The Unpolished Princess

Start: Unaka Mountain Top (AT mi 358.1). Stop: No Business Knob Shelter (AT mi 338). Today’s miles: 20.1 miles. Total AT mileage: 1855.1 miles.

I got up around 7 and attempted to quietly go get my food bag down.. I couldn’t have been that quiet because I heard the others stirring a little, but they mostly ignored me. I huddled back into my tent and made my coffee and breakfast. The views on top of Unaka Mountain were still spooky, misty clouds coming through the leafless pines as the sun started to rise.

I packed up, said goodbye to my buddies, and was hiking away a little before 8. I had 20 miles to knock out and not a second to waste! A little ways into the morning, the mostly downhill curved upwards to a grassy field named “Beauty Spot” and it was exactly that! Off to the left of the field, through the brush, you could tell you were still high on a mountain with other mountains around and fog creeping between them. I was above the clouds! It was the nicest view of the day so far! Then again, I had just gotten started, but still.

Over half of the day was spent going downhill, steep in sections with rocks, but mostly long curved paths sloping gently down. It was easier terrain, but it did make my knees a little sore. Towards the bottom, I ate my lunch on a log at a shelter.. mainly because the 2 guys there had taken over all of the space in the shelter and on the picnic table. They were doing a section hike, and at noon they were just getting started for the day. One tried to unload some of his Cliff and Kind bars on me and made a face at me when I declined-but I’m sick of those things and refuse to carry even an ounce more than absolutely necessary!

I walked along the Nolichucky River from above for a mile or so before getting into Erwin, Tennessee. The trail passes right by a hostel with a little store, so I decided to go there to get a soda. As I was walking up, MashedPotato was sitting there chatting to a friend on the phone! I left him to go inside to get some goodies, to return to his picnic table minutes later. I wanted Mountain Dew, but ended up with Dr Pepper since they were out.. I also got a Gatorade, ice cream sandwich, AND a huge honeybun.

MashedPotato and I talked a minute while I stuffed my new sweets in my mouth. He had just ordered pizza, which I would have loved if I hadn’t just eaten lunch and 2 deserts! He was planning to get to the same shelter I was, so I didn’t feel bad departing quickly, since I’d see him soon anyway. He and his friend were in the middle of booking flights for Puerto Rico to celebrate the end of his hike.. that sounds pretty nice!

The next 6 miles were mostly uphill. But the views around almost every switchback we’re looking down at the Nolichucky River surrounded by mountains jutting up around the water. It helped distract me from the climb, which I really appreciated. I finally got to camp around 5pm, found a spot in the back away from the other hikers around (3 section hikers on a gear shakedown hike, one of them is doing the AT next year, her husband has already done it), and another thruhiker, southbound from the start.

I ended up eating my dinner at the picnic table with the section hikers, after I threw my bear line. I was still eating when MashedPotato got there. He set up his hammock and then joined me and the others for his dinner, I was the only one still eating. He brought the rest of the pizza he didn’t finish for lunch, and I was jealous for a second time. We talked and laughed until the sun started to set.. and then the others all said goodnight, so he and I went over by his hammock and my tent and continued our conversation. The sun was going down, but it was only 7:15.. so neither of us were tired. He has a unique laugh, almost like a chuckle mixed with mischief that really cracks me up! I enjoy his company and will miss him when I get off trail and end up a minimum of 3 days behind him.. ahhh trail life.

I eventually came and got in my tent to lay down just after 8pm. I’m still not tired, but my body wanted to lay instead of sit. And I also had to type all of this out. The moon is shining through the trees, so although the sun is gone, it doesn’t really feel dark. There are so many trees blocking the view of the moon that I can’t tell if it’s full or not, I’m guessing it’s not but it might be getting close, since it’s so bright.

Also, tomorrow I’m going to hike just over 18 miles to Sam’s Gap and then get picked up by a Trail Angel, SoFarSoGood, that hiked the AT in 2019.. I met her in Damascus and when she told me she lives in Asheville I jokingly mentioned she should drive me to my rental car for Lauren’s Bachelorette weekend.. well, she took my number and messaged me yesterday asking if I still needed a ride! She has offered to pick me up, let me stay with her and her husband tomorrow night, and then drive me to the rental car place on Friday! The kindness of the trail folk truly is unmatched! I’m super excited to see her and her husband again and the stress free ride/stay is definitely an added bonus!

Ok, I think that’s all I know for today. Sweet dreams, y’all 🙂

Start: Hughes Gap Road (374.1). Stop: Unaka Mountain Top (AT mi 358.1). Today’s miles: 16 miles. Total AT mileage: 1835 miles.

Clearly, I slept like a log last night, seeing how I fell asleep typing out my day. I slept right up to 7:20am, when I got up to start packing. I had everything packed and ready to go before breakfast was served at 8am. It was another incredible breakfast, with the same things from yesterday only with slight variations on the strudel and whatnot. Because of tasting everything yesterday, I was more picky about what I gorged on this morning. It was all indescribably good.. and way too filling.

Afterwards we hung out down by the general store, paid up what we owed for stays and shuttles, and then loaded up into an actual luxury shuttle bus. There were two women going on a section hike in the same direction as us, so 6 of us in total were on the bus-that could have easily seated 20. It was a comfortable ride certainly.

It was a bit nippy when the 4 of us got started. The cool air stayed chilly throughout the day due to cloud coverage. It was mostly solid grey skies with the threat of rain that thankfully never came. The hike ended up being a series of ups and downs over nameless mountains, excluding the named Little Rock Knob and Unaka Mountain. The other six blips were definitely felt though. My calves were burning by the end of the day!

I ate lunch with Lizard at a campsite around noon. The two women that were let out after us started farther south than we did, and this is the spot we met back up with them, as they had stopped to eat their lunch, too. It was nice to chit chat with them.. they’ve been friends since they were 4 years old! They’ve got my Sarah and Lauren beat-the three of us met in 6th grade.. lol

After lunch, Lizard and I hiked mostly together the rest of the afternoon.. chatting about life and whatever random topic decided to pop into our heads. I ended up getting ahead of her when she stopped for a break, meeting back up at the next shelter. It was here that I was at a crossroads. I wanted to stop for the day, my feet were tired. But, that would make a miserable 23+ mile day for me tomorrow. However, to hike to the next campsite would be a water carry up 3 miles of mountain.

Lizard had planned to stay at the shelter. I was attempting to convince myself to stay and just suck it up tomorrow, but the shelter itself wasn’t appealing and we didn’t have service there-so when Lizard said she’d hike on, I was thrilled! Just the motivation I needed to get my butt up that mountain with extra water! I offered to carry one of her liters, since it would even out my pack for me, and I’ve got like 60 pounds on her-so an extra 2 pounds wouldn’t totally kick my ass much more than the other 6 pounds of water I had to tote for myself. It would, however, be noticeably heavier for her. She reluctantly agreed.

We got moving and it was slow going. The switchbacks all but disappeared, although the trail itself is mostly smooth.. it’s just steep in places. Around the half way mark, Lizard paused to wait for me to catch her and then took her liter back! Lol-guilt kicked in, but I honestly didn’t mind toting it.. and she realized soon after, I was still going to be climbing this mountain slowly.. giving up the liter didn’t help improve my pace.

Less than half a mile from the top, I caught up to her sitting on a log at a campsite. I thought this was the top though, and when I felt how windy and cold it was I agreed we should push on. However, when she mentioned we weren’t quite to the top yet anyway, we decided that if the top happened to be winder than here, we’d push just a bit farther going down the other side to another campsite-that at the very least would be as windy as our current location.

The trail seemed to get mossy and magical sometime around here. The trees loomed up overhead, but the forest floor was all pine needles and moss.. soft as clouds. The actual mountaintop was less windy, albeit still very chilly, and so very beautiful, in a spooky, foggy, Halloween is coming kind of way. Roundhouse was already there and set up. He rigged an interesting way to hang his food bag, by an intricate pulley system between 4 trees. Pretty genus. Knowing I probably wouldn’t be able to do that myself, I asked if he’d be willing to hang our food with his.. praying he’d say yes, happy when he did just that.

Lizard and I set up our tents and the three of us ate our dinner around a fire pit. Finch appeared when Roundhouse and Lizard were gathering wood to build a fire. He set up his tent and then joined us for his dinner and the fire starting-followed by fire enjoying. Before we knew it, it was black outside. We could see each other with the help of the fire, but not much else-statues of trees all around, tall overhead, with fog creeping in around them.

We retreated to our tents/hammock close to 8pm. I still had to set up my stuff and filter water for tomorrow. My tent is damp from condensation from last night, which is beyond frustrating-since I swear on everything-David’s tent never did. I never once had drops of condensation inside his tent-never once got wet. Day 2 with my exact same brand and style tent: wet. Honestly it might make me crazy.. but I’m dealing with it. I’m leaving a vestibule on each side open tonight to let the wind help keep the condensation down.

Alright, its 9:30pm, so dark I can’t see a hint of anyone or anything.. and it’s time to tuck these hands inside my sleeping bag and get warm. Goodnight, y’all.

Start: Hughes Gap Road (374.1). Stop: Mountain Harbour B&B (AT mi 395.3). Today’s miles: 21.2 miles. Total AT mileage: 1819 miles.

Today was incredible in all ways it could be. Incredibly gorgeous views, incredibly long climbs in the morning, incredibly tired body at the end of it. I loved every moment of it though.

I didn’t sleep well, I’m blaming the Mountain Dew I drank yesterday when I got here.. but I was wide awake for a large portion of the night. Try as I might to sleep, I lay there with my eyes closed and mind going a mile a minute. I even made a “rough” plan for the rest of the hike, which is absolutely unrealistic-but it gives me something to plan better off of. I finally dosed off sometime after 1am, after my 3rd or 4th bathroom break. Sheesh.

7:20am came real fast and I forced myself to get up and pack for the slack pack. I didn’t have to pack up my sleep stuff or tent, since I’d be back here tonight, but I had to make sure I did pack everything I’d need for the day: water, filter, jacket, food and snacks.. earphones and the Garmin Inreach. Before I knew it, it was almost 8am and I walked up the hill to the main house where they serve breakfast.

Now I know what all the fuss is about. Holy macaroni-these people made a SPREAD! Biscuits and gravy, 5 cheese and egg casserole, French toast with several homemade jams to go on top, including one with honey and pecans, tomato pie, some other kind of casserole I can’t remember, bagels with chive cream cheese, a lemon strudel (homemade that morning), yogurt with granola, muffins, potatoes, and more things I can’t recall at the moment.. along with coffee and an entire bar of different creamers, sweeteners, syrups to put in it.. orange and apple juice.

After eating enough to feed a small country, we all reconvened down at the other building to get ready for the shuttle. There were tons of other people here, going for section hikes, day hikes, trail maintenance.. eventually the 4 of us loaded into an SUV and began the journey to Hugh’s Gap. Once out and on our way, we had a 4+ mile uphill climb to the top of Roan Mountain. From there it would be steady ups and downs from one mountain bald to the next with stunning views of the Roan Highlands.

I saw Bones, Zebra, and Smash early in the climb, they were all headed the opposite direction, staying a day ahead of me. Maybe I’ll catch them before Lauren’s bachelorette weekend, but probably not. I even saw Wobby at a campsite half way up Roan Mountain, it was good to see her again, it’s been since Waynesboro! The rest of the way up transformed from regular woods to moss covered ground and some rocky spots. It felt like I was transported back to Vermont at times. I was loving the switchbacks, too. They made what was still a difficult climb more bearable.

I ended up going up and over Roan Mountain, Round Bald, Grassy Ridge Bald, Jane Bald, Little Hump Mountain, and finally, Hump Mountain. The last two lacked switchbacks and were steep, calf crushing climbs. The views from all of these climbs were just breathtaking though. Miles and miles of mountains and vistas off in the distance and right in front of you. The pops of color demanding your eye’s attention. It was almost as majestic as the Grayson Highlands form me.. with both of these locations being in my top 5 for the whole trail. I was mesmerized.

I ate lunch around 3, sitting on a rock on one of the balds. It took this long to get hungry after that huge breakfast! It was quick, knowing the longer I sat the more likely I’d be getting back after sunset. From here, the trail got very muddy on its descent, right up until the climb of the next bald. So muddy that I almost gave up attempting to keep the tops of my shoes from being submerged. Thankfully, they never quite went all the way under the muck. They did come very close though.

All day today the trail wound across the border of Tennessee and North Carolina. I never knew when I was in which state. The trail will continue to zig zag over the border for about 95 more miles, before staying in North Carolina for good. I think it’s pretty neat that the trail is able to ride the border line as long as it does. There was a sign while hiking down Hump Mountain that confirmed I was back in Tennessee for the night.

Once I got to the hostel, sometime just after 6pm, I quickly took my stuff to my tent, reattached my hiking pole to the tent so it would be standing again, and not the dilapidated mess I left this morning, used the bathroom, put my crocs on, and then got 3 beers from the general store at the hostel. I walked back up to the trail crossing and sat on a rock to wait for Lizard and Finch. I knew today was hard on me, I figured it was hard on them, too.. and, honestly, I didn’t want Lizard walking down a busy highway in the dark alone. Two headlamps stand to be seen better by drivers compared to one.. in my opinion anyway.

Finch came up first, after only 5-10 minutes of me sitting there sipping my beer. He sat to rest a minute and sip his. Within only a couple minutes, Lizard came walking up the trail! They were so close for a good bit of the afternoon and didn’t even know it! Lizard happily took her beer, too.

Once they caught their breath, we all three headed back to the hostel. They each did their required “chores” before we all met at the food truck and general store to order dinner. I went with a bacon cheeseburger and fries today. Even better than the philly, if you can believe it. Roundhouse joined us, too. He’s also from Georgia and works at a garden nursery, I think after all of this is done, me and aunt Kathy may go visit him.. she has a green thumb and always keeps her yard beautiful, and mine, too.

We hung out, chatted, and slowly one by one we peeled away to retreat to our tents, hammock, or bunk. I laid in bed only a short while before passing out attempting to write this.. apparently not sleeping well the night before plus a 21 mile day really takes it out of ya! Lol whoops!