of humanity.  I think the town was a little skeptical also based on the number of local and state police present.

Commando (on right) with
Fellow Thru-Hiker Shenanigans

Note from Sally:  Titanium and Commando met several thru-hikers they knew at Trail Days.  We also got to stop in at the Damascus Trail Center, run in cooperation with the Appalachian Trail Conservancy.  Below, Commando took a minute to point out where he and Titanium are on the long map of the trail.

Sally has been taking care of travel logistics.  She brings Rosie and Zap with her, and not all hotels and cabins are amenable to three large dogs.

This stay was at the Black Bear Resort, less than a mile from the AT outside Hampton, Tennessee, where Sally rented cabins for Commando, us, and the dogs.  Because the management limits each cabin to two dogs, Commando claimed Rosie for us, although she was soon smuggled into our cabin to be with Rocky and Zap.  Our cabin was a nice, compact, single room with a deck overlooking a creek, but it was wall-to-wall dogs.  The bathrooms are communal and are located in several places on the property.  

Day 47

FSR 293 South to 

Mountain Harbour Hostel

Sally dropped off Commando and me where the AT crosses Forest Service Road (FSR) 293 so that we could slack pack south to Mountain Harbour Hostel.  Rocky stayed with Sally for an extra rest day and to spend time with his siblings, Zap and Rosie.  

The weather was great for our hike today.  There were a lot of ups and downs, but nothing was too technical.

This trail section has some wonderful waterfalls that I'm happy to have had the chance to see.  Jones Falls is particularly impressive.

There were a lot of interesting flowers on this stretch of trail.  I was particularly impressed with the yellow Iris growing wild along the river.

I popped out into a clearing and was surprised to see a cemetery right beside the AT.

Another milestone!  We passed the 400-mile marker today.

We planned on meeting Sally and having dinner at Mountain Harbour Hostel, but there was one important factor we hadn't accounted for.  It was Sunday, and the hostel restaurant closed at 6:00 instead of 9:00.  It was after 8:00 when we got to Mountain Harbour.

We loaded everything and everyone into the car and headed to Elizabethton for dinner.  We ended up at a Mexican restaurant.  The food was great, especially because Commando was paying.

We were pretty tired, so we headed back to our home base, Big Bear Resort, for some much-needed sleep.

Note from Sally:

Meanwhile, back at the ranch (or in this case, a little sample of the northern side of the AT off FSR 293) . . . .

Day 48

FSR 293 to Black Bear Hostel

This morning, Sally groomed Rocky.  He seemed especially appreciative of the combing.  All three dogs and Sally liked their stay at our mini-cabin.

A bunch of Swallowtail butterflies were congregating on the ground by the stream behind the cabin.  They were most likely collecting salts from the soil.

Sally dropped off Commando, Rocky, and me at the same location on FSR 293 so that we could slack pack north to Big Bear Resort.  Sally headed back home to Oak Ridge and work.

Today's hike was short.  There were some climbs, but nothing was exceptionally hard.  The weather was in our favor today -- not too hot and no rain.  

We stopped at Hardcore Cascades, a small waterfall, to fill our water bottles.  The water was cold and refreshing.

We passed by the Moreland Gap Shelter.

Moreland Gap Shelter

We stopped at the top of the cliff for lunch.  There were some spectacular views from our vantage point.

Near the end of today's hike, I came across an old abandoned cabin.

Day 48 Trail Profile, Mile 420.4

When we reached the trailhead, we walked back to our little cabins at Black Bear Resort.  I fixed noodles for dinner and went to bed, ready to head out with a full pack in the morning.

Note from Sally:

As Titanium (Dan) and I compared notes on my last trip, we decided that multi-day, once weekly blogs may work the best for us.  He sends me narrative, photos, and videos for each day whenever he has enough cell service to text, which is about half of the time (on other days, he checks in with a few messages via his Garmin).  Then my schedule sometimes keeps me from posting everything for a couple of days.  Look for a weekly post, as in the last couple of weeks, around Thursday or Friday.  For those of you anxious for a new Commando video episode, I know that he finished editing one while we were at Black Bear Resort, but he did not have enough WiFi strength to load it to YouTube.  He expects to post it when the hikers reach Damascus on foot, their entrance into Virginia and good-bye to Tennessee, which should happen after today's hike as I write, May 24th.  THANK YOU, everyone, for checking in and following along on the adventure!!