Hostel Hopping

(From about two weeks ago)
The past few days we have been hostel hopping! Going to hostels is part of the AT experience because you get to meet the people who have really devoted themselves to the trail community and get to see towns that you would've never seen otherwise!
After leaving Greasy Creek Friendly we hiked to Overmountain Shelter which is this renovated barn that could easy hold 30 or more hikers. The day after we went to a hostel, Mountain Harbor Hostel! It was a decent sized farm with a nice hostel on top of the barn. In the morning they served such an amazing. Definitely the best breakfast I've had on and off the trail! The day after we went to the Vango/Abby Memorial Hostel and got the one private room there, with a real bed and TV. The hostel in run by a very kind 3 time thruhiker named Scotty who was extremely friendly and hospitable. He had some of his buddies there who were triple crowners so there were plenty of stories shared all through the night! They were also doing trail magic and grilled us up plenty of burgers and hot dogs. We liked it so much there that we spent the next day there too! It might have been the people, the bed, or the Ben and Jerry's but Sara and I just didn't want to leave! However the next day we decide we didn't want to fall too far behind our buddies and left the hostel.
We hiked out around 10 and arrived at the infamous Kincora hostel run by the trail legend Bob People's around 4! Bob was a really interesting fellow who knew a lot about the trail. He even told us about some of the trails he plans on doing this summer! Baltimore Jack was also there cooking up food for the hikers. Two trail legends in one day! As far as the hostel was it was good for the price. We were happy to get back on the trail the next day!
We hit the trail early! The first time in awhile. It felt good being back out on the AT knowing we were going to be staying in the woods. I missed the tent believe It or not. Out of Hampton the trail goes up and down 1700 feet in a 7 mile span. One view but mostly a big pain in the butt. Before we did the climb we took a side trail to get into town for lunch. We met a very sweet lady who was so excited when she generously offered us a ride back to the trail. She asked all sorts of questions and told us how she dreamed of doing it one day. Deborah was so sweet she even offered us food and drink! A real trail angel! I gave her a big hug as we said goodbyes. Back on the trail we felt great! It must of been the full tummies and great vibes from lunch. We took our time and got it done. We got to our campsite around 430 and decided to try and hike into town for dinner! We've been treating ourselves lately. We met this strange old thruhiker. He gave us and our friends a ride back to the campsite. When one of our friends lost her hat in the wind he immediately pulled over and drive back for it. Without stopping he opened his door and scooped it up! He was quite a character and probably gave us one of our most action-packed rides thus far! Hampton is quite a place with a lot of great, kind, and interesting people. Hopefully I will see them all again at trail days!
With love,
Comrade and Sara

Roan Mountain and Fog

The past two days have been difficult. I think the weather being so crappy and not getting enough calories has made things seem harder. It's discouraging to climb to the top of a mountain to find no views, only fog. Luckily, two of the taller mountains we have climbed today and yesterday had beautiful spruce forests at their summits. It was reminiscent of The Smokies and made the climbs worthwhile. We were glad to get to the shelter today after nearly 17 miles, it's a converted barn and huge! Enough space for everyone, unlike the hostel we stayed at last night which was packed! It was a nice little place though, The Greasy Creek Friendly. The woman who runs it, Cee Cee, is really nice and a little eccentric. It was mostly just nice to get out of the rain.

Anyway, the forecast for tomorrow is looking better, and the terrain should be easier, or so YNØT2K tells us. Hopefully we'll see the sun!

Much Love,
Sara

Erwin

Not exactly the place you expect to stay for four nights. But Erwin, Tennessee is where a lot of people just get stuck. Not that we meant to, it just sort of... happened. We got a ride from Sam's Gap to Uncle Johnny's Hostel in Erwin. The two are about 25 trail miles apart. So the next day we slack packed (carried a day pack much lighter than our normal packs) from Sam's back to Johnny's. And then we stayed. Two more days. It was just hard to leave in the rain. We ate Mexican food three times. We played with the dog that a hiker, Just, found in the woods and adopted. We bought a book for 25 cents from the library. We watched the Nolichucky River rise into a raging brown flood.

And finally the rain stopped and we left. On the way out we stood on the bridge over that flooded river and watched as entire tree trunks and picnic tables floated by. The trails were very wet, and more than once I had to stop and make sure we hadn't turned onto a small stream.

And then we had one of my favorite days on the trail. The hiking was easy enough, I felt stronger than I have in the past, and the surroundings were beautiful. And even though sometimes this journey seems ridiculously difficult, and our feet hurt and the up hills seem so impossibly steep, I always find that I am happy at the end of the day. Proud of myself, proud of Max. Even though we aren't the fastest hikers or doing crazy miles, I know that with patience eventually we will get there. I have seen too many hikers pushing themselves to do more miles than they can physically do, just to end up hurt and going home. The main goal is to avoid that, and to enjoy ourselves. No need to rush.

Sara

P.S. We apologize for not posting as religiously as we have been before. At the end of the day we're tired, or lazy, but we'll try to pick it up again.