Sunday, May 7:

We had planned to get up and go on to Max Patch this morning, but we had a good game of Horseshoes going on. Gator, Blaze, Pig Pen, and Badger were playing, and I was the official cameraman. We got a really late start.

So late in fact that we only hiked about 13 miles today. We stopped at Brown Gap and tented for the night.

Monday, May 8:

It is only about 2 miles from where we camped to Max Patch. Max Patch is a peak covered entirely by grass. It was, at one time, covered in trees, but early ranchers cleared it to graze their sheep and cattle. It is a beautiful area, and you can see Mt. Mitchell, the highest peak east of the Mississippi, as well as a panoramic view of the Smokies.

I remember that, back in 2003, my knee was hurting very bad when we were in this area, and my friend, Hatteras, dropped back behind me to make sure that I made it to the Shelter. What I would give to see those guys – the 55’ers, Hatteras, Resstep, and Beekeeper.

You know, one thing really amazes me. When Earl Shaffer completed his first thru-hike in 1948, he carried only a poncho, stove, food, and clothes. I do not know how he made it without a tent or shelters to sleep in.

Hiking among friends is the thing that keeps you going. Friends being anyone you meet on the Trail (well, almost anyone).

We continued on to Walnut Mountain Shelter. This Shelter has been here for almost 60 years. There is lots of blooming laurel which is very fragrant and beautiful. We must have really lollygagged today, because we only did 10 miles. BJack got ahead of us during the day so he is not here tonight. We made a fire and listened to music. It was a fine evening.

Tuesday, May 9:

It is raining today. We got into Hot Springs about 2:00 p.m. You know I have been hiking with Blaze, Badger, Pig Pen and Gator, and Prime Numbers is with us today.

The Trail crosses the French Broad River and passes through the center of town. Nearly everything is located on the Trail. I like these kind of towns. Baltimore Jack was in town waiting for me, and we got a room at the Cody House.Hostel ($15 PP). It is owned by the Outfitters here in town, Dan Gallagher and Wayne Crosby.

There are several places to stay, but we stayed at Cody House because THEY HAVE CABLE! The hostel has two bedrooms. One bedroom has bunkbeds, and the other has two beds. It has a bath and shower and a kitchen. I stayed in the bunk room, and Jack slept on the porch.

We bypassed the kitchen this evening to go to the Paddler’s Pub for burgers and chicken wings. Jack has beer, and I have Sweet Tea. See, the life of a thru-hiker is not so bad.

Tomorrow. Miss Janet is coming from Erwin, Tn. to pick us up for Trail Days. It is only about 68 miles from her house to Hot Springs.

Wednesday, May 10:

We were glad to see Miss Janet this morning. She came after us in my Yukon that I had left at her house before we started our hike. When we got back to Erwin, Roman Around was there. (His real name is Roman so his trail name was easy). I hiked with him most of the way in 2003.

If you have not seen Miss Janet’s website, complete with music, check it out. I have a link on my Website to hers. If you look closely, you can see me and Jack in several of the pictures. Erwin is a great little town, and the Trail goes right through it. There are big, wonderful, old two-story houses lining the streets, and Miss Janet’s hostel is in one of these houses. She and Caitlin, her 15 year old daughter, live upstairs, and the first floor is the hostel. She has a living room with a big-screen TV, a video library and a book library. Miss Janet cooks a big breakfast every morning for the hikers which is included in the $15 per night donation. You can fix lunch or dinner in the kitchen as long as you clean up after yourself.

Miss Janet has a big front porch and the biggest heart on anyone I have ever met. She goes to the Trail and picks up hikers and takes them back to the Trail. If you don’t have money, you can mow the grass or work in the flowerbeds, or do something around the house. Back in 2003, after I left her house I got sick on the Trail and she came to get me after I got word to her that I was bad sick. She took me to the doctor and nursed me for about ten days until I got over my stomach virus.

Back to the present - We got our laundry done and got ready to go to Damascus tomorrow. Also, Nene came by to visit. He is a seasoned hiker who lives in the woods not far from Miss Janet. The Trail goes right by his property. Nene has hiked the Triple Crown three times.

Thursday, May 11:

I drove my car with Jack, Blaze, and Gator. Miss Janet is coming up later. Roman had his Van and drove up also. When we got to "Tent City" at the Campground, there was already a good number of tents up. "Billville" was set up – Jester, Funky Monkey, Bag of Tricks, and others. "Billville" is their "community name. There is a bunch of them that met up hiking many years ago and have hiked together off and on since then as well as doing Trail Magic. Bag of Tricks lives outside of Port Clinton, Pa. and has been as good to me as anyone I have ever run into.

As I remember, a couple of them were in a store one time and found a stack of tee shirts with the name "Bill" on every one, selling for 25 cents each. They decided to buy one, and then their friends decided to buy one, and by the time the last few of them got to the store, the shirts had gone up to 50 cents each. Since then, they have called themselves "Billville".

They also set up a big tent with tables and chairs and grill, where they eat and basically hang out. I set up my tent nearby, but Jack set his tent up away from Billville because he says they stay up too late and there is so much going on, he can’t sleep.

I ran into Greenman and Sunkissed – my hiking partners from 2003 – and was really glad to see them. Also ran into Biscuit and her dog, Cola and her hiking partner English Bob.

We decided to go to Dot’s tonight for dinner. In 2003, we usually ate at the Sidetrack Café, owned by Trey Hardie (Mountain Man) but he sold it sometime last year, and it is now called the Baja Café.

When we got back to our tents, the big Bonfire was going. Some of the ex-hikers bring congo drums to Trail Days every year and play in what we call a drum circle. It’s a lot of fun to listen to. But I had a long day and so I was ready to hit the sack.

Friday, May 12:

Today was a lot more socializing. I ran into a hiker called Biscuit. After a little conversation, she reminded me that she had met me before in New York, where she lives. She was slackpacking one day, Southbound, when she ran into Greenman. I was about three hours behind him, and he asked Biscuit to tell me, if she ran into me, to hurry up. Pretty good memory.

We spent all day today walking around town, meeting a lot of old friends at Trail Days, which is actually Hiker’s Reunion. Some of the guys I met in 2003 along the Trail and hiked with for a ways were here: Jay, T-Bird, Applejack, Skiddles, Mongoose, Moon and 42 (they have twins now), and One-Third. I met her while I was sick at Miss Janet’s back in 2003. She and her parents hiked so we called her One-Third. Steamboat and Sing-a-lot were here. And of course, Sunkissed and Greenman, my main hiking partners of 2003, along with Jack.

Interesting Fact – One-Third’s parents moved to Damascus after leaving the Trail in 2003, and bought a Bed and Breakfast here in town. One-Third works at the Outfitters here.

Also my good buddy Tinman was there with his business partner, Twig. You know, they run Antigravitygear.com, which also has a link on this Website, and he sells those wonderful soda can stoves and cozies and a lot of other good stuff. Like the Mapdana. It is actually a bandana that you can wear on your head and also use for a pot holder or wash rag or anything else you can think of, but it has a map of part of the AT on one side and part of the AT on the other side. I think you can buy two Mapdanas and have the whole trail. Check it out on his Website.

We had a full day, and I enjoyed the camaraderie of the Billville guys this evening. Tomorrow – the Dog Talent Contest, the Hiker’s Parade, Hiker’s Talent Show

I am sleeping in my Yukon tonight because it has started to rain. Also, with the seats let down, it makes a nice sleeping space – quite a bit larger than my one-man tent.

Saturday, May 13:

At the Dog Talent show today, Biscuit’s trail dog, Cola, won second place as the "Second Cutest Dog". The town dog (Damascus), a Chihuhua, won first place. Can you imagine a town dog beating out our Trail dog! The prize: dog food (who would have guessed!).

We all lined up at Dot’s Café on the south end of town for the Hiker’s parade. There were normal hikers like myself as well as other hikers dressed in costumes. There were convertibles with beauty queens, and people on bicycles. Well, once we started the parade it began raining harder. People scattered and, of course, the girls in the convertibles were frantic. Since it looked like the parade was breaking up, regular traffic started coming through but we were not quite ready to quit. We started shooting the cars, and each other, with water guns which we had purchased at the Dollar Store, and had a really great water gun fight. It was fun.

That afternoon, we had a 2003 reunion at the Pizza Place. There were about 45 of the 2003 thru-hikers there. We all stood up and gave our Trail Names and had a good time reminiscing.

I slept in the Yukon again tonight

I also wanted to mention that I ran into my friends Bgone and Appalachian Annie, who were SUPPOSED to hike this year but can’t seem to stay out of the hospital and/or doctor’s office. So they are on schedule for next year – 2006. They do a lot of section hiking so they will be good to go. Except that I had looked forward to hiking with them, and I am NOT thru-hiking in 2006.

You are in for a big surprise in next week’s Journal. My path takes a big turn, not anticipated or expected.

Thanks for listening in this week.

A very tired Mountain Dew