Guru Hikes

A Sticky Situation

After a wonderful night off of the trail spent with friends, I returned to the AT. Upon stepping foot back on the Trail, I had my first unfortunate experience of meeting another thru-hiker who wanted to hike with me, who I had no desire to hike with. His name was Rusty. He was a kid from the South who only wanted to talk about religion and Jesus, even after I was very straightforward in that these types of conversations were not something I was interested in.

After a day of him following my every move and while trying to save my soul from damnation, I told him that I was only going to be hiking a few miles the next day and that he should go on ahead. I never saw Rusty again, but I heard he got off the Trail in Erwin, Tennessee because he was having such a hard time connecting with people.

Ponies and Pleasing Pastures

As I climbed the mountain into Grayson Highlands State Park, I encountered the first dusting of snow on the Trail. The trail widened as I entered the park, and the forest gave way to high mountain meadows. Just a few miles of hiking through the fields of Grayson Highlands I came across the first herd of ponies. Growing up, my family took hiking trips to Grayson Highlands. So coming across ponies in the Appalachian Mountains was not surprising to me, but I still get excited seeing them even to this day.

Grayson Highlands is one of my favorite places in the world. Tucked away in rural Virginia it boasts beautiful trails with rhododendron tunnels, secret swimming holes, majestic waterfalls, and of course, the chance of stumbling across a herd of ponies in the mountains. After saying hello to a few friendly ponies, I kept hiking through the park. I had never been to Grayson in the fall and I appreciated the beautiful colors and serene views despite the chilly weather.

Reconnecting

In Grayson Highlands, I called a friend living near Damascus. This was the same friend that I mentioned in Story #2 that was mutual friends with Scuba. It turned out that after not seeing Scuba for over 1,000 miles, he was currently staying with them! I happily hiked down to Damascus just as a snowstorm was coming in, and because of the storm, I ended up staying three days with Scuba and friends!

Hitting My Home State

The day I left Damascus with Scuba, a hoarfrost covered the trees and ground in ice. That same day, I crossed into my home state of Tennessee, marking my twelfth state of the Appalachian Trail! Scuba and I passed Watagua Lake the next day and stayed at the late legend Bob Peoples’ cabin.  

Two days later, Scuba and I shared an amazing hike up Roan Mountain. I went to college near Roan Mountain and had driven up it a few times, but walking up the mountain was one of my favorite experiences on the Trail. At one point I tripped and rolled my ankle pretty badly and just lay on the ground laughing through the pain. The juxtaposition of being in such a beautiful place and being in pain struck me as quite funny. Scuba strode up to me while I was laughing in the grass and assumed it was because I was just really enjoying my time on the mountain. I explained the situation, and he helped me back to my feet. We arrived at the top of Roan Mountain earlier than expected and decided to night hike to make more miles and not have to spend a cold night at elevation.

Friends and Family

Arriving in Erwin, TN, I spent the night with an old college friend in Johnson City. The climb out of Erwin the next day produced a breathtaking view of the Nolichucky River.  

After crossing one of the many times the Tennessee and North Carolina border meet, my brother picked me up off of the trail right before Hot Springs, NC, and I spent a night with him in Asheville.

The View from Max Patch

Upon returning to Hot Springs at 8:00 a.m., I hiked to Max Patch–twenty miles further–by 4:30 p.m. I had heard of the spectacular 360° views that could be seen from Max Patch and wanted to stick around until sunset. Although I did have a 360° view from the mountain, the fog was so thick when I arrived at the top, there was only around twenty feet of visibility. I dejectedly hiked down to the next shelter, which was completely empty and set up my sleeping gear. At around 10:00 p.m., I heard a group approaching the cabin and it turned out to include both Scuba and Wildcard!

The next day, after hiking down to Highway 40, we entered Great Smoky Mountains National Park marking only 250 miles left of the Trail!

What’s Next

Up next: The Smokies, almost killing my brother, and finishing up the Trail! Thanks for following along, and I hope to see you for the final story of the AT!