An Early Arrival at Uncle Johnny's Nolichucky Hostel

I left Hogback Ridge Shelter at about 9:30 this morning, intending to hike about 13.5 miles to Whistling Gap. Unfortunately, my stomach had other ideas. Yesterday afternoon I had come across a couple providing Trail Magic. There was a great variety of food, but what got my attention and the attention of other folks on the Trail with me, were the hot dogs. This morning we believe they decided to rebel. All of us have stomach aches, are nauseous and...let's see, how can I say this delicately...didn't want to be far from a restroom, and preferably not one behind a tree. We all decided to go in together on a shuttle to take us about 20 miles to Uncle Johnny's Nolichucky Hostel in Erwin, TN.

 

Uncle Johnny's was supposed to be my destination tomorrow, so my resupply box was waiting there for me. I picked it up to sort it out and decided to repack my backpack while I waited to shower. I also had to figure out how I was going to proceed: should I go back and pick up where we left the Trail, or should I jump ahead a little, and make up the 20 miles or so after I finish up in Maine? There were pros and cons to both approaches, and either one would effect my next resupply location. These are just the things that happen on the Trail that you can't foresee.

Once I showered and mulled over my options, I decided that "slackpacking" was the way to go. This means that I will leave all of my gear except the bare minimum here at Uncle Johnny's, get the shuttle back to where we were picked up and then hike back to Johnny's over the next two days. Without my pack, Forest and I will be able to make better time. This means that I will definitely have to rethink my next resupply stop, as I won't have enough food for me or Forest to get to the original stop. I had also originally planned to take some time to fish the Nolichucky, but this turn of events may prevent that.

Tonight Forest and I took the shuttle into Erwin to tap the ATM (I didn't have cash, so I have to reimburse another hiker for my share of the shuttle), get some dinner and look around.