Appalachian Trail & Telecommunications

Well, AT&T doesn't stand for Appalachian Trails and Telecommunications because I have almost no reception out on the Trail.  That's why all four of you haven't heard from me in a while.

Today is April 4th, and I just got into Erwin, TN where I'll be staying at Uncle Johnny's Hostel for the night.  Indoor bed, shower, and a Mexican restaurant in town make this an ideal place.

Since my last post, I had my ass kicked by the Great Smokey Mountain National Park, stayed at the Standing Bear Hostel, and spent a couple days in a cabin with my lovely bride.

The GSMNP is the only place on the AT which requires money to hike, so I paid $20 to a government organization that I already pay via taxes so that I could walk on mountains.  Anyway, it was a unique experience up there because of the high elevation and unique weather that occurs up there.  Because of its status, hikers are required to stay in the established shelters, which means easy transfer of norovirus, which happens every year.  I was lucky enough to have been skipped over by this bug.
One day and into the night gave us about 8 to 10 inches of snow to deal with about halfway through the park.  The snow melted then froze again overnight a couple times, which allowed me to use my micro spikes to avoid slipping all over the place like those without them.
When leaving the GSMNP, I stayed at the Standing Bear Hostel overnight while waiting for my wife to pick me up for a couple of days in a cabin.  The Standing Bear is definitely a unique experience.  "Rustic" is probably the best word to describe the accommodations.  There was pizza and there was beer.  Those of us that stayed overnight had a good time by the campfire downing lots of the beers worthy of the blue ribbon they won and the competition where they won the blue ribbon.  Not sure where it was, but, damnit, those beers were good! 

The next day was when Neisha showed up to take me away as if she were Calgon.  My two dogs who hadn't seen me in a while were in the car with her, and apparently wanted to eat my face off when they saw me walking to the car.  One sniff of my dirty hiker hand, and they realized who I was, and they promptly shut the hell up.  Our 2 days in the cabin was definitely a good time.  I got to screw up a couple expensive Harris Teeter steaks, but it beat the hell out of instant mashed potatoes and Clif bars.  Dinner the second night was hamburgers and a pound of bacon for the burgers and baked taters.  A majority of that pound of bacon went into my face hole while I was cooking.  Bacon is good.

The 2 days off from the trail put me behind the people I was hiking with for the previous 2 or 3 weeks, but it also allowed me to start hiking with a new group of people.  At this point (37 days of hiking) I am running into lots of new people who started after me, but hike faster than me, as well as lots of familiar faces from as far back as 5 weeks ago.  Overall, it has been a great experience, and I am looking forward to making some more good miles.

Oh yeah, if you want to stay connected while on the trail, get Verizon.  The only people I see using their phones on a consistent basis all have Verizon.