The Unpolished Princess

Start: Walnut Mountain Road (AT mi 405.8). Stop: Mountain Harbour B&B (AT mi 395.3). Today’s miles: 10.5 miles. Total AT mileage: 1797.8 miles.

I slept so good! It was just after 8 when I got up and hopped in the shower.. mom had just started stirring. By the time I was out, she was almost ready and had her coffee made. Minutes later we were walking over to Uncle Keith and Aunt Kathy’s cabin. They were already up, ready, and watching the mist evaporate off of the water on the lake. It really was gorgeous out there.

We went back to the restaurant from yesterday and changed up our orders. Man, it was just as good as it was the day before, if not better. I got bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit, plus 3 pancakes. I ate all but just a few bites. So so yummy. After eating, we headed back to the cabins so we could all pack up. Mom brought me my warmer sleeping bag, and it absolutely sucks that it takes up so much space in the bottom of my pack. I end up having to cram everything else in where it’s supposed to fit easily.. now it bulges at the top. I also sent some stuff home with mom that I haven’t needed and random things I’ve collected over the last month that I want to keep but don’t want to tote.

Once the SUV was loaded down with all of our things, Uncle Keith started the 30 minute drive to the gravel road in the mountains to drop me off, Aunt Kathy riding shotgun and mom sitting beside me. I caught myself getting increasingly sad as we drove. Then, they joked that they could just drive home with me in the car, since I had all my belongings with me-but as nice as it sounded, I knew I’d never forgive myself if I bailed this close to finishing this accomplishment. The idea of it did sound way too enticing!

When we pulled up to the AT crossing on Walnut Mountain Road, Finch was sitting there eating a snack. It worked perfectly to ease moms eeriness of me walking off into the woods alone, never mind the fact that I’ve been doing it for more than 5 months now. I introduced him to everyone and then set to telling them each bye with hugs all around. The one thing making me smile was knowing the next time I’d see them, I should be crossing under the arch at Amicalola State Park. For now, that will have to do, and it’ll motivate me to get my butt there.. sooner rather than later.

I waved bye again, then I followed after Finch, letting him stay ahead since he’d already been hiking a few hours by now. He was all warmed up, I was most definitely not. I ended up turning on an audiobook and cruised along. Around 3pm, I stopped at a road crossing and ate my lunch.. more out of not wanting to carry the weight of it any longer than hunger.

I passed a waterfall and some pretty creeks, then
I eventually made it to Mountain Harbour B&B. I checked in, got a beer and a Mountain Dew, then went to set up my tent along the creek that runs through the property. Once unpacked, I headed back to the main building, got another beer and ordered dinner: Philly cheesesteak sandwich with parmesan fries. Lizard and Finch ended up camping, too. The creek makes for a pretty backdrop to camp next to. While we all ate dinner, along with Roundhouse, a hiker we’ve previously split a shuttle with out of Damascus to slack pack.. the 4 of us decided to slack pack tomorrow, after the huge breakfast they serve here..

I’m looking forward to that breakfast in the morning. It’s apparently AT award worthy, the best breakfast on the trail. I’m ready to test that for myself! I’m worried I won’t fall asleep easy tonight, since I drank that Mountain Dew so late. I’m going to give it my best effort anyway.. so, goodnight, y’all!

I woke up just after 8am feeling refreshed and well rested. Mom and I got ready and met Uncle Keith and Aunt Kathy across the way at their cabin to go to breakfast. Their cabin had the best views of Lake Watauga.. the mountains jutting up around the crystal blue water with trees dazzling us with all of their fall colors. Our cabin had views of the houseboats on the marina, beautiful in their own way.. like the painted ladies of the lake.

We all piled into the SUV and Uncle Keith drove us to the only restaurant that seemed to be open in the tiny town of Hampton, Tennessee. It was named “Amber’s Country Cooking” and it was exactly that-perfectly made country breakfasts with portions bigger than our heads! I actually couldn’t eat all my food this time.. I don’t know if my body realized we weren’t hiking today or if it truly was just that much food. Either way, it was very good! Biscuits and gravy, fried eggs, hash browns, bacon, cheese grits, and a huge glass of orange juice. Whew buddy!

After breakfast, we drove into Elizabethon right on the outskirts of Johnson City and found an actual Ingles grocery store for me to resupply at. It was nice to have so many options without the crowded chaos of Walmart. While this was a chore I didn’t want to have to do, it had to be done and the vehicle made it so much easier!
When we left the grocery store we headed back towards Hampton and followed the signs through the countryside to the Wilber and Watauga dams.. I crossed the Watauga dam on the way into Boots Off 2 days ago and I knew it was gorgeous, so I was excited to see the signs and to know it’s apparently easy to drive to so they could see it’s beauty in person, too.

The countryside was just as stunning as the dams themselves. The mountains speckled with farmhouses and barns, cows and Christmas tree farms. The water only added to the magic of it all. Such a simpler life out here, away from all the cars and city life. We stopped at the top of the Wilber dam first.. the water being clear in some spots all the way to the bottom. When we got to close to the Watauga dam we had to park and walk.. and ended up connecting with the AT and walking the exact part of the trail I had. It was surreal to have my favorite people there, literally walking in my footsteps.

We took the hike down to the waterway and over the dam, enjoying the breeze and dreading the return up the hill we just hiked down. I showed Aunt Kathy the app FarOut introduced me to, Seek, that allows you to point your camera at just about anything in nature-animals and insects along with plants, trees, and flowers, and it will tell you what it is. We took pictures and simply enjoyed each other’s company.

I’ve known that I miss my family, I’ve known that I love being around them-but being with them today has made me want to hurry home even more than I already have.. it’s a strange feeling, to absolutely love the challenge I’m in, love the serenity of the trail, the people I encounter, meet, become friends with, and then to also be day dreaming about life after the trail already, about being finished.. so I can be around my family and friends and see and do the things I’ve missed. I don’t want to come across as unsatisfied or unhappy, because I’m far from both of those things-but I miss my people a whole lot.

Anyway-we hiked back to the car and then drove back down the mountain. Back at Wilber Dam, mom noticed a side road that went down to access the water. We decided to go that way and explore the creek. Water was spilling through the “overflow” thing-mom knew that’s what it was-and as we were exploring and using Seek to identify the wildflowers, the generators turned on and released some water, making the creek quickly rise within minutes. One second my foot was on dry creek bed, the next my pantslegs we’re getting soaked! It wasn’t the lift of a gate and a flood of water like I was imagining, but still pretty dang cool.

We left there and did some site seeing around the creek and the pastures nearby, fantasizing about owning land on the water with a cute little cabin or a even a hostel somewhere. When we started getting hungry for lunch, we went back into town and got Zaxbys-and took it to go eat at a picnic table in a park we had passed. Laughing and talking non stop, we ate and people watched and loved life. The sun was shining, the wind was blowing lazily, the skies were perfectly blue. I couldn’t have been happier.

We eventually made our way back to the cabins and explored around there.. down to the docks on the lake, over to the marina side, to a bench with a view. We ended on Uncle Keith and Aunt Kathys cabin porch, never quite catching up with all we had to talk about. This day couldn’t have turned out to be more perfect.

I got a call from Poptart around 4:30. I was expecting her call, knowing that if I missed her today, I’d miss her completely. When I started southbound from Harper’s Ferry, she started northbound from Springer Mountain in Georgia. We knew we’d eventually cross paths, but had we not been in contact, she’d have passed me while I was zeroing today! So, we made a plan to get dinner together tonight, as long as my family didn’t mind-which of course they didn’t!

Uncle Keith and I picked her up from the Dollar General in town that she walked to from the trail.. crazy girl could have called sooner and we’d have happily picked her up from the trailhead. I was so happy to see her! We hugged before getting all her goodies in the trunk. Because she was staying at Boots Off hostel, we stopped by there to let her check in and set her stuff up so her laundry would be done by the time she got back and her spot claimed since it would be dark after dinner.

We got back to the cabins and I introduced her to mom and Aunt Kathy, then she finally got to go shower-with moms nice toiletry stuff brought from home. While she showered, I painted my toenails while sitting on the porch of Uncle Keith and Aunt Kathys cabin talking with them and mom. I’m shocked we were still yammering on so much, not even so much as a pause in our chatter. When Poptart got finished, she joined us. She fit right in! There’s never a dull moment with this family.

We decided on Mexican for dinner, and loaded up to head back into the bigger city, as absolutely everything in Hampton was closed. The restaurant was the size of a football field, I’m pretty sure it used to be a Kmart or something.. it was ginormous! We all enjoyed our food, especially the cheese dip-the margaritas were subpar but it didn’t matter. Stuffed and wobbling out, we made our way back to Boots Off to drop off Poptart and then head home. We spent even more time on that porch before going to bed.

When mom and I finally did go to our cabin and get ready for bed, all I could think about is how I don’t want this to end. I don’t want it to already be the end of the night and time to sleep. But sadly, it is. We were all worn out from our sightseeing, good food, laughing and fun. I’m laying here now and mom is already sound asleep and my eyelids are drooping, but I miss them all and this family time so much already. I have a feeling tomorrow is going to be a tough one for me.. but this day has truly been incredible.

Sweet dreams.

Start: Walnut Mountain Road (AT mi 405.8). Stop: Boots Off Hostel (AT mi 428.4). Today’s miles: 22.6 miles. Total AT mileage: 1787.3 miles.

Today was tough. Even for a slack pack. I think I was in a foul mood to start with, since I didn’t sleep very well. By midnight I was down to my undies in my little bunk (thank God each bunk had its own privacy curtains) because I was so flippin hot! When I decided to put a shirt on to go to the bathroom, I also decided I was turning that dang heater down too. The man that turned it on in the first place set it to 76 degrees. SEVENTY-SIX. Y’all, the only way the thermostat at home hits 76 is if it’s broken.. I promptly dropped it to 72, still way too hot for my preference, but would hopefully be more manageable than the sauna I was baking in.

I did eventually drift off to sleep after that.. but it wasn’t very restful. When 7 am rolled around I was cranky and didn’t want to get up to get ready for the long day ahead. I did though, knowing that my mom would be getting here when I got done. I packed my stuff up into 2 packs, my day pack stuff and then everything else in my regular pack that I was leaving at the hostel. I wasn’t going to sleep at the hostel, so I didn’t want to take up a bunk or leave my stuff laid out to get moved around while I was gone.

I ate “breakfast” aka: 2 donuts and a banana.. and got ready to leave by 7:45 with another hiker. He got dropped off before me, and at 8:30 I was starting my almost 23 miles back to the hostel. I don’t know if it was my irritation or the actual trail, but it felt tougher today. My legs were tired and it felt more uphill than the elevation profile showed it to be. My hips are also rashy and raw from the rain yesterday chaffing them, so they would randomly sting if a scab opened any. It did make me happy to slack pack instead of hike out with my full pack today.

It had rained overnight and some this morning, but it wasn’t raining when I got moving.. it was pretty saturated though, making some steps a bit slippery. Even still, I kept an ok pace. I’m still shocked I was able to do that 27 mile day recently, because today took longer than that to complete, and today was significantly shorter. Every little thing matters.. and my body is clearly telling me I need a zero. Luckily, I’d be doing that tomorrow with my mom!

I had some pretty scenery, mostly damp leaves and a few flowing creeks. I passed the Hardcore Cascades and the Laurel Fork Falls, which were stunning. Right after Laurel Fork Falls I had a gorgeous walk by the creek the falls created, rocky but beautiful.. followed by the climb up 1700 ish foot of elevation gain to the top of the Pond Mountain Wilderness, and then back down the other side. It did have switchbacks, for which I was eternally grateful.

I made it back to Boots Off sometime after 5pm-probably closer to 6, with the sky dumping rain the last 20 or 30 minutes of my hike. I organized my things and then showered quickly, so I’d be ready when mom showed up. She was originally thinking she’d be there to get me by 6pm, but then she hit quite a bit of rain on the way up, slowing her progress. Now it was looking closer to 7pm before she’d get there, it was already pouring and starting to get dark. I was hungry, but mom had agreed to Karaoke, so I knew we’d be heading to dinner soon enough.

Lizard and I hung out while I waited for mom and Lizard waited for her pizza. She had decided she would pass on Karaoke since it was a 25 minute drive, it was already getting late, and she had to hike out in the morning. I completed understood her reservations.. being without a car and far from “home” for the night is stressful and she’d have probably gotten back pretty late, especially by hiker standards.

Around 7, I saw a familiar SUV drive up the driveway and start the process of turning around.. I wasn’t completely sure if that was who I thought it was or if it was Lizard’s pizza, but in my excitement I ran out to the driveway anyway! Turns out, my mom surprised me by coming with my Aunt Kathy and Uncle Keith!! AND it was Aunt Kathy’s birthday!! I was SHOCKED! She and I had recently been texting and I had no clue she was on her way to see me! What a happy happy day this turned out to be!

I introduced Lizard to my family after I gave hugs all around. Finally after a little chit chatting, I put my stuff in the SUV and we said our byes to Lizard to head to Karaoke. I wasn’t sure that they’d be interested, I wasn’t even sure if mom had told them about it.. but she had and they all wanted to go! It ended up being an absolute blast! The Station at 19E was a bar, restaurant, and hostel just outside of Roan, Tennessee. It had an old honky tonk feel to it. Inside, after we ordered our food and we found a high top bar to sit at, I went and said hi to Zebra, Smash, and MashedPotato.. Sunshine was onstage singing when we came in!

Everyone met my family, we ate our food while my friends and the locals all took turns singing on stage.. it was fantastic! There was also a Great Dane doggo that I harassed a bit, too. I couldn’t help myself, he was too big to not hug.. and I swear he liked it. Mom fed him some chicken (after getting permission) and he stayed around quite a bit after that. Bribery at its finest.

I didn’t do any singing on stage, but I did get on the dance floor and cut loose with my friends. It was hysterical and so so much fun. Looking over and seeing my mom, aunt, and uncle smiling and singing along just made it that much more incredible. We all even ended up singing happy birthday to Aunt Kathy (and apparently to the other 2 birthday people there..). I hope they all had as much fun as I did.. because it probably was one of the most fun nights on trail. Definitely one for the books!

When we finally left, I was a bit tipsy and I’m pretty sure I talked and giggled the whole way to our cabins. We told Uncle Keith the wrong entrance and he almost drove up a golf cart path.. along the lake.. I found it hysterical, I’m pretty sure he found it less so. Eventually we located the correct place that housed our keys, and then we found the actual appropriate cabins..

We unloaded our stuff and within minutes of walking in the door, I was asleep on the fold out couch. Haha, play hard sleep hard I guess! I finally got good, cool sleep! And, better yet, my 3 favorite people are with me! Life is good.