April 11 - 20ish / 302ish miles

Since I am really not at a well defined spot, I am not sure how far I actually am. I know we made it over Big Butt Mtn (300.1) and past by a grave stone. I didn't stop to read this one, but I am assuming it was the Shelton Graves which are at 301.7 miles. If not, then it was someone else's. We have probably seen 3 or 4 head stones over the last two days. The Shelton Graves are those of an uncle and nephew. Both joined the Union Army and were ambushed by Confederate soldiers while returning for a family gathering. See this is an educational trip also.

We were sluggish getting out of camp again this morning. We planned for 8, but didn't make it out until after 9. The stay in the city still has us going slow. The first few miles flew by. We made it to Allen Gap (NC 208/TN 70) in a little over an hour. That was almost a 4 mph pace. I had read about Fal and Hercules in another blog a few years back. They are a couple who opens up their house to thru hikers and offers them free food no matter the time of the day. This has been one of the places I have been looking forward to most. All I knew is that it was around the road crossing and expected to see a note beside the trail telling us where to go. We split up and went both directions down the road. We came up with nothing after about 20 minutes. I ran into some guys who have been hiking these woods for some time now. One of the guys thought he had heard about them too, but wasn't sure exactly where to go. They were very friendly gentlemen and we spoke for some time. I gave one of them my blog. I apologize for not getting their names, but I hope they take the time to follow me. They mentioned that the people we were looking for my be at the next road which was about another 1.5 miles down the trail. We put our packs on and headed on.

The next road was a dirt road. We headed for the only house we could see. We were met by a nice guy who had his baby in a thing in front of him and what appeared to be whiskey. This looked to be a vacation home for him, and he had a pretty sweet setup. We asked him about the couple, but he didn't know either. Therefore we went the other direction toward a hostel we knew was 0.6 miles down the road. As we walked into the building (which also has a lot of potential even though it was a little walk), we were met by an older gentleman. I asked if he happened to be who we were looking for. He said he was not. Well crappo. Since we were now at his place/store we figured we would eat lunch. I grabbed a frozen hamburger, a snickers, and a Dr. Pepper. This and a freeze dried meal cost me almost 14 dollars. These people can rip you off. We took our tome eating our lunch, playing with some dogs, and laying in the sun. I did start to get on the computer to reread about Fal and Hercules when than man spoke up and told me they were out West taking care of their parents. I don't know why he waited 30 minutes to tell me this when he could have told me as soon as I asked about them. Maybe he was afraid we would leave before buying stuff. The guys wife eventually came into the store. She didn't seem to happy. Most people we encounter who help hikers are some of the coolest/nicest people in the world. This couple was the exception. After a while of being there we were ready to get away from them. We got in the back of their son's pick up and hitched back to the trail. I think we all felt the effects of lunch soon after.

As we were approaching Little Laurel Shelter, a trail maintenance guy warned us of a guy further down on the trail who was asking for food and water. He said the guy seemed out of place with no pack or anything else. We made it to the shelter and informed the others. We sat at the shelter relaxing and refilling some water out of the spring. Shortly after, the guy matching the description walks past. It ended up just being a local. We all laughed cause the trail main. guy made it sound like this guy was going to be freaky...not even close. A couple who had moved her from India also stopped by. They go hiking every Sunday. They were awesome to talk with and were more grateful to be speaking with us.

The rest of the day brought about some pretty spectacular views. The first was from Whitestack Cliffs. The next came from Blackstack Cliffs. Blackstack was a ridge line with few to little trees. It did take some maneuvering over and around boulders to make it across. At points the cliff dropped off a few 1000 feet. It offered pretty sweet views though.

We made it down the cliffs and to Jerry Cabin Shelter. We just stopped to eat dinner since all of us wanted to push on a little further. At the shelter was "Greatful" and his dog, a three year old golden lab. We spoke with him until he headed off toward his tent. In the shelter were some nice trekking poles. DS went to go ask whose they were so no one would forget them. He came back and left them in the shelter. For dinner tonight was the freeze dried meal I bought at Hemlock Hollow. It was not too bad for Jamaican BBQ Chicken. I didn't taste the bbq part though.

We finished out meals and headed on with about an hour of light. We crossed over Big Butt Mtn and ended up at this camp site along the trail. The last one to arrive in the dark was "Skywalker" (aka Skylar). As he walked up he made a comment about the new poles he got at the last shelter that Will had put back. Will was dumbfounded and then said they were Greatful's. He was just leaving them in the shelter until the morning. Now Skywalker has to figure out how to return them.

The saga will continue...

BT