Day 31 – Hot Springs to Spring Mountain Shelter: mile 275.0 to mile 285.9
After a big breakfast at the Smokey Mountain Diner, we started our hike out of Hot Springs. After crossing the river, the trail left the road and followed the river for a bit before heading uphill. As we climbed back up to hiking elevation, the overcast sky began to clear. By late morning, it was mostly sunny but the temperature was a bit cooler than the day before but nothing like our last days in the Smokies.
We saw a lot of flowers and even a cherry tree with some blossoms. Our stop for the night was only about 11 miles out, our shortest for the next week or so. As we got ready for bed, it was getting chilly out. Overnight lows would get close to freezing.
Day 32 – Spring Mountain Shelter to Jerry’s Cabin Shelter: mile 285.9 to mile 301.9
We got a relatively early start for our near 16 mile day. We had a couple of nice instances of trail magic. First was homemade cookies set near the trail. Evidently the woman that owns the home a short distance from the trail crossing on this dirt road leaves homemade cookies for hikers on a regular basis. The second instance of trail magic was something special.
As we approached Little Laurel Shelter, it was getting close to noon so we figured we’d eat lunch at the shelter. As we approached the shelter, we saw two guys close to our age and initially thought they were hikers. Then we noticed the table setup with all the classic trail magic goodies: a grill for hot dogs, some fresh fruit, some cookies, baked beans, and even chocolate milk. Chocolate milk is somehow extra yummy when you’re hungry and have been working hard.
Trail magic at a shelter in the middle of the woods? Turns out the two men co-own a camp that is about a mile and a half down a side trail. They tote all this stuff up here and setup for trail magic one Saturday each year. One of the gentleman went by the name of Tar Heel Boy as he was a big UNC fan. With the big semifinal game against Duke, he instantly had a bunch of new fans to root on the Tar Heels. It must have worked as they pulled off the upset. Unfortunately they couldn’t hang on against Kansas in the final.
Our progress was slowed significantly by the terrain along an exposed ridge. There is an optional bad weather route around the rocky ridge line , so you know it’s not your normal ridge line. The views along it were gorgeous, but we did have to do a lot of climbing up and down rocky hills.
Shortly before arriving at our day’s destination, we crossed mile 300 of our journey. Each hundred is coming a bit quicker and soon we’ll be doing a hundred a week.
Day 33 – Jerry’s Cabin Shelter to Hogback Ridge Shelter: mile 301.9 to mile 317.3
Pleasant hike today with easy going for the first half of the day. An early highlight, about 3.7 miles into the hike, was the Shelton gravesite for a pair of Union soldiers that were killed while visiting family in the Confederacy during the Civil War.
We spent a brief moment hiking through a meadow. The day ended with a very long hard uphill climb. Near the end of the climb, the little white flowers that were frequently seen became more abundant, blanketing the forest floor in white.
Day 34 – Hogback Ridge Shelter to No Business Knob Shelter: mile 317.3 to mile 338.0
We got up before sunrise because we wanted to try and get 20 miles in today. Most of the hard climbing would be in the first half of the day. Right before we were about to climb Bald Mountain, I realized I lost a glove. Shortly after realizing it was missing, a couple came by and said they saw it but decided not to pick it up. The said it was back about 1/4 mile. Turned out to be closer to 3/4 of a mile but someone picked it up and I met them about 1/2 mile back. So I walked an extra mile today.
The climb up Bald Mountain was pretty strenuous, but the payoff was more than worth it. The views on Bald Mountain were amazing.
After taking in the views, we resumed our hike and after a stop for lunch, we trudged on. We debated whether to stop short of the shelter at a stealth campsite or push on. The only stealth site on the way was not too great and the weather was perfect so we pushed on to complete our first 20+ mile day!
About a half mile before reaching the shelter, I noticed a hiker behind us. I had to do a double take. Was this dude carrying a big log? Yes, yes he was. Turns out it’s his thing and he is raising money for the Wounded Warrior Project. We were pretty proud of ourselves for plowing through our first 20 mile day. He was about to log 30 miles for the day!
Day 35 – No Business Knob Shelter to Uncle Johnny’s Hostel: mile 338.0 to mile 344.2
We did a long day yesterday so that this morning’s hike would be relatively short. Just over 6 miles took us to Uncle Johnny’s Hostel on the outskirts of Erwin. We arrived around 11:00 am. We took a shower and then borrowed a couple loaner bikes to ride about 3 miles to a pizza place with all you can eat buffet between 11:00 am and 2:00 pm. We rushed through in order to get back before the big rain storm arrived. We made it with about 20 minutes to spare.
It was a good night to take a NERO as it will be heavy rain until after midnight. Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and approaching 80 degrees. We are going to tweak our plans and arrive at The Station at 19E on Friday night. That will be 3 consecutive 17 mile days. We can do it! We’ll then take two zeros and relax, recharge and watch the weekend at the Masters. I hear Tiger is going to play. Hope he makes the cut.
Something Interesting
As shown before, I wear a Garmin Fenix 6 watch and use it to track our hike each day. I have a display I got off their marketplace that shows an incredible amount of information on one screen. The second row shows, in order, the total ascent for the day, the current elevation, and the total descent for the day. I thought it was interesting that after more than 15 miles of hiking these three numbers were within 6 feet of each other. There is no limit to what you ponder or find entertaining while hiking for hours on end.
| Day | Miles | Total Asc | Total Desc | Steps |
| 31 | 10.9 | 4002 | 1778 | 32372 |
| 32 | 16.0 | 4304 | 3736 | 45423 |
| 33 | 15.4 | 3953 | 3809 | 46071 |
| 34 | 20.7 | 5183 | 6272 | 61309 |
| 35 | 6.2 | 662 | 2136 | 23503 |
Amazing stuff! Love all the magic and flowers and log man!(
It has not been lost on us that your daily distances are getting longer and longer. You definitely will be doing 20 mile days on a regular basis real soon. You guys are going to be hiking machines by the time you are done. Once you reach the end in Maine, do one of your 45 minute runs and see how that compares to what you were doing before this big adventure.
The amount of Trail Magic is astounding! I am sure it is much appreciated.
Enjoy your down weekend. Jim’s cousin is back working the Master’s again. Maybe that can be next year’s goal for you!
I forgot to add, LOVE the videos. They really give us a sense of what you are seeing and hiking.
Love that watch! So much information. Great views from the Balds! Can’t believe that guy is carrying a log! Wow!
All great stuff. The tombstones were interesting. Millard lived just 13 years, so clearly this Millard was a descendant of an original Millard whose descendants other than this Millard erected the Millard site.
Hope that makes sense as I did partake of one of my amazing brownies…
I feel like I’m there with you. Thanks for the great journaling. It takes effort especially when you’re trail weary! Troutville VA is my first home and the homebase of my mother’s family. My cousin’s store Thriftway has served as a restocking post and the post office is nearby. If you stop in Troutville let me know. Enjoy the Masters. I hope you got our beers. Great job!!!
Will definitely let you know ahead of any stop in Troutville. We’ll talk to them about your beers tonight. We got some last night but not from you. They were busy. New blog soon with videos.