Day 41 – Erwin, TN to Cherry Gap Shelter 

It’s not a dress, it’s a kilt.

Patchy fog and a slight chance of rain showers before 11 a.m., then a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 72. Northwest wind around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. New rainfall amounts less than a tenth of an inch possible.

Up at 8:00. Packed, ate, used the bath house, and hit the trail at 9:15. Cloudy at present, but I’m hoping it clears up today. I have a hard first 5-mile climb out of Erwin. I would like to make 15 miles today. 

Crap. I lost my rain kilt. I just ordered a new one online, and Dana will bring it to me next week. I borrowed a trash bag from the hostel. I will try to make a substitute with that.:(

As I was texting Dana about the kilt, Amy from Nature’s Inn Hostel walked by and said hi. She was picking up a slackpacker. When she walked back to her car, I saw she had our slackpacks from Wednesday. I wonder….sure enough, my kilt was still in that pack from Wednesday! I thanked Amy profusely!!! 

Crossed my first railroad tracks leaving Erwin. Many more to come.

Hard climb the last 1.5 miles out of Erwin. Grade is 624 ft/mile!

Made it to Maple Gap Shelter at 11:25. Took a 15-minute break for water and a snack. Very humid after all the rain the past 2 days. Nice shelter.

Made Indian Grave Gap at 1:35. Took a 30-minute break and had a snack.

Middle back hurts….again. I can’t figure out why my pack is hurting my back so much lately. It’s a daily thing. Very frustrating! 

Made it to Beauty Spot at 3:40. Stopped to top off water and have a snack.

YouTube video at Beauty Spot.

I have either 2.5 miles or 6.2 miles to go. I’ll decide once I reach the first potential campsite in a bit over an hour. 

Ugh. It might only be 1.5 miles, but 729 feet per mile grade. Give me a break!

Summitted at 5:50. I’m pushing on to the shelter another 4 miles.

Made it to Cherry Gap Shelter ay 7:30. Set up tent, ate, made my bear hang, and in bed at 9:00. Garmined with Dana and updated blog for today.

That was a long, hard climbing day! Hope to do a lot more of these long days going forward. Knee feels good. The brace helped a lot.

Technical Notes:

• Mini chocolate donuts: 560
• Tea: 0
• OJ: 170
• Snickers: 250
• Trail mix: 340
• Snickers: 250
• Tuna: 80
• Ramen: 540
• Little Debbie: 200
• Water liters: 5
• Miles: 17.3
• Time: 9:38
• Elevation gain: 5135
• Calories consumed: 2500
• Calories burned: 6500

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