Somewhere Better
When I woke up at the Jenkins Shelter at mile 580 or so, I was super happy to find that it hadn’t rained overnight. I’d taken a risk by leaving my wet clothes out, and fortunately, it paid off. I had dry clothes to put on this morning, so yay for no rain!
Last night, some of the other hikers were joking that the deer who were kind of lurking around our campsite were going to find my clothes and eat them because they were so salty from all my sweat. So I’d be hiking only partially covered or maybe in my sleep clothes. I’m happy to report that that didn’t happen, though, and I was up and out by 7:30, fully dressed.
I’d feared that today might be a bit of a repeat of yesterday, when the map made the hike look reasonably challenging but it turned out to be super challenging instead. Thankfully, it was rather benign. Still some ups and downs and a few difficult climbs, but the terrain wasn't terribly rocky, which is what makes for slow going.
About five miles into the day, I bumped into two older gentlemen who had just met and who had bonded over their recent bouts with cancer. Thankfully, both are cancer free at the moment.
One had had pancreatic cancer, and the other had had bone cancer, and their treatments had been very tough on their bodies. They’re both seasoned hikers, but because of their illnesses, they’d obviously had to take a long hiatus while they were going through treatment. They found each other online, and now they're hiking a little bit and doing five to seven miles per day and camping selectively and staying in hostels other times. Their attitudes were just unbelievably positive and inspirational. I really enjoyed talking to them, and it was actually quite emotional at times. I wish now that I’d gotten a picture of them, but I had been just so engrossed in our conversation that I completely forgot.
After I spoke with them, off I went up the hill. A few miles later, I got passed by a guy who had passed me the first time a few days earlier. And the funny thing about the trail is that you’re constantly leapfrogging with other hikers. You know, fast hikers will pass you by, and then they'll take a zero day, and you end up passing them, and then they pass you again. It's a very strange continuum. But anyway, the first time this guy passed me, he was just cruising. I stepped aside to give him space, and as he whizzed by, he said, “Hey, man! What's up? I'm The Juice.” and just kept on trucking.
So, not a lot of conversation. But I got a chance to talk to him a bit at the trailhead today and asked about his trail name. Apparently, he kept dropping his glove early on in the hike, and when people would find and return it to him, they’d always joke about whether or not it was actually his glove and how he’d have to try it on to prove that it fit. Of course, that hearkens back to the O.J. trial: “If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit.” So now he’s known as The Juice, for better for worse.
He's quite a character. He also told me a story about how he and one other guy had gotten off the trail for a night and were sharing a hotel room. They were cutting loose a bit and having some beers, and at one point, through the window, the other guy saw some people out in the parking lot that they knew. So for a joke, he dropped his trousers and mooned them. Well, someone else in the parking lot saw him and reported the guys, and both of them got arrested!
So The Juice had to take two zeros in Hiawassee, Georgia, while he was in jail, and now he has to stay in constant touch with his bail bonds person. So he’s always sending her pictures from the trail to prove where he is and what he’s doing. Like, “Here’s a waterfall” and “Here’s a cool view.” At least he finds the whole situation funny.
Okay, so I’d made myself a reservation for the night at the Big Walker Motel, and they recommended that I call a guy named Chuck who could pick me up from the trail and give me a ride. And when I talked to Chuck about picking me up, I said I’d call him from the Brushy Mountain Outpost, because I was going to have a burger there first. He wasn’t on board with that plan for some reason and said, “Can I take you somewhere better?” I said sure, and he was like, “Okay, just call me when you get down off the trail.”
So the trail sort of spills out into a neighborhood that’s full of kind of dilapidated homes and mobile homes and, you know, gravel roads, and there's this dimly lit shack-type place called the Brushy Mountain Outpost. It has some spartan shelves, a cooler, and a pretty grungy looking grill in the back. The people seemed nice, but Chuck didn't want me to eat there. So he picked me up and brought me to a place called the DownShift Diner, which has this kitchy ’50s vibe. I got a chicken sandwich with some fried pickles, which was great, and finished things off with a peppermint milkshake, which was awesome.
Chuck then drove me over to the Big Walker Motel, and if you’ve driven on highway 77, kind of where 77 and 81 are the same near Wytheville, you can see this motel up off the side of the highway. It sort of looks mid-century modern, with a big A-frame office in the middle and rooms spilling out on either side. I've definitely seen it before, and now I'm staying here, which is kind of funny.
I immediately took a shower, which was glorious, and then hand-washed my socks and underwear a bit and hung them up to dry. Then I walked down to the Dollar General, which was about three-quarters of a mile down the way. I was able to resupply a bit, and I got to use the gift card my mother-in-law gave me for my hike, which was a nice bonus. So thank you, Kathy!
I had to walk along the road, so I’m glad I was able to get there and back without getting hit. There’s a Circle K right next door, and I jumped into it to grab a beer for the room, but their system was down. So I went back to the motel to organize my food and such a bit, but then I tried the Circle K again. Lo and behold, the system was back up. They could only take cash, but I had enough and got myself a nice Devil’s Backbone 16-Point Imperial Lager, which was delightful.
Now I'm working on my plans to meet up with my friend Charlie in about a week. It requires a little logistics of trying to determine, you know, how many miles do I need to do per day going forward and where will that put me and is there a road crossing and is that road crossing within a reasonable distance of a resupply, and so on. Charlie's probably going to spend about a week with me, and I don't want either of us carrying more than three or four days’ worth of food. I think I’ve identified a good spot, so now I can relax, and in a little bit, I’ll have a call with S. and then call it a night.
