As I felt better I made a firm decision of what to do. I was going to have to miss fifteen miles plus the six back to Galinfro Gap so what with lost time and wanting to make the Trails Day festival in Damascus on 13 May I decided my best option was to miss out a bigger section which I could come back and complete on another occasion. There are no rules about how you do the trail, some purists would have it that you had to start at one end and finish at the other in one trip and everyone has their own opinion but the facts are that many people do the trail in sections, some start in the middle and then go back to the start when they have finished and some do it in no particular order. The only real rule and the absolute right way to do it is to 'hike your own hike'! So I looked at the guide and chose Hampton Tennessee as my destination. It meant missing out a total of 159.7 miles but also it was less than fifty miles from Damascus and therefore if my leg still wasn't right I had plenty of time to do some short days and still make trail days. There it was, I was happy and at ease with my decision and I could still be a two thousand miler this year. Solo, the hostel owners husband, was doing a shuttle pick up in Erwin on Tuesday and had already mentioned that I could get a lift with him as he was taking a fellow hiker Stoney with him aswell. Once I told him of my plans he rubbed his chin and said he'd got friends in Hampton and that if we left on Monday he could stop the night there and do his pickup on Tuesday still. More brilliant luck and he said as I'd paid enough in staying there he wouldn't charge me for the shuttle. I felt much better knowing a plan was in place and that one way or another I would be back on the move soon. Although the Laughing Heart is a lovely place with very helpful owners I was getting a little stir crazy, I needed to get moving again. I met a whole host of new people whilst I was there aswell as the two English guys mentioned later; a lovely woman called Joules who in her sixties was doing the trail for the second time and was everyone's trail mum, Slam, Wheels and Heavy D to mention a few and also caught up with old friend Rock Steady.
Sunday was my last full day at the Laughing Heart and I was up at 5.30am drinking coffee on the porch. There were a couple of fellow Englishmen arrived, London Jack and a guy who's name I don't recall who had lived in Georgia for the last twenty five years; he was a Burnley fan and Jack a gooner. We watched the United v Leicester game on his phone and it was good to watch a bit of football. I'd lost touch over the weeks with what was going on but as the hostel had good wifi I had been able to catch up with results and tables from all the divisions. Was also good to talk football with a couple of people and when I say football I mean football not soccer as they refer to it out here! Later on I had a walk down to the diner for pancakes and bacon again and met a few more people who just wanted to talk because they loved my accent! They don't get many English people around these parts so a lot of people want to chat. It's nice in a way, that little taste of being a celebrity again!! The main thing about the walk though was to test the leg and the good news was that I was starting to walk normally again without too much discomfort, I started to believe I was on the mend. That night I went to the tavern for dinner, Sandals, Snail, Optimist, Purple Mist and Paddington invited me to join them and I had a lovely burger and a couple of beers before heading back and realised my leg wasn't as good as I'd thought, maybe it was wishful thinking or maybe the ibuprofen had taken away the pain but the reality was at that point carrying a fifty pound pack on my back wasn't going to help. Next morning I went through my pack and left some of my cold weather clothes at the hostel and reduced my weight to 40lb with food and water, still on the heavy side compared to some but more manageable and hopefully easier on the body. After taking a final few pictures and saying my goodbyes it was time to go. Laughing Heart hostel had been a lovely place to stay but I'd never envisaged that I would be staying in one place for a week, as I've said before I came out here to hike not to be sitting around on holiday as such. Saying that, injuries occur and you have to deal with it, the amount of people coming through with similiar injuries to me was incredible. Two other guys were also taking time off there when I left with exactly the same problem. The other problem is that when you are stood still you are spending money, In the woods there's nowhere to do that but in town it's a different story!
At midday Solo, myself, Scout and Stony set off on our road trip to Hampton, although its 153.1 miles hiking it only took about an hour by road. We stopped off at Uncle Johnnys in Erwin where I caught up with Pebbles and Purple Bear and on the way out of town we saw Wild Horse sat outside the supermarket. It was an interesting journey through the mountains, a real insight into the American way of life; homes made of corrugated tin, scrap cars in yards, run down barns; imagine every horror film you've seen and you get the picture. Once we got to Hampton Solo stopped at McDonald's and that was honestly the first time I'd been there since I arrived in America. Hampton was much smaller than I had imagined and Solo drove us up into the mountains to Kincora Hostel which is owned by a guy called Bob Peoples, another trail veteran now retired who allows hikers to stay for a donation of five dollars. Bob wasn't there at the time so Solo shot straight off, he'd had a change of plan and needed to get back to Hot Springs to do a shuttle run.
Once I sat down, I got my book out and realised that I was still 8.6 miles short of my planned restart. The Laughing Heart was by far the cleanest, nicest hostel id been to whereas Kincora wasn't! Don't get me wrong Bob is a very kind man to allow hikers to stay for such a small fee but the hostel was very basic, pretty run down, not very clean and had a unique odour about it! There were 17 (seventeen) feral cats roaming the place and they certainly added to the smell. It was a very very different experience to which I'd been used to and I realised I'd become institutionalised in some respects! As I'd showered in the morning I decided I would probably stay cleaner than if I showered there! To be honest if it hadn't started raining not long after we got there I'd have started hiking but with a big storm forecast the one thing I could say was at least I could stay dry for another night, as I said I think I'd become slightly institutionalised or some might say soft! Scout and Stony decided to move on but I still hadn't decided whether to stick to my original plan and skip through town and restart at Watauga Lake. Later on when the rain came down even more I went to my bunk happy that all my gear was staying dry- at least for the night.
Tuesday morning I didn't waste any time leaving the hostel and rejoined the trail just down the road. The weather still wasn't great but at least it wasn't raining (much) and a couple of miles in I came across Laurel Falls which on a brighter day would have been even more beautiful but was still a nice sight. I caught up with Scout and Stony although the later headed back into town at the road. So Scout and I set off around Lake Watagua which was much larger than I expected. There were signs up everywhere stating of the closure of the shelter and a a four mile stretch of the trail where there was no loitering, camping or picnicking due to bear activity in the area. Now there are bears all across these states but at times they become accustomed to humans and their food so the authorities are extra cautious at these spots and this was one of those. After the no stopping zone was Wilbur Dam, another fine piece of architecture that you had to walk across giving some more great views and not long after that more trail magic. A couple with a white pick up dishing out Minute Maid soft drinks, crisps, oranges and cookies; once again very welcomed and just providing that extra energy to walk the three more miles to the next spring where I had set my mind to camp near. Once again the guide seemed to be telling porkies as those three miles seemed to be far longer than the previous three and my first day back on trail ended with hammock up, food cooked, water sorted and food bag hung and 12.6 miles under the belt which was more than I'd anticipated and wanted to do!
I finally got moving next morning at nine am and my plan was for an easier day, my ankle was a bit stiff and I knew I'd done too much the day before but sometimes there can be long gaps without a water source and you really do need water for cooking aswell as drinking so it really is wise to stop quite close to it. I was still traveling with Scout and I told him I wasn't going any further than the next but one shelter and he was happy with that plan. He shot off and when I caught him up at Iron Mountain Shelter I found Nina there whom I'd met right at the very start of my journey and not seen since Franklin. She is now known as Gypsy Queen and it was nice to catch up and discuss how the trail had been treating us! Another cold night was forecast with possible snow so as I'd got to the shelter at about 3pm there was plenty of time to get a good fire going, get well fed and we even put a plastic sheet across the front of the shelter to try and keep some warmth in. If I haven't said before most shelters are just 3 sided wooden buildings which can leave you exposed to the elements. Later on a couple of guys came up who were camping a few minutes away and I recognised one as a guy i met on my very first morning at Amicalola. He had just finished a short hike to Springer and back that day and offered me plenty of advice sat at the picnic tables all those miles ago and here he was section hiking with a friend! It really is amazing how you meet people again and again down the trail and he was interested to know how I'd been getting on and even gave me his number in case I needed any help in the future. Once again it proved how trail people are quite unique in their camaraderie and willingness to help each other out. I was surprised no one else came along that night so the three of us had the shelter to ourselves, well sort of, we had to share with a number of mice!! Sure enough it pelted down most of the night and was bitterly cold, not what I'd expected at this time of year!
The next morning was also very cold, my hands were freezing untying the bear bag and although it was quite late by the time we got moving Scout and I left Gypsy Queen there and started hiking out hoping to warm up. Three miles in we came to a main road which led straight into Damascus and Scout decided to hitch a ride in as he was out of fuel and food and although the idea of a hot shower, warm bed and clean clothes was tempting I really didn't want to miss any more miles. As I already said I thought I was going soft so chose to hike on on my own through the cold weather and figured I could still get to town in a couple of days.
The next part of the trail was a first, a wander through a field of cows! As some people commented on Facebook it looked like Lincolnshire itself but having taken the opportunity to call home I found out that England was much warmer right now which was rather annoying! Here I was freezing cold and back home everyone was in t-shirts and shorts. Great! Once I reached the next shelter I stopped to make something to eat, it wasn't raining and I'd got some dry wood in my pack so I figured if I made my Ramen and Mash then it would make life easier later. Unusually I'd hardly seen another soul all day, I must have been between bubbles and although being on my own didn't bother me Double Springs Shelter started to feel a bit on the lonely side! The next shelter was eight miles away and that seemed a long way off but at 4pm I decided to set out and see how far I got. Before I got over the crest of the hill it started to rain and I took that as a sign to stop and go back, the forecast wasn't good and as I'd been fifty fifty I felt some other force was telling me to stay. So that was that, I'd made up my mind, I unpacked my sleeping gear, put all my clothes on and bedded down for the night. I think it was the coldest I'd been on trail and just as I thought I'd be spending the night on my own a guy called Twisted appeared through the rain. I'd first met him at the cat hostel so a familiar face was welcome, later on a group of three appeared and then a father and daughter also came through the cold and rain but overall that day was the least number of people I'd seen in any one day. The mist rolled in and with no phone signal I was wrapped up in my sleeping bag by 6.30pm and had only covered 7.6 miles.
Friday morning the mist hadn't cleared and it was still very cold and gloomy but I had to get moving. Tinman kindly made me a coffee to set me on my way and I gradually warmed up through setting a good pace. After three and a half miles I reached Low Gap and was greeted by Trail Magic. A firefighter from Louisiana called Mark had Hamburgers, Hotdogs, Gumbo, cold drinks, muffins, honey buns, crisps and other snacks. He was 54 years of age and had driven ten and a half hours just to be there giving away all this free food to hikers. He also knew a lot about Football so we had a good chat. I asked him what made him do this and he told me that he'd always wanted to hike the trail and that when he retired in three years he was going to fulfil his ambition but until then he was going to come back each year and do the same. It was his way of forward payback and if the karma he got from doing this allowed him to Thru hike then that was good enough for him. It was his second day and he'd slept out in the cold all night just to be there for early morning hikers. People like Mark never cease to amaze me and it really does restore your faith in humanity. What a top bloke!
I reluctantly left his gazebo and food and started out again, I'd been told the next section was one of the easiest on the trail and although it would mean doing an eighteen mile day I wanted to reach Damascus and avoid another cold night in the woods. That day (yesterday) I got rained on, snowed on, hailed on, buffeted by wind and was cold most of the day but I reached town by six pm just as the heavens opened once more. I found a bunk at the Hikers Inn and showered, put my clothes in the laundry and went for a meal and a beer with Slowpoke and Hot Rod, who I hadn't seen in nearly a month, Nature, Smiling Don and Twisted. I also saw Just Rich who again I hadn't seen in ages, met Hawaii who also liked English Football and chatted with a few locals who once again were intrigued by meeting an Englishman in deep Virginia. Oh yes, I forgot to mention that I'd passed through the border and was now in State number four! I retired back to the bunk and was in bed by 9.30pm.
However, there was one big problem, although my right ankle had started to feel better, the eighteen mile day and over compensation on my left leg had given me exactly the same feeling in that ankle and I hoped upon hope that it was just temporary from a long day.
So onto today, as soon as I woke up I could feel the stiffness in both legs but the left one was worse, unfortunately I knew that feeling too well and sure enough as soon as I started walking on it I knew I'd got exactly the same problem in both now. I was gutted. I knew I couldn't afford another week off and after posting my worries and fears on Facebook I had to set out to find somewhere else to stay as the Hikers Inn was full tonight. I managed to find another bunk at Woodchuck Hostel and had to cart my gear over here very slowly as I really didn't want to make things worse. A couple of hours ago I went to the outfitters to see if they could give me any advice on what to do but as I suspected they said either take a few days off again or better still go to the clinic to get checked out properly. The guy wasn't even sure it is shin splints, it may be that I've strained all the tendons instead which if so also requires rest. I'm reluctant to go to the clinic as even though I have insurance I will still have to make the initial payout and I suspect they will also advise me to stay off it for a while as most people say that's the best course of action. I've bought some compression socks and heat pads and am lying on the bunk writing this hoping for some miracle cure. There is no swelling like there was in Hot Springs but the way it feels would make hiking up mountains either very painful or worse still impossible. I really hope I don't have to stop right now as although I will still be very proud of what I've achieved so far it is still early into the adventure and I still feel I have many more miles left in me yet. I just hope my ankles and legs feel the same way.
Okay, you're right up to date now, the news isn't great but we shall see what tomorrow brings. All hope isn't lost but things need to improve dramatically and quickly otherwise I could be coming home much earlier than I want. Let's hope the next update is me moving along the trail again. Fingers crossed.
Hope you're all still enjoying the read.
007
Licensed to Hike. (Hopefully)
A little footnote, if you read my earlier blogs you will recall me mentioning a guy called Baltimore Jack who I met in Hiawassee and Franklin. Sadly he passed away last week.
RIP Jack.
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