Our First Camp Fire

Day 38

Sunday April 30, 2017

Miles: 331.6 - 343.0

Weather: Hot & sunny with an occasional breeze

Stealth camped just outside Erwin, TN

Batman slack packed us again today. We take it when we can. Tomorrow it's back to full packs and a 5 day stretch without amenities. Whatever are we going to do.

It was a nice hike today. Lots of ups and downs but the trail was sweet. The drop into Erwin, TN was long. It took 17 switchbacks to carry us safely to the Nolichucky River bridge. Across the street is Uncle Johnny's hostel. A cute little place with resupplying and shuttle services. The cabins need lots of TLC. We skipped this place and camped just inside the woods on the trail north of the parking where Batman gave us all our gear.

Our packs seemed the heaviest they had been so far on the trip. Our intent was to hike a mile or so then camp. After leaving the car burdened with our gear we made it about 150 yards. We crossed a railroad track and a beautiful camp site laid out before us. "Looks good to me how about you Shortcake?"  She agreed and we dropped our cumbersome loads. Batman set foot further to see if there was anything else. He was gone so long we decided to pitch the tent. We were not going any further. 

I love trains and we were so hoping to see one pass as we camped. We built our first fire and sat around relaxing waiting to hear the might roar of it's diesel engine but none came.

Happy Hiking.